.^ >&AavaaiT^^ ^TiijoNvsm^ '^^mw^ <^ ^wmims/^^ ^mmns;^ ^r/ijoNvsoi^ ■^'^laAiNrtJWV^ iU I II - •T' ,^WEUNIVERy/A ^lOSAN'Cnfj-^ > ^OFCAUFO/?^ ^(?Aavaan-^^ CI >&Aiivjiaiv# .^WEUNIVERS/A. akIOSANCI ^XiiJONYSOl^ %; S .5 aWEUNIVERJ/a o ^■ri133KVSO]^ ^\WE11NIVER% ^lOSAVCElfx^ o %a3AINI1-3^V^ ^lOSAKCElfj-^ , , ^ o "^/siHAiNn-awv -^^IIBRARYO^ 4^1 RAf ^oxm^ lOSAHCEier^ ^^^lllBRARYd?/;^ <^ilIBRARYQ/ JUlTi IU(? ^ \\^EUNIVER% akIOSANC AMEDNIVERy//, vvlOSANCElfjv. jvHIBRARYQc^ -^^UlBRARYOc^ ^rjijoNvsoi^"^ '^/^a3AiNnmv^ '^«!/ojiiv3jo'^ '^.i/ojnvjjo'^ .^WEUNIVERS-//- ^^V^OSANCElfj^^ o ^i^ojiWDJO'^ %0JiiV3J0"^ .^WEUNIVERS-/^ ^vWSANCElfj"^ ^^Abvaan-^^ ^riuoKV-soi^ "^/sajAiNn-jwv ,^\\EUNIVER% s A^lOSANCElfj'^. ^^lIBRARYQc. ^HIBRARYQ^ *& «i3 ffeq, Departure from Montecello - 55 Macdonald's Tavern - - 5^ Rcfleftions on the acceptation which fhould be given to the word people in America - - - 57 lie meets with a rifle-man, or chaffcur 58 The Author queftions him about the battle of Cowpeni, in which he was engaged 60 An intercfting account of that battle 62&lfq. The paflage of the Gap, or Neck of Rork- Fifh - - - 69 The Author kills a bird there, which in Virtjinia they call a phcafanty but which he believes to be a real wood hei) 72 Defcription CONTENTS. V Page Defoiptlon of the bird - ~ Ti The manner made ufe of by the inhabi- tants oi the country to kill them - ibid. Mrs. Teafe's Tavern - - 76 The Author flops at a miller's, who had received many wounds at the battle of Guilford, and who fiiev.'cd him a piece of his fkuU - - - 78&:rcq. His arrival at Praxton's Tavern - 81 In what manner he palTed one of the branches of the Fluvanna - 82 & feq. The Author lets out for the Natural Bridge - - - 87 Meets with Mr. Grifby an inn-keeper 88 The adroit manner in which he condufls him on the bridge without his perceiv- ing it - ^ - - 90 Defcription of the bridge - 910c feq. The Author fleeps at Mr. Grifby 's - _ 93 The generous conduft of that American ibid. Relation of a young man and his wife go- ing to fettle in the province of Ken- tucket, whom he met with at this inn - 96 S: feq, peparture rrom Grifby's Tavern - 106 The Author, on his arrival at Greenly ferrv, kills an extraordinary animal which he difcovers to be the tnonaxy or mountain rat of America - 108 Defcription of it - - 109 He palles the Gap - - no His dogs fpring live wild turkies - ill He flops for an hour ai; the houfe of Mr. Lambert, a planter - - 112 He goes to lodge at Captain Muller's 113 Where he meets with an old man who had been half devoured by a bitch - 114 ^e travels the next day with another Captain, who keeps a tavern at New- London - - - 115 He ftops in that town to breakfall with 'him - ^ - ' T17 Defcription vi CONTENTS. Page D^fcription of New London - ijg He fleeps at a Mr. Hunter's, who fome- times lodges travellers without however keeping a tavern * - ibid. The advantage of this cuftom in a country whe c the roads are little frequented ibid. Hodnett's Tavern - - 120 The landlord is a Scotch emigrant, he fhews the Author a parchment on which his family arms are rcprefcnted - i2i The Author flops at Cumberland Court- houfe, where an affcmbly was then holding - - - 122 The manner in which affairs are conduct- ed at thefe meetings - - 123 He ftops again at the houfe of a black- fmith^-whcrc he finds fevcral young ladies, very handfome and very well dreiTed - - - 124 Reflexions on the beauty of different na- tions, and at difFcren: ages - 125&feq. He arrives at Peterfburg - 129 The tavern is kept by Mrs. Spepcer and her daughter, Mifs Saunders, both by their figure and behaviour intitlcd to rcfpecf - - - 130 Mifs Saunders plays on the harplichord and the guiitar - - ibid. Public ftorehoufes for tobacco - J 31 The police of the country relative to thefe florehoufes - - 132 Radpts given there, are circulated as money - - - I33^^'^^« Vifii t"" ' Vs. Bowling - " ^35 Her daughter-in-law is a defcendant from the Indian Princcls Pocahunta - ibid. DigrefTion on Pocahunta - i36&:fc(j. The Author goes to ftc the fine country- houfe of Mr. Bannifter - 144 Meets Mr. Bu// there, General of the Carolina militia - - 146 CONTENTS. vii Page The hiftory of that General - 147 Departure from Peterfburg - - 150 Obfervations on the commerce of the town ibid. The Author arrives at Richmond 151 Defcription of the town - 152 Dearnefs of provifions, and particularly of the taverns - - 153 Converfation with Governor Harrifon 155 An interefting anecdote on the commence- ment of the revolution - I57&feq, The Author arrives at Weftover ^ 162 A handfome country-houfe belonging to Mrs. Bird - - 163 Some particulars of Mrs. Bird and her fa- inily - - - 164. He dines with Mr. Mead - 166 Char after and Philofophy of that Ame- rican - - 167 Sturgeon fifhery - - 169 Obfervations on the humming-bird 172 Returns to Williamfburgh - 174 Great breadth of Chlckahomlng creek ibid. General obfervations on Virginia, and the charafter of the firft planters in North America - - i75&feq. On flavery - - - I90&feq. Journey to New Hampfhire and the Upper Penfylvania - - 2il The Author leaves Hartford - 213 Principal places through which he pafTes 214 Kendall's, Chandler's, and Baron's Ta- verns - - - 215 Eleo-ance of the furniture in the latter 217 Fine meadows which he fees on the ro?^ ^^^-/^ Value of lands and provifions - ibid. The Author arrives at Concord - 219 Defcription of the country - ibid. Anecdotes relative to the battles of Con- cord and Lexington - 220&feq. Road from Concord to Haverhill 223 Commerce of Haverhill - 225 „ , Road viil C O N* T E N T S. Page Roid from Haverhill to Portfmoutli - 22^ The Author flops at Exctci- - 226 Beauty of tlic country betwixt thefc two town"? - - - Jt)kf. Arrival at Portfmouth - - 227 Goes into a church during fermon 228 Remarkable coniparifon made by the preachtr - - ibid. The Author defcends the river to go on board the fhip of war the Augujle 229 Del'cription of the harbour and the fortifi- cations which defend it - 230 Accident cauled by thunder on board the Augufte - - - 231 Vilits to difTcrcnt people, amongft others to Colonel Langdon - - 232 Generous a£lion of the Colonel - ibid. Senfible anfwer of his negrce to him 233 Departure from Portfmouth - 235 Obfeivations on this town, and on New Hampfliirc in general - 236 ExceiTive price of certain articles - 239 The Author arrives at Newbury port ^ 240 Mr. Tracy invites him to fupper at his country-houfe - - 24.4. Dcfcription of the houfe - 245 Extraordinary viciflitudes in the fortune of Mr. Tracy - - 246 His patriotifm - ' 247 Conftraint which he experiences in trade 248 Departure from Newbury - 249 "Hie Author flops at Ipfwich ; aftonifhcd at the population of the place - ibid. Caufes of this population - 251 He arrives at Salem - 253 Dcfcription of the town and its harboar 255 Road from Salem to Boflon - 256 Winilimmct Ferry - - 'l^itl. Arrival at Bofton - - , ",. "57 Subfcription ball, like that of Philadelphia, 2^8&feq. The CONTENTS. Ik Page The Author dines on board the Souverahi 262 He finds a young man there, whoni the commander de Glandeves had taken on board to put him in the way of learning French _ - - 263 Reflexions on the advantage of fpeaking the language of the country, which is the feat of war - - 264 Idea the Americans had of changing their language - - - 265 The Author, in his way to Cambridge, traverfes the field of battle at Bunker's Hill, and crolles the old intrenched camp at Cambridge - - 267 Defcription of this camp and of the field of battle " - - 268&:req. Digrefl!ion on the able manoeuvre of Ge- neral Wafhington when he feifed the heights of Dorchefter - - , . 275 Some particulars on the Univerfity of Cambridge _ _ - 278 Eulogium of Do6^or Cooper - 281 Club, where the Author paffed the even- ing - _ - 284. Laws of the club - ._ - 285 The Aiithor fups at Mr. Bawdoin's, 286 He is obliged to play at whift - 5.87 But they do not play for money - 2S8 This rule having been made by general confent at the beginning or the war - ibid. Eulogium of the Marquif de Vaudreuil ; and of the good dlfcipline obferved in his fquadron during the whole time they remained in the harbour of Bollon 289 Obfervations on that tovm - ^ 292 The enormous tax which the neceflities of the war impoled upon its commerce 293 Departure from Bofton - _ 294. The Author rejoins the troops at Provi- dence - - - ibid. Road from Providence to Newborough 295 Vol. II. b Im- CONTENTS. Pa.ire o Improvements which he finds every where on the road he travelled but two years before, and particularly at Wafliington 297 Unhappy adventure of two women, whom he meets with at Moorhoufe's Tavern 299 Arrival at Newborough - 301 He takes leave of General Wafhington 302 Defciiption of the barracks in which the American army pafled the winter 303 He lodges at Mr. Smith's, with whom he had lodged two years before, when he lived at Ckeat - - 3^4 The price Mr. Smith gives for the leafe of his houfe - - - _ SPS Mr. Beard's tavern - - i^i'^* Motives which induced him to form this new fettle ment - - ibid. The Author arrives at Suffex, and for- tunate rencounter of Mr. Poops 3C6 Place of the Moravian brethren, known by the name of Aloravlan Mill 3^7 Delcription of the faw-mill - 3^*^ Defcription of the Moravian church 312 A pleafant anecdote of the minifter, relat- ed by the Author - - 3H The Author goes to lodge v/ith Mr. Poops 315 Defcription of the country - ibid. The remarkable gap or palTage in the mountains Tavern of another Mr. Smith, who is alfo a lawyer - - , 3^9 He has had, in penfion, a young Englifh- man born at Dominica as a boarder with him, and who came to the con- tinent to {tudy the law - 320 Arrives at Bethlehem - - , 321 Defcription of a kind of heath cock, which the Americans call Groxty^ - 323 The Author vifits the Moravian eflablifli- ments - - ■ 3^4- Houfc for linglc viromen - 326 317 Houfc 329 337 CONTENTS. xi Page Honfe for fmgle men - 328 Police eftablillied in thcfe houfes The arrival of the Author at Philadel- phia _ . . 334 Letter of'the Afarquh de Chajldlux to Mr. Aladd/fon, profeiTor of phlloibphy in the Univerfity of Williamfburgh. Objeft of this letter, the refult of their converfation with each other Before he examines into the progrefs the arts and fciences ought to make in Ame- rica, and the influence this progrefs muft produce on cuftoms and opinions, the Author makes fome reflexions on the political conftitution of the different ftates, which form the afibciation, and on the genius and nature of their go- vernment - - 338 He obferves, that the mofl brilliant epocha of the fine arts, are thofe in which for- tunes have been more unequally divid- ed ; but as the prcfent queltion is, nei- ther to create them nor to reftore them, but only to preferve and make them flourifh, no bad confequence for Ame- rica can be drawn from this obfervation 351 The advantage of great cities for the fine arts ; inconvenience of them for the fupport of the confliiution : how to conciliate thefe two objetSts - 352 In what light the Author confiders luxury with the danger of foreign cufloms, and how to remedy this evil - 356 What are the bell means of encouraging the fine arts in America, and how they may be made to confpire in maintain- ing public fpirit - - 363 Of the fciences, and which thofe are, America ought particularly to cultivate 365 Advantages and inconveniences of aca- demies, xri C O N T E A IS. Pagtt c'emic"j, the latter ought to be compcn- latcd by the prizes which they propofe 378 Morality ought to How from legillation 381 On religion, the Autlior abuains from Ipeaking of dogmas, but he obfcrves that the fcvcrity with which Sunday is ob- fervcd irnpofes too great privations, as by forbidding innocent p'eafurcs, the people may be driven to feck others 3S1 Defcription of the A'<3///rfl/5/;i:itil the month of September following. NORTH- AMERICA. 3 Mfo le Chevalier d'Oyre of the engineers : fix fervants and a led horfe compofed our train ; fo that our little carravan confifled of four mafters, fix fervants, and eleven horfes. I regulated my journey by the fpring, and gave it time fufficient to pre- cede us. For though in the 37th degree of latitude, one might exped: to find it in the month of April, I faw no trace of it in the v^ood through u'hich wepaffed; the verdure being hardly difcoverable on the thorns, the fun nocwithftanding was very ardent, and I regretted to find fummer in the heavens, whilfl: the earth, afforded not the fmalleft appearance of the fpring. The eighteen miles through which we pafTed, before we baited our horfes at Bird's tavern, were fufhciently known to me, for it was the fame road I travelled lafl fummer in coming from Williamiburgh. The re- maining fixteen, which compleatedour days work and brought us to New-Kejit-Coiirt- Houfe, offered nothing curious, all I learnt by a converfation with Mr. Bird was, that he had been pillaged by the Englifh when they palled his houfe in their march to IVeftover, m purfuit of Monfieur de la B 2 Fayette, 4 TRAVELSIN Fayette, and in returning to Williamfbargh^ after endeavouring in vain to come up with him. It was comparatively nothing to lee their fruits, fowls and cattle Carried away by the light troops which formed the van- guard, * the army coUeded what the van- guard * It is with great relufVance that truth compels me to confirm the horrid depredations committed by the EngUrh army in their piogrefs through many parts of America. Much has been faid on this fub- jeft, both in and out of parHamcnt, but I am forty to fay, that future hii\orians of this unhappy war, will find the fail too well eftablilhed to refufe a deci- five verdift. Happy if the rcfult may tend hence- forth to alleviate the miferies of mankind, and mi- tigate the horrors of a civil contefl. The wife of an Englilhman, one of the principal merchants of Philadelphia, having retired with her family to the neighbourhood of Mountholfy in the Jerfeys, alTur- ed me, that fhe found the country in general well af- fefted to the EngliHi, until the arrival of their army, whofe indifcriminate and wanton enormities foon alienated their mofl zealous friends, for even the officers were contaminated with the infatiable fplritof revenge and plunder. Amongft various anecdotes, Ihe related to me the circumRance of the cruel treat- ment of a lady of her acquaintance, wlio was devot- ed to the Britifli intrrert, and gave up licr houfe with exultation to feme officers of C/;«/s/;', armv in NORTH-AMERICA. 5 had left, even the officers feized the rum, and all kinds of proviiions, without pay- ing a farthing for them; this hurricane which deftroyed every thing in its paffage, was follovi^ed by a fcourge yet more terrible, a numerous rabble, under the title of Re- jugees and Loyali/is^ followed the army, not to aliifl in the field, but to partake of the B ^ plunder, tlieir retreat from Philadelphia. But not only was Jier zeal repaid with infult and her own houfe pkin- dered ; Ihe had the mortification to lee it made the receptacle of the pillage of her poorer neigh- bours. Obferving fome of the officers make frequent excurfions, and return, followed by foldiers, laden with various articles, Ihe had at length the curiofity to pafs into the garden, ,and looking through the window, faw four of tliem, and ihcChaplain, empty- ing a fack containing {lockings, fnirts, fhifts, coun- terpanes, flieets, fpoons, and wom.en's trinkets. The booty was regularly Ihared, and the difliibution of thefe unhallowed fpoils, to her utter aflonifhment and horror, was no other than the minifter of virtue and religion. The detail of this war is a hiftory of fuch iniquity : was it poffible therefore to expedt a more favourable termination of it, either on the |)nnciple of a Divine Providence, or of human con4ua? Translator, 6 TRAVELSIN plunder ^'' The furniture and cloaths of the inhabitants were in general the fole booty * The Loyalhls no doubt, no more merit indif- criminate ceniure than any other body of men ; the Tranflator, who thinks he underftands the true prin- ciples of libertv, for which he has ever been a zea- lous and unfhaken advocate, admits however, and admires the virtue, honour, and lleadfafl attachment of many illuHrious individuals to a caufe, direftly deflru£tive of his own wilhes ; but with every fair allov.-ance for the violence infeparable from civil con- tefts, he cannot help bearing his teftimony to the wanton outrages committed by an unprincipled ban- ditti who attached themfelves to the royal caule, and branded it with ruin and difgiace. 1 he root of this evil originated in the Board of Loyal'ijls eflablifhe4 by Lord George Germain at the inP.igation of fkulk.- ing Refugees, who flying themfelves, from thf fcene of danger, took up their refidence in Lon-.on, and were in the inceftant purfuitof perfonalandinte- refted vengeance. He does not alTert that their coun- cils loft America, but it is now paft doubt, that tl ^y formed a ftrong fecondary caufe of precipitating that event, and of embittering the feparation. General Clinton, the whole army at New-York, can wit- nefs the infolence and indirect manaccs of this incorporated rabble ot mara; Jers, in the affair of Captain Huddy, and the fnb^equent claim of the Congrefs. Had the wa: continued, this zwj- fcr'ium in impcr'io muft have beei atte Tided with the luoft fatal confequences ; this illiberal narrow mind- NORTH-AMERICA. 7 booty left to fatisfy their avidity ; after they had emptied the houfes, they ftript the pro- prietors ; and Mr. Bird, repeated with in- dignation, that they had taken from hiin by force, the very boots from off his legs. In my v/ay hither I had the fatisfaclion however of recalling to mind the firft pu- nishment inflided on thefe robbers. Six miles from VVilliamlburgh I palTed near a place where two crofs roads interfedling each other, leave an open fpace ; one leading to Williamfburgh, the other to Jaines-town* On the 2^th of June, Mou- iieur de la Fayette here ordered the van.- guard to attack that of Lord Cornwallis ; Sincoe, who commanded it, was left behind to colled the cattle, whilft Lord Cornwal- lis was encamping at Wiliiamft«urgh, where he arrived the preceding evening. Mon- fieur de la Fayette's cavalry with Ibme in- fantry mounted behind them, arrived foon enough cd fet of men, became the fpies and cenfors of Bri- tifh policy, and Britifh condud, and the comman- der in Chief himfelf, was ftruck with horror at Jheir unenHghtened, blood-thirlly tribunal. 4 Translator, 8 TRAVELSIN enough to force Stncoe to an engagement, and was foon after joined by the reft of the American light infantry. Sincoe fought with difadvantage, till Lord Cornvvallis marchine to his alTiftance, the Americans retired, after having killed cr wounded near 150 men, with the lofs only of feven or ei^ht. Colonel -Si/Mr, an American officer, who commanded a battalion of light inr fantry, and Colonel Gahan * a French of- ficer, who commanded another, diftinguifh- ed themfelves very much on this occafion. The recolledion of this event, the prefage of that fuccefs which crowned our cam- paign, employed my tiioughts fo much the n:»ore agreeably the wtiole evening, as we had taken up our lodgings in a good inn, where we were ferved with an excellent fqp- per, compofed chiefly of fturgeon, and I had two kinds of fi(h, at leaft as good in Virginia as in Europe, but which makp their appearance only in the fpring. The next morning I had an enjoyment of another kind. I rofe with the fun, and whilft * The fame who afterwards fliot himfelf at Phi- Jsdelphia. See notes to ift vol.^ Translator* N O R T H . A M E R I C A, 9 whilft breakflifl: was preparing, took a walk round the houfe ; the birds were heard on every fide, but my attention was chiefly at' tra<5led by a very agreeable fong, which ap- peared to proceed from a neighbouring- tree. I approached foftly, and perceived it to be a mocking bird, faluting the rifing fun. At firll: 1 was afraid of frightening it, but niy prefence on the contrary gave it pleafure, for apparently delighted at having an audi- tor, it fung better than before, and its emu- lation feemed to ihcreafe, when it perceiv- ed a couple of dogs, which followed me, draw near to the tree on which it was perched. It kept hopping inceifantly from branch to branch, ftiil continuing its fong,, for this extraordinary bird is not lefs re- markable tor its agility, than its charming notes ; it keeps perpetually rilnig and fmking, fo as to appear not lefs the fa- vourite of Terpiichore, than Polihymnia. This bird cannot certainly be reproached with fatiguing its auditors, for nothing can be miOre varied than its fong, of which it is impofiible to give an imitation, or eveji fiD fuinifh any adec^uate idea. As it had every lo TRAVELS IN every reafon to be contented with my at- tention, it concealed from me no one of its talents ; and one would have thought, that after having delighted me with a concert, it was defirous of entertaining me with a comedy. It began to counterfeit different birds; thofe which it imitated the moil: na- turally, at lead: to a (Iranger, were the jay, the raven, the cardinal, and the lapwing. * It appeared defirous of retaining me nearit, for af:er having liliened, for a quarter of an hour, en my return to the houfe, it fol- lowed me, flying from tree to tree, always finging, fometimes its natural fong, at others, thofe which it had learned in Vir- ginia, and in its travels ; for this bird is one of thofe which change climate, altho* it fometimes appears here during the win- ter. As the next day's journey was to be longer than that of the preceding one, we left 2^ew- Kent-Court- Houfe before eight o'clock and * Or rather the painted plover, which is the lap-» wing of America. It differs from ours, by its plum-, age, mixt with grey, white and yellow gilt ; it differs alfo a little in its fong, but it has the Ihape and man- ners, and is abfolutcly the fame fpccies. N O R TH- AME RICA. ii and rode twenty miles to Neivcafilc^ where I refclved to give our horfes two hours re- pofc j the road was not fo level as that we had travelled the day before, aiid was render- ed more agreeable by being diveriified with fome little hillocks. From the top of theni you had a view to the diflance of fome miles, and at times one might preceive Pamwikey River, which runs at the bottom of a deep valley, covered with wood. As you approach Newcaftle, the country becomes more gay. This little capital of a fmall diftridt, contains twenty- five or thirty houfes, fome of which are pretty enough. When our horfes were repofed, and the heat already troublefome in the middle of the day, was a little abated, we continued our journey, that we might arrive, before dark, at Hano'ver-Court-Hotije, from which we were yet fixteen miles. The country through which we pafled is one of the finell: of lower Virginia. There are many well cultivated eftates, and handfome houfes, amongft others, one belonging to Mr jones^ fituated near the road, two miles from New- eaille, of a very elegant appearance, which, we v/ere informedj was funiifhed with in- finite 12 TRAVELS IN finite tafle, and what is ftlll more uncom- mon in America, that it was embellKhed with a garden, laid out in the EnglKh ftyle '^. It is even pretended, that this kind of park, through which the river flows, yields not in beauty to thofe, the model of which the French have received from Eng- land, and are now imitating with fuch fuc- cefs t* The * The Author has fince feen this garden, which anfwers the defcription given, and is really very elegant. "f The gardens I have hitherto fcen in France pro- fefledly laid out on the EnglJlh model, are with great deference to the Author, but very unfucccfsful iml^ iations of the Englifh ftyle ; thofe of the Comte de Artois at Bagatelle, and of the Duke of Orleans at Moujfeaux near Paris, are indeed no imperfeft imi- tations oi Mr. Sterling's In the comedy of the Clan- defllne Marriage, of the Spaniard's at Hampdead, of Bagnigge-wells, or a Common Council-man's re- treat upon the Wandfworth road. They prefent % fantaftic, and crouded groupe of Chinefe pagodas, gothic ruins, immoveable windmills, molehill- niounts, thirty grafs patches, dry bridges, pigmy fer- pentines, cocklefhcll cafcades, and flagnant duck- pools. The gardens of the Thuilleries and Marly, NORTH-AMERICA. 13 Three miles from Hanover, there are two roads, that which we were 10 follow winds a little towards the north, and ap- proaches the Pamunkey. We arrived be- fore fiinfet and alighted at a tolerable hand*- fome inn ; a very large faloon and a cover- ed portico, are deftined to receive the com- pany who affemble every three months at the Court-houje, either on private or pub- lic affairs. This afylum is the more ne- cefTary, as there are no other houfes in the neighbourhood. Travellers make ufe of thefe eftablifhments, which areindifpenfable in a country fo thinly inhabited, that the houfes are often at the diftance oftwo or three miles from each other. Care is generally taken to place the Court-houfe in the cen- ter of the county. As there are a great many counties in Virginia, they are feldom more than fix or feven leagues diameter ; thus every man can return home after he has finifhed his affairs. The with all their undlfgulfed, artificial labours, are at lead noble, magnificent, and ufefui ; their terraces are grand, and their lofty Berceaus beautiful, and well adapted to the climate. Translator. 14 TRAVELS IN The county of Hanover, as well as that of New-Kent, had llill reafon to remember the paflage of the Englifh. Mr Tilghmariy our landlord, though he lamented his mis- fortune in having lodged and boarded Lord Cornvvallis and his retinue, without his Lordihip's having made him the leaft re- compenfe, could not yet help laughing at the fright which the unexpected arrival of Tarleton fprcad amongft a confiderable number of gentlemen, who had come to hear the news, and were affcmbled in the Court-houfe. A negro on horfeback came full gallop, to let them know that Tarleton was not above three miles off. The refo- lution of retreating was foon taken, but the alarm v/as fo fudden, and the confufion fo great, that every one mounted the firft horfe he could find, fo that few of thofe curious gentlemen returned upon their own horfes. The Englifh, who came fromWeflover, had pafTed the Chilkaboinmy at Button s-br'idge, and direded their march tovvards the South Anna, which Mr. de la Fayette had put be- tween them and himfelf. Mr. NORTH-AMERICA. 15 Mr. Tilghman having had time to renew his proviiions fmce the retreat of Lord Cornwallis, we fupped very well, and had the company of Mr, Lee, brother to Colonel Hefiry Lee * ; who long com- manded a legion, and often diftinguifhed himfelf, particularly in Carolina t. We fet * Colonel Harry Lee is a fmart, aftive young man, firll coufm to Mr. Arthur Lee, and Mr. Wil- liam Lee, late Alderman of London. He rendered very eflential fervices to his country, particularly in. the fouthern war. His corps was mounted on re- markably fine, high-priced horfes, moflly half blood Englifhftallions, and officered principally by his own family and relations. Had the war continued, there is every reafon to believe that the American cavalry would have taken fome confiftence, and have be- come very formidable in the field ; Mr. Tarleton re- ceived many fevere checks in his exploits from the corps under Colonel W'afliington, and that of Colonel Harry Lee. Towards the clofe of the war, he had to encounter an enemy very different from Hying militia, and fcattered bodies of broken, half difciplined infantry, of whom flaughter may ht fervice, but conqueft no honour. Translator. t Lord Cornwallis was unqueftionably the En- glifh General whofe courage, talents and aftivity, occafioned the greateft lofs to the Americans ; it is not allonifliing therefore he fhould not have infpir- cd them with fentlments (imilar to thofe of his own iS TRAVELS lU fet oiit at nine the next morning, after hav- ing breakfaftf d much better than our horfes, which had nothing but oats, the country being fo deflitute of forage, that it was not poilible to find a trufs of ha}', or a few leaves of Indian corn, though we had fought for it for two miles round. Three miles and a half from Hanover we crofled the South Anna on a wooden bridge. I obferved troops, wliofc attachment, and admiration of his character, were unbounded. Yet they never accuf- cd him of rapine, nor even of intcrefted views, and the complaints of Mr. Tilghman only prove the fad confequences of a war, in the courfc of which the Enghfh fuffercd more from want, in the midft of their fuccef';, than in their difaftcrs ; the former car- rying them far from the fleft, and the latter oblig- ing them to approach it. But the nioft painful of thefe confequences was the ncceffity which com- pelled a man of my Lord Cornwallis's birth and cha- ra£ler, toconduft, rather than command, a numerous band of traitors and robbers, which Englilli policy decorated with the name of L'.ya/ijis. '1 his rabble preceded the troops in plunder, taking fpecial care never to follow them in danger. The progrefs was marked by fire, devaflation, and outrages of every kind ; they ravaged fome part of America »tis true, but ruined England, by infpiring her ene- mies with an irrcconcilcablc hatred. joiE.n.i. OEOMETKICAIL FiL^^Jf of the HATlTmAI^ BmilDCJE, 4 r NORTH-AMERICA. V) obferved that the river was deeply embank- ed, and from the nature of the foil conclud- ed it was the fame during a great part of its courfe : it appears to me therefore that would have been a good defence, if Mon- fieur de la Fayette, who palled it higher up, had arrived in time to deftroy the bridge. On the left fide of the river the ground rifes, and you mount a pretty high hill, the coun- try is barren, and we travelled almoft al- ways in the woods, till one o'clock, wheri we arrived at Ojfly, and alighted at Ge- neral NelJhnSj formerly Governor, of Vir- ginia. I had got acquainted with him dur- ing the expedition to York, at which cri- tical moment he was Governor^ and con- ducted himfelf with the courage of a brave foldier, and the zeal of a good citizen. At the time when the Englifli armies were car- rying defolation into the heart of his coun- try, and our troops arrived unexpededly to fuccour and revenge it, he was compelied to exert every means, and to call forth every pofiihle refource, to affifl Monfieur de la Fayette to make fome refiftance ; and fur- ni/h General Wafhington with hcrfeSj car- Vol. II4 C liages. i8 TRAVELS IN riages, and provlfions ; but I am forry to add, what will do but little honour to Vir- ginia, that the only recompenle of his la- bours was the hatred of a great part of his fellow citizen?. At the firil: aflembly of the province, held after the campaign, he experienced from them neither the fatisfac- tion he had a right to expect, at being freed from fervitude, nor that emulation which is the general confequence of fuccefs 3 but in- flead of thefc fentiments, fo natural in fucli circumftances, a general difcontent, arifing from the neceffity under which he had of- ten laboured, of prefling their horfes, car- riages and forage. Thofe laws and cuftoms which would have ceafed to exifl by the conqueft of the province, were put in force againft its defender, and General Nelfon, worn out at length by the fiuigues of the campaign, but ftill more by the ingratitude of his fellow citizens, refigned the place of Governor, which he had held for fix months, but not without enjoying the fa- tisfa(Slion of juftifying his condu6i:, and of feeing his countrymen pardon the momen- tary injuries he had done their laws, by en- deavouring NORTH-AMEHICA. 19 deavouring to fave the flate. If to the cha- ra6ter I have juft given of General Nelfon, I (hould add, that he is a good and gallant man, in every poffible fituation of life, and has ever behaved with the utmoft politenefs to the French, you will be furprized that I (hould go to vifit him in his abfence, like Mathw'in in the comedy of Rofe and ColaSy for though I knew he was not at home, as I had met him near Wilhamfburgh, where he was detained by public bufmefs, the vifit I intended to pay him formed a part of my journey I undertook — befides that I was defirous of feeing his family, particularly his younger brother, Mr. William Nelfon, with whom I was intimately conne6led at Williamlburgh, where he palled the greateft part of the winter. Offiy is far from cor- refponding with the riches of General Nel- fon, or with his high confideration in Vir- ginia; it is but a moderate plantation, where he has contented himfelf with erCiSl- ing ftich buildings as are neceifary for the improvement of his lands, and for the ha- bitation of his overfeers ; his general refi- dence is at Tork, but that he was obliged to C 2 abandon ; 20 TRAVELS IN abandon : and Offly being beyond the South Anna, and iltuated hr back In the country, he thought that this lonely houfe would be at lead a fafe retreat for his family ; it was not fccure however from the vifits of Lord Cornwallis, who, in his peregrinations thro* Virginia, advanced even fo far, though without doing much m'lfchief. In the ab- fence of the General, his mother and wife received us with all the politenefs, eafe, and cordiality natural to his family. But as in xA.merica the ladies are never thought fulTicient to do the honors of the houfe, live or fix Nelfons were affembled to receive us j amongft others, the Secretary Nelfcn, uncle to the General, with his two fons, and two of the General's bro- thers. Thefe young men were all married, and feveral of them were accompanied by their wives and children, all called Nelfon, and diftinguifned only by their chriftian names *, (o that during the two days which I paflcd in this truly patriarchal houfe, it was * The French in general affumc the rurnarae, by NVhich they chufe to be diftinguilhed in the world, lb that the name which, with us, is a real bond N O R T H - A M E R I C A. 21 Was impoffible for me to find oat their de- grees of relationfhip. When 1 fay that we pafTed two days in this houfe, it may be underftood in the mofl literal lenfe, for the weather was Co bad, there was no pof- iibility of ftirring out. The houfe being neither convenient nor fpacious, company affembled either in the parlour or faloon, efpecially the men, from the hour of break- fail, to that of bed-time, but the conver- fation was always agreeable and well fup- ported. If you were defirous of diveriify- ing the fcene, there were fome good French and Englifh authors at hand. An excel- lent breakfafl: at nine in the m.orning, a fumptuous dinner at two o'clock, tea and punch in the afternoon, and an elegant little fupper, divided the day mod happily, for thofe whofe flomachs were never un- prepared. It is worth obferving, that on this occafion, where fifteen or twenty people, (four of whom were Grangers to the family C 3 or of affeftion, is foon lofl with them. I was long ac- quainted with four brothers in France, without knowing they were related to each other. Translatop.. 7.2 TRAVELS IN or country) were aflembled together, arxd by bad weather forced to flay within doors, not a fyllable was mentioned about play. How many parties of triclrncj w/ji/if and /{///(? would with us have been the confe- quence of fuch obftinate bad weather ? Per- haps too,- fome more rational amufements might have varied the fcene agreeably j but in America, mufick, drawing, public read- ing, and the work of the ladies, are re- fources as yet unknown, though it is to be hoped they will not long negled to cultivate them ; for nothing but fludy was wanting to a young Mifs Tolliver who fung fome airs, the words of which were Englilh, and the mufic Italian. Her charming voice, and the artlefs fimplicity of her hnging, were a fub- flitute for talle, if not talle itfelf ; that na- tural tafte, always fure, when confined within jufl limits, and when timid in its weaknefs, it has not been altered, or fpoil- cd byfalfe precepts and bad examples. MifsToUiver has attended her fifter, Mrs. William Nelfon, to OiBy, who had jufl mifcarried, and kept her bed. She was brought up in the middle of the woods by her NORTH-AMERICA. 23 her father, a great fox hunter, confequent- ly could have learned to fing from the birds only, in the neighbourhood, when the howling of the dogs permitted her to hear them. She is an agreeable figure, as well as Mrs. Nelfon her fifler, tho' lefs pretty than a third daughter, who remained with her father. Thefe young ladies came often to Williamfburgh to attend the balls, where they appeared as well dreffed as the ladies of the town, and always remarkable for their decency of behaviour. The young- military gentlemen, on the other hand, had conceived a great afFediion for Mr. Tolliver their father, and took the trouble fometimes to ride over to breakfaft and talk with him of the chace. The young ladies, who ap- peared from time to time, never interrupted the converfation. Thefe pretty nymphs more timid and wild than thofe of Dianna, though they did not conduct the chace, in- fpired the tafte for it into the youth : they knew however how to defend themfelves from fox-hunters, without deftroying, by their arrows, thofe who had the prefump- tion to look at them. After 24 TRAVELS IN After this little dlgreflion, which requires fome indulgence, 1 ihould be at a lofs for a tranfition to an old magiftrate, whofe white locks, noble figure, and flature, which was above the common fize, commanded refpecl and veneration. Secretary Nelfon, to whom this characler belongs, owes this title to the place he occupied under the Englifli Government. In Virginia the Secretary, .whofe office it was to preferve the regifters of all public ads, was, by his place, a mem- ber of the council, of which the Governor was the chief. Mr. Nelfon, who held this office for thirty years, favv the morning of that bright day which began to fliine upon his country ; he faw too the florms arife which threatened its dcitrudion, though he neither endeavoured to colled, or to fo- mcnt them. Too far advanced in age to defire a revo- lution, too prudent to check this great ^vent, if nccefTary, and too faithful to his countrymen to feparate his interefts from ^heirs, he chofe the crifis of this alteration, .^o retire from public affairs. Thus did he opportunely quit the theatre, when new pieces N O R T H - A M E R I C A. 25 pieces demanded frefli adlors, and took his feat among the fpe£lators, content to offer up his wilhes for the fuccef^ of the Drama, and to applaud thofe who aded well their part. But in the laft campaign, chance pro- duced hirn on the fcene, and made him un- fortunately famous. He lived at Torky where he had built a very handfome houfe, frorji which neither European tafte nor lux- ury was excluded ; a chimney-piece and fome bafs reliefs of very fine marble, ex- quifitely fculptured, were particularly ad- mired, when fate conduced Lord Corn- vvallis to this town to bedifarmed, as well as his till then vidorious troops. Secre- tary Nelfon did not think it neceiTary to fly from the Englifh, to whom his condud could not have made him difagreeable, nor have furnifhed any juft motive of lufpicion- He was well received by the General, who .eftablifhed his head- quarters in his houfe, which was built on an eminence, near the moft important fortifications, and in the mod: agreeable fituation of the town. It was the firfl obje£l which flruck the fight ^§ you approached the town, but in- flead 1^ TRAVELS IN ftead of travellers, it foon drew the atten- tion of our bombardiers and cannoniers, and was alinoft entirely deftroyed. Mr. Nelfon lived in it at the time our batteries tried their firil (hot and killed one of his negroes at a little diftance from him ; fo that Lord Cornwallis was foon obliged to feek another afylum. But what afylum could be found for an old man, deprived of the ufe of bis legs by the gout ? But, above all, what afylum could defend him againft the cruel anguifh a father muft feel at being befieged by his own children ; for he had two in the American army. So that every fliot, whether fired from the town, or from the trenches, might prove equally fatal to him ; 1 was witnefs to the cruel anxiety of one of thefe young men, when after the flag was fent to demand his father, he kept his eyes fixed upon the gate of the town, by which it was to come out, and fecmed to expedt his own fentence in the anfwer. Lord Cornwallis had too much humanity to refiife a requeft fo juft, nor can I recol- lect, without emotion, the moment in which I faw NORTH-AMERICA. 27 I favv this old gentleman alight at General Wafhington's. He was feated, the fit of the gout not having yet left him ; and whilfl: we flood around him, he related to us, with a ferene countenance, what had been the effect of our batteries, and how much his houfe had faffered from the firft fhot. The tranquillity which has fucceeded thefe unhappy times, by g'ving him leifure to rcfle6l upon his lofles, has not embittered the recoiledion ; he lives happily in one of his plantations, where, in lefs than fix hours, he can afiemble thirty of his children, grand children, nephews, nieces, &c. a- mounting in all to feventy, the whole in- habiting Virginia. The rapid increafe of his own family juftifies what he told mc of the population in general, cf which, from the offices he has held all his life, he muft have it in his power to form a very accurate judgment. In i 742 the people Juhjeoi to pay taxes in the State of Virginia, that is to fay, the white males above fixteen, and the male and female blacks of the fame age, amounted only to the number of 63,000 ; by 28 TRAVELS IN by his account they now exceed 160,000 *\ After paffiiig two days very agreeably with this interefting family, we left them the 1 2th at ten in the morning, accom- panied by the Secretary, and five or fix o- ther Nelfons, who conduded us to Z///- tk River BruJge, a fmall creek on the road about five miles from Offly. There we feparated, and having rode about eleven miles further through woods, and over a barren country, we arrived at one o'clock at Willis's inn or ordinary; for the inns which in the other provinces of Ame- rica are known by the name of taverns, or public-houfes, are in Virginia called ordi' naries. This confifted of a little houfe placed in a folitnry fituation in the middle of the woods, notwithftanding which we there found a great deal of company. As foon as I alighted, I enquired what might be the reafon of this numer- ous afi'embly, and was informed it was a cock-jnatch* This diverfion . is much in fafhion * Tills calculation is much below that given by other writers, and I have reafon to believe that it is confiderably below the mark. Translator. ! N O R T H - A M E R I C A. 29 fafliion in Virginia, where the Englifh cuf- toms are more prevalent than in the reft of America. When the principal promoters of this diverfion, propofe to watch their champions, they take great care to announce it to tlie public, and although there are neither pofts, nor regular conveyances, this important news fpreads with fuch facility that the planters for thirty or forty miles round, attend, fome with cocks, but all with money for betting, which is fometimes very confiderable. They are obliged to •bring their own provifions, as fo many people with good appetites could not pof- fibly be fupplied with them at the inn. As for lodgings, one large room for the whole company, with a blanket for each individual, is fufficient for fuch hearty countrymen, who are not more delicate about the conveniencies of life, than the choice of their amufements. Whilft our horfes were feeding, we had an opportunity of feeing a battle. The preparation took up a great deal of time ; they arm their cocks with long fteel fpurs, very fliarp, and cut off a part of their fea- thers, 30 TRAVELS IM thers, as if they meant to deprive them of their armour. The ftakes were very con- fiderable ; the money of the parties was de- pofitcd in the hands of one of the principal perfons, and I felt a fecret pleafure in ob- ferving that it was chiefly French *. I know * The prodigious quantity of French money brought into America by their fleets and armies, and the loans made to Congrefs, together with the vafl return of dollars from the Havannah, and the Spa- nifh, Portugucze and Englilh gold which found its way into the country from the Britifli lines, render- ed fpecie very plentiful towards the conclufion of the war ; and the arrival of the army of the Comte de Rochambeau was particularly opportune, as it happened at the very diftrefling crifis of the death of the paper currency. The French money alone in circulation in the United States, in the year 1782 was eftimatcd after very accurate calculations, at thirty-five millions of livres, or near a million and a halfflerling. Although it is impoflible to afcer- tain with any degree of precifion the quantity of Brtifli money circulating in the revolted part of the continent, under the forms of Spanish, Portugal, and En"-lifh coin, yet feme general idea may be enter- tained that the quantity was very confidcrable, from the following extraft from xhc feventb report of the comm'ijfioncrs of public accounts^ " We obtained by re- «' quifitionfrom the office of the Paymaftcr General »' of the forces, an account of the money illued to NORTH-AMERICA. 31 know not which is the mod aftonifliing, the infipidity of fuch diverfion, or the ftu- pid " MefTrs. Hartley and Drummond, piirfuant to his *' Majefty's warrants, for the extraordinary fervices «' of his Majefty's forces ferving in North America *^ from the ift of January 1776, to the 31/ of Dc- •' cember 178 1. This fum amounts to 10,083,863!, " 2S. 6d." — There are two ways by which this " money goes from thefe remitters into the hands *' of their agents : the one is by bills drawn by them *' on the remitters, which bills they receive the va- *' lue for in America, and the remitters difcharge *' when prefented to them in London; the other is " by fending out aBual cajh, whenever it becomes *' neceffary to fupport the exchange, by increafing *' the quantity of current cafh in the hands of the *' agents." — Now the votes of ParHament will fhew the reader, the vafl fums annually granted to Mcffrs. Hartley and Drummond, for the fpecific purpofe of purchafmg Spanilh and Portugal gold alone, to fup- ply *' this quantity of current cafli." Belides the vail exportation of Englifh guineas ; nor is it to be doubted that a great proportion of this fupply found its way into the heart of the United States, in re- turn for provifions, in payment of their captive ar- mies, &c. &c. The Britilh navy too is not includ- ed in this eftimate. Great furas 'tis true returned to Britain diredly or indirectly for goods, &c. but much fpecie remained inconteflably in the country. With refpeil to the Spanilh dollars from the Ha- vanah and the Weft Indies, no juft calculation can 32 TRAVELSIN pid intcreft with which it animates the parties. This pa(iion appears almoft innate amongft the EngUOi, for the Virginians are yet EngliHi in many refpeds. Whilfl: the interefled parties animated the cocks to battle, a child of fifteen, who was near me, kept leaping for joy, and crying, Oh 1 it is a charming dherfion. We had yet feven or eight and twenty miles to ride, to the only inn where it was poffible to flop, before we reached Mr. Jef- ferfon's ; for Mr. de Rochambeau, who had travelled the fame road but two months be* fore, cautioned me againft fleeping at Lonifa Court-houfe, as the worft lodging he had found in all America. This public- houfe is fixteen miles from Willis's or- dinary. As he had given me a very forci- ble defcription not only of the houfe, but of be formed, but the amount mull have been very confiderable, as they appeared to me to circulate in the proportion of at leaft three or four to one of all the other coined fpecie. — When the Tranflator add- ed this note, he had not feen Lord Sheffiel(Jt% ob- fervations on the fubjedl. In thefe however, he lliinks his lordfliip difcovers deep prejudices, mixed with much excellent leafoning and a great deal af truth. Translator^ NORT H-AM'ERIC A. o:> of the landlord, I had a curiofity to judge of it by my own experience. Under the pretence of enquiring for the road, there- fore, I went in, and obferved, that there was no other lodging for travellers than the apartment of the landlord. This man, called Johnforiy is become fo monflrouily fat, that he cannot move out of his arm- chair. He is a good humoured fellow, whofe manners are not very rigid, who loves good cheer, and all forts of pleafure, infomuch that at the age of fifty he has fo augmented his bulk, and diminifhed his fortune, that by two oppofite principles he is near feeing the termination of both ; but all this does not in the lead affeft his gaiety. I found him contented in his arm-chair, which ferves him for a bed ; for it would be difficult for him to lie down, and impoflible to rife. A ftool fupported his enormous legs, in which v/ers large fiffures on each fide, a prelude to what muft foon happen to his belly. A large Uiam and a bowl of grog ferved him for company, like a man refolved to die lur- rounded by his friends. He called to my Vol. 11. D mind, 34 TRAVELSIN mind, in (hort, the country fpoken of by Rabelais, where the men order their bellies to be hooped to prolong their lives, and efpecially the Abbe, who having exhaufted every poflible refource, refolved to finilh his days by a great feafl:, and invited all the neighbourhood to his hiirjling. The night was already clofed in, when we arrived at the houle of Colonel Bofwell, a tall, ftcut Scotfman, about fixty }Tars of age, and who had been about forty years fettled in America, where, under the En- glifli government, he was a Colonel of mi- litia. Although he kept a kind of tavern, he appeared but little prepared to receive ftrangers. It was already late indeed, be- fides that this road, which leads only to the mountains, is little frequented. He was quietly feated near the fire, by the fide of his wife, as old, and almofl as tall as himfelf, whom he diftinguilhed by the epi- thet of, *' honey," which in French cor- refponds with tJion petit coeur. Thefe ho- ned people received us cheerfully, and foon called up their fervants, who were already gone to bed. Whilft they were preparing lupper, NORTH-AMER ICA. s5 fupper, we often heard them call Rofe^ Rofe^ which at length brought to view the mod hideous negrefs I ever beheld. Our fup- per was rather fcanty, but our break fad the next morning better ; we had ham, butter, frefh eggs, and coffee by way of drink : for the whilkey or corn-fpirlts we had in the evening, rnixt with water, was very bad; befides that we were perfedtly reconciled to the American cuftom of drinking coffee with meat, vegetables or other food. We fet out the next morning at eight o'clock, havinglearned nothing in this houfe worthy of remark, except that notwith- flanding the hale and robuft appearance of Mr. and Mrs. Bofwell, not one of fourteen of their children had attained the age of ten ye?.rs. We were now approaching a chain of mountains of conliderable height, called the Soiith-wejl ?7iout2tams, becaufe they are the firft you meet in travelling weftvvard, before you arrive at the chain known in France by the name of the Apalachians , and in Virginia by that of the Blue Ridge, North Ridge, and Allegany mountains. As the country was much covered with woods, we D 2 had q6 T R a V E L S I N o had a view of them but very feldom ; and travelled a long time without feeing any habitation, at times greatly perplexed to choofe among the different roads, which crofled each other *. At lad we overtook a traveller who preceded us, and ferved not only as a guide, but by his company help- ed to abridge our journey. He was an Irifhman, -f who though but lately arriv- ed * The difficulty of finding the road in many parts of America is not to be conceived except by thofe ftrangers who have travelled in that country. The roads, which are not through the woods, not being kept in repair, as foon as one is in bad order, ano- ther is made in the fame manner, that is, merely by felling the trees, and the whole interior parts are fo covered, that v.ithout a compafs it is impoffibic to have the leaft idea of the courfe you are fleering. Thediilances too are fo uncertain, as in every coun- try where they are not meafured, that no two ac- counts refemble each other. In the back parts of Pen- fylvania, Maryland, and Virginia, I have frequent- ly travelled thirty miles for ten, though frequent- ly fet right by palfengers and negroes ; but the great communications between the large towns, through ali the well inhabited parts of the continent, are as prac- ticable and eafy as in Europe. Translator. t An Irifhman, the inflant he fets foot on Ame- rican 2;round becomes, ipfo/a^o, an American ; this NORTH-AMERICA. 37 ed in America, had made feveral cam- paigns, and received a confiderable wound D ^ in was uniformly the cafe during the whole of the late war. Whilfl Englilhmen and Scotfmen were re- garded with jealoufy and diflrufl, even with the beft recommendation, of zeal and attachment to their caufe, a native of Ireland ftood in need of no other certificate than his dialeft ; his lincerity was never called in queftion, he was fuppofed to haye a fym- pathy of fufFering, and every voice decided as it were intuitively, in his favour. Indeed their conduft in the late revolution amply juflified this favourable opinion: for whilft the Irifh emio-rant was fichtins: the battles of America by fea and land, the Irilh merchants, particularly at Charles-Tovv^n, Baltimore and Philadelphia, laboured with indefatigable zeal, and at all hazards, to promote the fpirit of enter- prize, to Increafe the wealth, and maintain the credit of the country ; their purfes were always open, and their perfons devoted to the'common caufe. On more than one imminent occafion, Congrefs owed their cxiftence, and America poflibly her preferva- tion to the fidelity and firm nefs of the Irilh. I had the honour of dining with the Irifh Society, compofed of the ileadicfl whigs upon the continent, £t the city tavern in Philadelphia, on St. Patrick's day ; the members wear a medallion fufpended by a riband, with a very fignificant device, which has cfcaped my memory, but was fo applicable to the AniSfica.n revolution, that until I was aiTured that it 38 T R A V E L S I N in his thigh by a mufquet ball; which, though it could never be extraded, had not in the lead affeded ciiher his health or gaiety. He related his military exploits, and wc enquired immediately about the country which he then inhabited. He ac- quainted us that he was fettled in North Carolina, upwards of eighty miles frorn Catazvbaxi), and were then 300 from the fea. Thefe new eftablKhments are fo much the more interefting, as by their diftance fronr^ all commerce, agriculture is their fole refource ; I mean that patriarchal agri- culture which confiils in producing only what is fufiicient for their own confump- tion, without the hope of either fale or barter. Thefe Colonies therefore mud ne- ceflarily fubfilled prior to that event, and had a reference only to the opprcflion of Ireland by her powerful filler, I concluded it to be a temporary illufion. General Wafliington, Mr. Dickinfon and other leading charafters are adopted members of this So- ciety, having been initiated by the ceremony of an exterior application of a whole bottle of claret pour- ed upon the head, and a generous hbation to liberty and good living, of as many as the votary could carry off. Translator. NORTH-AMERICA. 39 cefiTarily be rendered equal to all their wants. It is eafy to conceive that there is foon no deficiency of food, but it is alfo neceflary that their flocks and their fields fliould fur- nish them with cloathing, they mud ma- nufacture their own wool, and flax, into clothes and linen, they muft prepare the hides to nrsake fhoes of them, &c. &c. '^ as to drink, they are obliged to content themfelves with milk and water, until their apple-trees are large enough to bear fruit, or until they have been able to procure them- felves fliills, to diftil their grain. — In thefe troublefome times we fliould fcarcely ima- gine in Europe, that nails are the articles the mofl: wanted in thefc new colonies : for the axe and the faw can fupply every other want. They contrive however to erect huts, and conftrud: roofs without nails, but the work is by this means rendered much more tedious, and in fuch circum- flances * It is a natural fuppofition that workmen of all forts (at leaft the moll necelTary) flioukl form a part of every new colony, and follow their particular trade as the mofi beneficial employment. Translator. 40 TRAVELSIN fiances every body knows the value of time and labour. It was a natural queftion to afk luch a cultivator what could bring him four hundred miles from home, and we learned from him that he carried on the trade of horfe felling, the only commerce of which his country was fufceptible, -f* and by which people in the mofl eafy cir- cumftances endeavoured to augment their fortunes. In fauui. He has lately tranflatcd into French, Co- lonel Humphreys's poem, I'hc Campaign, mentioned iji tlie notes to the firfl volume of this work. Traxslator. N O R T B - A M E R I C A. 59 !ina as a common rifleman -f^ notwithftand- ing which, he was well mounted, and ap- peared much at his eafe. In America the miUtia is compofed of all the inhabitants without diilinfftion, and the officers are elected f The riflemen are a Virginian militia, compofed of the inhabitants of the mountains, who are all expert hunters, and make ufe of rifle guns. To- wards the end of the war httle ufe was made of them, as it was found that the difficulty of loading their pieces more than equalled the advantages derived from their exaftnefs. The Americans had great numbers of riflemen m fmall detachments on the flanks of Ge- neral Burgoyne's army, many of whom took poll on high trees in the rear of their own line, and there was feldom a minute's interval of fmoke without officers being taken ofl?" by Angle ihot. Captain Green of the 31 flregiment, Aide de Camp to General Philips, was Ihot through the arm by one of thofe markfmen as he w^s delivering a meflTage to General Burgoyne. After the convention, the commanding .officer of the riflemen informed General Burgoyne that the fhot was meant for him ; and as Captain Green was fecn to fall from his horfe, it was for fome hours believed in the American army that General Bqrgoyne was killed. His efcape was owing to the Captain's hav- ing laced furniture to his faddle, which made him to be mifl:aken for the General. General Burgoyne fays, in his Narrative, that not an Indian could be |d rough t within the found of a rifle fliot. TRANSLATOR, j 6o TRAVELSIN eleded by them without refped: either to fervice or experience. Our fellow-traveller had been at the battle of Cowpens, where General Morgan, with 800 militia, entirely defeated the famous Tarleton, at the head of his legion, a regiment of regular troops, and of different pickets drawn from the army, forming near 1200 men, of whom upwards of 800 were killed or made pri- foners *. This event, the mod extraordi- nary * Lord Cornzuallhy in his anfvver to Sir Henry Clintons Narrative, publiflied in 1783, gives the fol- lowing ftate of his army before the defeat of Tarle- ton, and fubfequent to that event, from which we may autlienticate the lofs of men, and deduce the importance of Morgan's victory to America ; January 15th, 1781, the rank and file of his Lord- Ihip's army was, Guards, _ - - - 690 7th regiment, - - - 167 i6th, three companies, - - 41 23d regiment, - - - 286 33d regiment, • - . 328 7 ill, 1 ft battalion, - - 249 71ft, 2d battahon, - - 237 71ft hght company, - - 69 German regiment of Bofe, - - 347 Yagers, _ - . 103 Carried over 2517 NORTH-AMERICA. 6t nary of the whole war, had always excited my curiofity. The modefly and fimplicity with Brought over 2517 Tarleton's legion, - - - 45 c N. Carolina volunteers, - 256 Total before the battle, - - 3224 February ift, 1781, after the defeat of ,Tarleton, Guards, - - - • 690 7th regiment - - - - — — i6th, - - - — 23d, - - - 279 33^» - - - 334 71ft, I ft battalion, p ' ■ 71ft 2d ditto, * - 234 71ft light company, - — — German regiment of Bofe, - 345 Yagers - - - 97 Tarleton's legion - - 174 N. Carolina volunteers, • 287 Total after the defeat of Tarleton, 2440 Total lofs with the detachment of artillery 800 out of 1050 men, the real number of Tarleton's force. The names of the regiments that have no numbers annexed to them in the laft column are thofe which were totally deftroyed, that is, killed, wounded, or ta- ken, in the battle of Cowpens, on the 17th ofjanuary, between Morgan and Tarleton, Lord Cornwallis 4 62 TRAVELS IN \yith which General Morgan gave the ac- count of it, have been generally admired. But one circumftance in this relation had always aftonifhcd me. Morgan drew up his troops in order of battle, in an open wood, and divided his riflemen upon the two wings, fo as to form, with the line, a kind oi tenaille, which colleded the whole fire, both dire6lly and obliquely, on the center of the Engliih. But after the firft difcharge, he made fo dangerous a move- ment, that had he commanded the befl dif- ciplined troops in the world, I (hould be at in his Gazette account, immediately after the affair, ftated the lofs only at 400, but the trutli at length appears, when the purpofes of mifreprefeutation are at an end, and the detail becomes neceffary to the General's own honour. Lord Cornwallis in his account of Tarleton's de- feat, mentions a very honourable circumftance for the corps'of artillery, but which was by no mean. % unexamined by this brave body of men, in feveral aftions in America: he fays, " In juflicc to the detachment of royal artillery, \ mufl here obferve that no terrors could induce them to abandon their guns, and they were all either killed or wounded in defence of them." Translator,. N O R T H -A M E R I C A. 63 at a lofs to account for it. He ordered the whole ]ine to wheel to the right, and after retreating thirty or forty paces, made them halt, face about, and recommence the fire. I begged this witnefs, whofe depofition couldlnot be fufpedted, to relate what he had feen, and I found his account perfect- ly conformable to Morgan's own relation. But as he could affign no reafon for this retrograde motion, 1 enquired if the ground behind the firft pofition was not more ele- vated and advantageous, but he affured me it was abfolutely the" fame ; fo that if it was this adlon w^hich tempted the Englifii (whofe attack is not hot, but conlifts in general of a briflk fire, rather than in clof- ing with the enemy) to break their line, and advance inconiiderately into a kind of focus of fhot poured from the center and the wings, it depended on General Morgan alone to have claimed the merit, and to have boafted of one of the boldeil: flrata- gems ever employed in the art of war. This is a merit however he never claimed, and the relation of this rifleman leaves no doubt w^ith me, that the General, dreading the 64 TRAVELS IN the fuperiorlty of the Englifh, had at firfl defigned to give up gradually the field of battle, and retreat to covered ground, more advantageous for interior forces ; but find- ing himfelfclofcly prcfled, he had no other lefource but to rifk every thing and give battle on the fpot. Whatever was the mo- tive of this lingular manoeuvre, the refult of it was the defeat of Tarleton, whofe troops gave way on all fides, without a poflibility of rallying them. Fatigued by a very long march, they were foon over- taken by the American militia, who, afTifted by fixty horfe under Colonel Washington, made upwards of 500 prifoners, and took two pair of colours and two pieces of cannon. It is natural to enquire how Tarleton's cavalry were employed during the engage- ment, and after the defeat ; whilft the in- fantry were engaged, they endeavoured to turn the flanks of General Morgan's army, but were kept in awe by fome riflemen, and by the American horfc detached by Colo- nel Washington, to fupport them, in two little fquadrons. After the battle, they fled NORTH. AMERICA. 65 fled full gallop, without ever thinking of the infantry, or taking the lead precau- tion to cover their retreat. As to the En- glish General, God knows what became of him. And this is that Tarleton who with Cornwallis was to fimih. the conqueft of ji America ; who with Cornwallis had receiv- ed the thanks of the Houfe of Commons, and whom all England admired as the hero of the army and the honour of the nation *. In refle6ling on the hte of war, let us re- colled, that two months after this vidlory * Colonel Tarleton has given fo many proofs not only of courage but of great bravery and firmnefs, that every foldier ought to approve the eulogiums bellowed upon his valour. It were to be wiflied that he had always made good ufe of thofe qualities, and that he had fliewn himfelf as humane and fenfible, as brave and determined. The defign of thefe refie£tions is to (hew, how much the Englifh, in this war, have been obliged to fwell their fuccelles, and diminifh their defeats. The more rare they became, the more they were difpofed to folemnize the former. Howe and Burgoyne were difgraced for not conquering America, wliilft others have obtained promotion for gaining fome trifling advantages. Vol. IL F gained 66 TRAVELSIN gained by the militia * over i2co veteran troops, General Greene, after having af- fembled near 5000 men, half militia, half continentals, made choice of an excellent pofition, and employed all the refources of military art, was beaten by 1800 men, abandoned by his militia t> and forced to limit * Earl Corhwallis in his letter in the London Ga- :zette of March 31ft, 178 1, fays that Morgan had with him, *' By the beil accounts he could get, about 500 men, Continental and Virginia flate troops, loj cavalry under Colonel Walhiiigton, and 6 or 700 militia ; but that body is fo flu£tuating, that it is impoflible to afcertain its number ■within fomc huii' drcds^ for three days following." This account feems to have been intended to qualify die defeat of Tarleton, who was a great favourite; but the fa£t is nearly as the Marquis de Chaftellux ftates it, for Morgan had very few continentals with him, and liis whole body did not exceed 800 men. t The returns of Lord Cornvvallis's army 7 taken a fortnight before the battle were, 3 3 The returns feventeen days after it, - 1723 His lofs confequently may be flated at about 7 the difference, - - J ^ Several attempts have been likewife made to prove that General Greene had with him at Guildford an army of 9 or io,oco men, but Lord Cornwallis him- fclf, in his letter to Lord Rawdon, dated Camp at NORTH-AMERICA. tf limit all his glory to the making the En- gli(h pay dear for the field of battle^ which F 2 the Guildford, March 17, 1781, and publlfhed in tlie London Gazette of May lO, 178 1, exprefsly fays, *' General Greene having; been very conjidcrahly rein- *' forced from Virginia hj eight months men and mi ^ " Utioy and having colledled all the militia of this *' province, adranced with an army of about 5, or *' 6000 men, and 4 fix-pounders, to this place " From this unexpe^ed account we may colIe<5l pretty clearly the indifferent compofition of General Greene's force, and mufl render juflice to the fair- nefs of the French General's detail which calls them 5000 men, ^^T/" militia, ^^//'continentals ; and ftates the conquering army only at 1800 men. The Tranf- lator hopes the reader will not find thefe compa- rifons fuperfiuous, as fuch fcrutinies tend to eluci- date the interefting events of an ever memorable re- volution, and to enlighten hiftory. General Gate^ iliewed me, at his lioufe in Virginia, a letter from General Greene, wherein he took occafion in the moft liberal manner to reconcile him to the unfor~ tunate affair of Camden, by a detail of the bad con* duft of the fame militia, at the battle of Guildford^ the Eutaius, &c. He touched upon the matter with a delicacy and candour which did equal honour to his fenfibility and judgment. Such a tribute of juf-' tice from the officer who had fuperfeded him in his command could not but be highly grateful to Ge- neral Gates, poflTeiTmg, as he doe?, in the moft cmi^ 68 T R A V E L S I N the reft of his troops defended foot by foot, and yielded with relu^Ttance ■'. Our con- verfation jicnt degree, the warlike virtue?, a pure difinterefted attachment to the caufc of freedom, and all the ge- nerous lufceptibility of an amiable private gentle- man. Whilil under a cloud himfelf, I heard him with admiration uniformly expatiate with all tl>e diftreficd warmth of public virtue on the fucccfles oi other Generals, and inflead of jealous repining and difgull, pay his tribute of applaufc to the merits even of thofe he could not love, and prognofticate, with confidence, the final fuccefs of America. It was with real joy therefore, that I faw his honour vin- dicated by the deliberate voice of Congrefs, himfelf reftored to his former rank, and that harmony which never fhould have been diflurbed, renewed between this true patriot and General Wafliington, under whom I left him fccond in command at the camp at Vcrplanks on the North River in October, 1782, Translator. * Since the Journal was written, the author has had an opportunity of feeing General Morgan ; he is a man about fifty, tall, aivd of a very martial ap- pearance. The fervices he rendered the ftate during the war, were very numerous, and his promotion rapid. It is pretended that he was formerly a carter^ and from the fante unacqualntance with the cuftoms and language of the country. Another General is faid to have been a farmer , becaufe he employed himfelf in cultivation, and a third to have been tk NORTH- AM ERIC A. 69 verfatlon on Vvar and battles brought us to the foot of the gap^ or, as it is called, the F 3 neck butcher^ becatife he dealt in cattle. General Mor- gan was formerly engaged in waggons, undertook the tranfport of goods fent by land, and often put himfelf at the head of thefe little convoys. The Marquis dc Ch , the iirfl time he had an oppor- tunity of feeing him, commanded the French troops in the abfence of the Comte de Rochambeau at Phi- ladelphia, during the march from Williamfburgh to Baltimore. The Marquis de Ch was then at Colcheflcr, with the lirft divifion of the troops, af- ter pafling in boats the river which runs near the town. The carriages and artillery had taken ano- ther ro?.d, to gain an indifferent ford. General Morgan; met them when they v/ere engaged in a very narrow palfage, and finding the carters did not im- derlland their bufinefs, he flopped, and fhewed them how they ought to drive. Having put every thing in order, he alighted at the Marquis's, and -dined with him. The fimplicity of his deportment, and the noblenefs of his behaviour, recalled to mind the ancient Gallic and German chiefs, who, when, in peace with tlie Romans, came to vifit and of- fer them afliflance. He expreffed a great attachment to the French nation, admired our troops, and never ceafed looking at them ; often repeating, that the greateft pieaiure of his life would be, to ferve in numerous and brilliant armies. It will eafily be con- Icftured tliat his hoft aiked hinj many (^ueflions. ^o TRAVELSIN neck of Rock-Fijh, which, in an extent of more than iifty miles is the only paf- fage particularly refpcftlng the affair of Cowpens. His anfwer confirmed what the rifleman had faid ; he owned alfo very candidly that the retrograde move- ment he had made, v^'as not premeditated. His troops were intimidated, when the Englifli, with more confidence than order, advanced to the at' tack: obferving them keep their ranks, he fuffcr- ed them to retreat a hundred paces, and then com- manded them to halt and face the enemy, as if the retrograde movement had been really precon- certed *. Though this account, which is more re- cent and furer than in the text, might render thofc Tcfieftions ufelefs, it was thought proper to prcfcrvc them, bccaufe on one hand they are not uninterefl- jng to the foldier, and on the other, they may teach philofophers and critics to fufpeft thofe who have written hiftory, above all, thofe who, like Titus Li- vius, Dionyfius of Halicarnaflus, and all the copious and elegant hiftorians, delight in multiplying and varying the defcriptions of battles; or, what is yet jnore reprcheafiblc, who like Frontin, Pollien, and other * General Morgan by thus dextcroufly availing himfclf of tlie clrcymnanccs of liis very critical pofiiion, has perhaps more real jnerit, than if he had really preconceived the manaeuvre which ].as given him fo much fame; a manoeuvre, from whjch, unlefs Juftifjcd by a nccefTity fuch a( his, he liad ro right to expe£t fucr pcA, in the face of a fkUful enemy ; but Tarlcton never was 9 ftfnmandfr. TRANSLATOR. NORT H -AMER ICA. 71 fage to crofs the Blue Ridges, at leaft in a carriage. We afcended very commodioufly, for about two miles, and on arriving at the top of the mountain, were fiirprifed to find a little cottage lately built and inha- bited by white people. I enquired of my fellow-traveller what could engage them to fettle in fo barren and defert a place, he told me they were poor people who expe<5t- ed to get fome affiftance from pafTengers. I expedled this anfwer, and was forry to find in a new countrv, where the earth wants inhabitants, and agriculture, hands, ■white people under the neceffity of beg- ging. I flopped a moment to view tlie wild but uninterefting profpe6l of the wef- tern mountains, from the fummit of the Blue Ridges. But as the fun was near fet- ting, I haftened to reach the only inn where lodgings other compilers, borrow trom hiflorians the events and flratagems of war, which they endeavour to coliea. -General Morgan has not ferved fince the affair of Cowpens ; he lives in tlic county of Fairfax and on the eftate which he had either purchafed or increaf- ed, waiting till opportunity ihall piefent him w>tl]i fome coramand. p TRAVELS IN lodgings could be had, on the other fide of the mountains. Notvvithftanding which, I flopped once more, nor had I any reafon to regret it. My fervant always follo\Yed me with a fowling-piece, and as it frequently happened that I was obliged to alight to fire at a partridge, or fome other game, our converfation did not prevent me from be- jng always upon the watch. I perceived a large bird which crofled the road, and by the indincl of a fportfman, I concluded ic to be vvliat the inhabitants of the moun- tains call 2ifbeafant^ but which refembles much more a ivoodhen. To alight, call my dog, and take my gun, was the work of a moment ; as I was preparing to fol- low the %voodben among the bulhes, one of my fervants pointed out to me two others, perched upon a tree behind him, and which looked at me with great tranquiUity. I iired at the one nearefl to me, nor did it require much addrefs to kill it. Except tliat it was perhaps a little bigger, it re- femblcd the one I had (cqw at Newport, where the Americans carry them fomctimeq to market, in winter, when they dcfcehd NORTH-AMERICA. 73 from the mountains, and are more eafily killed. This one, before it was plucked, was of the fize of a capon ; its plumage on the back and wings refembled that of a hen pheafint, and, on the belly and thighs, the large winter thru(h. It was booted like the rough footed pigeon, to its feet, and the plumage of its head formed a kindof aigrette : take it altogether, it is a beauti- ful bird, and good eating ; but when flript of its feathers, it was not larger than the redfooted partridge, or bartavelle. After ordering the woodhen 1 had killed, for fup- per, I tried to find the firfl I had feen. run into the underwood. I raifed it once, and although I ran immediately, and had an excellent dog, it was impoiTible to find it ; thefe birds running very fad, like the phea- fant and the rayl. The m.ode* which the inhabitants of the mountains make ufe of to kill them, is to walk in the woods at fun-rifing and fun-fetting, to attend to the Dolfe they make in beating their lides with their wings, which may be heard above ^ mile ; they then approach foftly, and ufual- \y find them fitting upon the trunk of fome old 74 TRAVELS IN old tree. It was perhaps lucky tliat my fhooting did not continue with more fuc- cefs ; for it was almoil: night when we ar- rived at the ford of South Rher, and the waters, ccnfiderably augmented by the late rains, were very high. I was proud of fording the famous Potoisjmack, which had taken me an hour in a boat, at they^rry of Alexandria *. South * In travelling from Fiedcrick-Town to Leef- "burgh, in a finglc-horfe chaifc for one pcrfon, called in America a fulky^ the Ihafts of my carriage broke about a mile from the Potowraack, on the iVIaryland fide, and I was reduced to the neceffity, having no fervant, of leaving it with all my papers, money, fire-arms, &;c. and of mounting my horfc in fearch of affiftance. Night was coming on in a moft difficult country, to which I was an utter ilranger, and not even a negro-hut was to be met with. In thefc circumflances I approached the Potowmack, on the other fide of which I difcover- ed a fmokc in the woods, which gave me hopes of its proceeding from a houfe, but the river was near a mile broad, and my horfe barely fourteen hands high. Wlijlfl I was thus Handing in fufpence, two travellers arrive on horftback and pulh into the river, a little higher up. I flew to follow them, but fcarcely had th^y advanced one hundred yard? before they returned, declaring it not fordable, and^ N O R T H - A M E R I C A. 75 South river In fad is only a branch of the Potowmack, the fource of which is in the to add to my dlflrefs, they aflured me that I was a^. z great diftance from any houfe on that fide, b.ut, on the other, I fhould find an ordinary kept by a Scotfman. They excufed themfelves from affift- ing me on the plea of urgent bufinefs, and Ith me with the confoling afTurance that the river might poffibly be fordable, though they who were inhabi- tants of the country, did not chufe to venture it. Perceiving the bottom of a good grave!, and free from rocks, I attempted the pafTage as foon as they left me, and in about twenty dangerous and irkfome minutes reached the other lide, where I obtained the cheerful aid of two native negroes at the Scotfraan's hut, for it was no better, and recrofling the river, went in fearch of my broken carriage, which we found in fecurity. It was ten o'clock before I pafTed the river a third time, always up to my waift, and reached my quarters for the night, v/here at leaft I met with as hofpitable a reception as the houfe af- forded ; but the confequence of this adventure, wherein I was fucceffively wet and dry three times, in the hot month of July, was a fever and ague which tormented me for five months. At Alexan^ dria, about fifty miles lower down, the Potowmack foils its majeflic flream with fublimity and grandeur, fixty gun fhips may lie before the tov.ai, which ftandg UDon its lofty banks, commanding, to a great extent, ^6 TRAVELS IN the mountains, and like all other rivers is humble in its rife; but it may be looked upon as the proudeft of its branches, as at the diftance of thirty leagues, it is above a mile broad, and refcmbles more an arm of thefea, than a river. Two hundred paces from the ford, but more than forty miles from the place from which I fet out, I found the inn which Mr. JefFerfon had de- fcribed to me ; it was one of the worft in all America. Mrs. Teaze, the miftrefs of %hc houfe, was fome time fince left a widow; fhe appears alfo to be in fad: the widow of her furniture, for furely never was houfe fo badly furniflied. A folitary tin vefTel was the only bowl for the family, the fer- vants and ourfelves ; I dare not fay for what other ufe it was propofcd to us on our go- ing to bed *. As we were four mafters, without tlie Matter Hiorc of Maryland. This town, which lUnds above iqq ijiiles from the fca, is rapidly on the increaic, and froiu the lavifh prodigality of Nature, cannot fail of btcoming one of the firft cities of th« new world. Translator. * The Marqtjis'&diftrQfs on this occafion, reminds me naturally of a fiiuilar, but flill woii'c fituation ill N O R T H - A M E p. I C A. 77 without reckoning the rifleman, who had followed us, and v/hom 1 had engaged to fupper, the hoilefs and the family were ob- liged to reiign to us their beds. But at the moment we were inclined to make ufe of them, a tall young man entering the cham- ber, where we were afiemhled, opened a clofet, and took out of it a little bottle. I enquired what it was -, it is, faid he, fome- thing which the Do6lor in the neighbour- hood has ordered me to take every day. And for what complaint, faid 1 ? Oh ! not much, he replied, only a little itch. I own his which I found myfelf on my return from America towards the end of the war, with four ouicers of tfie army of the Comte de Rochambeau. Our captaia being obhged fuddenly to take advantage of one of thofe violent north wefters which blow in De- cember, to get clear of the coaft, befet with New- York Privateers, forgot all his crockery ware, fo that in default of plates, mugs, he. we were oblig- ed, during a winter's voyage of feven weeks, to ap-* ply two tin jugs we had purchafed to drink out cyder, to every ufe ; and, in fpite of my reprefentii- lions, even to fomc purpofes I am unwilling to re- peat ; for in bad weather, thefe excellent land-officcri could not be prevailed upon to look on deck. Translator* 78 T R A V E L S I N his confeflion was ingenuous, but I was by no means forry that 1 had flieetsln myport- n"ianteau. It may eaUly be imagined wc were not tempted to breakfaft in this houfe. We fet out therefore very early on the 1 8th, in hopes (as we had been told) that we {hould hnd a better inn, at the diflance of ten miles, but thofe hopes were vain. Mr* Smith, a poor planter, to whom we were re- commended, had neither forage for our horfes, nor any thing for ourfelves. He only afTured us, that eight miles further we (liould find a mill, the proprietor of which kept a public-houfe, and we found accordingly the mill and the miller. He was a young man, twenty- two years of age, whofe charming face, fine teeth, red lips, and rofy cheeks, recalled to mind the pleaf- ing portrait which Marmontel gives oi Lu- bin. His walk and carriage did not how- ever correfpond with the freflinefs of his looks, for he appeared fluggifh and inadlive. I enquired the reafon, and he told me he had been in a languifhing flate ever fince the battle of Guiliijordy in which he had receiv- ed fifteen or fixteen wounds with a hanger. He N O R T H . A M "iklC A. 79 He had not, like the Komans, a crown toat- teft his valour; nor, like the French, either penfion or certificate of honour ; inftead of them, he had apiece of his Ikull, which his wife brought to fliew me. I certainly lit- tle thought uf finding, amidil the folitudes of America, fuch lamentable traces of Eu- ropean fteel ; but 1 was the mod touched to learn, that it was after he had received his firft wound, and was made prifoner, that he had been thus cruelly treated. This unhappy young man acquainted me, that overcome with wounds, and waljowino- in his blood, he yet retained his prefence of mind, and imagining his cruel enemies would not leave exifting a (ingle witnefs or viaim of their barbarity, there remained no other way of faving his life, than by apr pearing as if he had loft it. The all-feeing eye of Divine Jufllce alone can difcover and make known the authors of fuch a crimcj but, if difcovered — Oh I for the voice of a Stentor and the trumpet cf Fame, to devote the vile perpetrators to pre- fent and future horror ! And to announce to all fovercigns, generals and chiefs, that the enormities So TRAVELS IN enormities which they tolerate, or leave un- punifhed, will accumulate upon their heads, and, at fome future time, render them the execration of a poflcrity flill more fenfible, and more enlightened than we yet are I Even if Mr. Sted, our landlord, had been more a£live, and his wife, who was young and handfome, more induftrious, they could not have fupplied the total want in which they then were, of bread, and of every thing to drink ; the bread was jufl: kneaded, but not yet put into the oven ; and as for liquors, the houfe made ufe of none; the fame ftream which turned the mill, was the only cellar of the young couple, fo that we might apply to Mrs. Steel thofe verfes of Cuaritii, ^lel fonie on d'clla bcce ^elfolo aneo la bagna^ e la coJifigUa. But thefe paftoral manners are but ill fuited to travellers. A few cakes, however, baked upon the cinders, excellent butter, good milk, and above all, the intereft with which Mr. Steel infpired us, made us pafs agreeably the time which was neceflary to put our horfes in a condition to perform a 4 lo"g NORTH-AMERICA. 8i long and difficult day's journey. About five o'clock in the evening, after we had travelled thirty-eight miles, we found fome houfes, where we learned that we v/ere yet fix miles from Fraxtons Taver?j, where we intended to deep ; that we had two fords to pafs, the laft of which was impra6licable on account of the late rains -, but that we fhould not be flopped, as we fhould find a canoe to take us acrofs, and our horfes would fwim behind. The night, and a black florm which was brewing, made us haften our fleps. Notwithflanding which, we were obliged to mount and defcend. a very high mountain ; fcarcely was there re- maining the leafl twilight when we arrived at the fecond rivtr, which is as large ag James's, but ne?.r its fource, and at a place where it defcends from the mountains un- der the name of the Fluvanna. The dif- ficulty was to pafs ten men and as many horfes with the help of a iingle canoe, fuch as is made ufe of by the favages, which at mod: could contain only four or five perfons and a fingle negroe, armed with a paddle inflead of an oar. We put into the canoe Vol. II, G our 82 T R A V E L S 1 N our faddles and baggage, and made feveral trips, at each of which two horfes were fwain acrofs, held by the bridle. It was night, and very dark before this bufinefs was finifhed. But after we had, not with- out great trouble, refaddlcd and reloaded our horfes, the difficuhy was to reach the inn, which was half a mile from the place where we landed ; for the river flows be- tween two precipices, and as the canoe could not land us at the ford, nor confe- quently at the road, we were obhged to climb up the mountain, by a path but lit- tle ufed, and very difficult even by day- light; nor n^ould we ever have found our way had I not engaged the waterman to conduct us. We clambered up as well as we could, every one leading his horfe throup-h the trees and branches, which we could not perceive, from the obfcurity oi" the night, until they fi:ruck. us on the face. At lad we arrived at Praxton's tavern ; but it was ten o'clock, and thchoufe already Hiut up, or more properly the houfes, for there are two. I approached the lirft that offer- ed, and knocked at the door, which they opened,, NORTH-AMERICA. , 83 opened, and we faw five or fix little negroes lying upon a mat before a large fire. We then went to the other, and there found five or fix white children lying in the fame man- ner J two or three grown up negroes prefid- ed over each of thefe little troops *. They told us that Mr. Praxton, his wife, and all his family, were invited to a wedding, but not far off, and that they would go and fetch them. As for us, we were invited to fupper by a very voracious appetite, af- ter a long journey and a great deal of fa- tigue, and were very differently fituated from the new married couple and their G 2 company, * It was a lingular fight for an European to be- hold the lituation of the negroes in the fouthern pro- vinces during the war, when cloathing was extreme- ly fcarce. I have frequently leen in Virginia, on. vilits to gentlemen's houfes, young negroes and ne- groeiles running about or b'alking in the court-yard naked as they came into the world, with well cha- ra£terized marks of perfeft puberty ; and young ne- groes from lixteen to twenty years old, with not aa article of cloathing, but a loofe Ihirt, defcending half way down their thighs, waiting at table where were ladies, without any apparent embarralTment on one fide, or the llightefl attempt at concealment on the otlier, Tk,anslator. &! TRAVELS IN company, and had no imall apprehenfiona of feeing our hoil and hoftefs return com- pleatly drunk. But in this we vrere de- ceived ; they arrived perfectly fober, were polite and defirous to pleafe, and a little af- ter midnight we had an excellent fupper. Though the apartments and beds were not cxadly what we wiHied, they were better than at Mrs. Teazes, and we had no right to complain. Befides, we enjoyed the fa- tisfaction of having accompliflied the ob- je6l of our journey ;. for the Natural Bridge was not above eight miles off, and we had obtained every information necefTary to find the road. The next morning our breakfafl: was ready betimes, and fervcd by the daughters of Captain Praxton ; they had not appeared to advantage the preceding evening, notwithfl:andlng which, fo far as the obfcurity of the room we fupped in,. our appetites, and the immenle caps in which they were muilled up for the mar- riage, had permitted us to judge of them,. we thought them tolerably handfome ; but when we faw them by day-light, with their hair only turned up, without any- other N O R T H - A r\I E R I C A. 85 other head-drefs, the repofe of the night their fole ornament, and for every grace, their natural Simplicity, we were confirmed in the opinion we had already formed, that the people of the mountains are, in gene- ral, handfomer and healthier than thofe on the fea coaft *. There was in the houfe a young man alfo, tolerably well drelTed, and of an agreeable countenance, whom I con- cluded to be an intended match for one of our young hoftefTes. But I foon difcover- ed that he was come for matches of another kind. In fad, one of my fellow-travellers inviting me to go and fee a very fine horfe, which ftood alone in a little ftable, I was informed it was a flallion, which this young man had brought upwards of eighty miles, to diipofe of his favours to the mares <^ 3 of * The South Carolina gentlemen with whom I was acquainted, alTured me, that the inhabitants of the back parts of that State, which is one of the moll unheakhy on the continent, are a vigorous and beautiful race of people, and poffefs all that hale ruddinefs which charafterizes the natives of nor- thern chmates. Translator, 86 TRAVELS IN of the country ''. His price was twenty fhillings Virginia currency -f*, or eighteen livres of our rrioney, (about fifteen (hil- lings flerling) for each vifit, or the double if the connecftion was of longer duration : which is much lefs than is paid in the other parts of Virginia. Thefe details, which may * Great attention is paid to the breed of blood horfes to the fouthward, and particularly in Vir- ginia, and many fecond rate race horfes are annually fcnt from England to fcrve as flallions. There were two or three in the ftablesof one Bates nczv Phi- ladelphia, which I had feen win plates in England. This Bates is a native of Morpeth in Northum- berland, and went to America before the war to difplay feats of horfemandiip, but he had the good fortune to marry a widow pofleircd of five hundred pounds a year, and is now mafter of a mod beauti- ful villa on the banks of the Delaware, four or live miles from Philadelphia, ftill following however the occupation of breeding and felling horfes, and keeping flallions, for there are no refources for idlenefs in that country. Translator. t The difference of currency is one of the nioft puzzling and difagreeable circumflances for a ftran- ger in America, the value of the pound varying in every State ; an inconvenience which exiflcd under the Britifh govermncnt, and I am afraid, is flill likely to fubful. Translator. N O R T H - A M E R I C A. 87 may appear trifling, will however ferve to make the reader acquainted with a country* the inhabitants of which, difperfed in the woods, are feparated only for the purpofes of domeftic comfort, which renders them independent of each other, but whc readily communicate for the general intereft, or their mutual wants. But I am too near the jNj'atural Bridge to flop at other objecfls. We fet out at nine o'clock in the morning, and to fay the truth, rather heedlefsly ; for in thefe mountains, where there are either too many or too few roads, people always think they have given fufiicient dir€61:ions to travellers, v/ho feldom fail to go aftray. This is the common fault of thofe who in- firudl others in what they themfelves are well acquainted with, nor are the roads to fcience exempt from this inconvenience. After riding about two miles however, we luckily met a man who had jufl got his horfe fliod, at a neighbouring forge, and was re- turning home followed by two or three pouple of hounds *. We foon entered in- to * Stopping one day at a fmith's fhop near Wlnchejlevy in the interior of Virginia, I found one of the work- 88 TRAVELS IN to converfation with him, and what feldom happens in America, he was curious to know who I was, and whither 1 was go- ing *. My quality of a General Officer in the men to be a Scotch Highlander in his Galic drcfs, and foon faw feveral more returning from harveft, thefe men had beenfoldiers, and were then prifoners, but they were all peaceable, induflrious labourers, and I could not find that any of them thought of re- turning to the barren hills of Caledonia. General Gates had feveral of them in his employ, and they were dil'perfed over the whole country, where they appeared compleatly naturalized and happy. I after- wards faw many of them working at mills, and as quarry -men on the pifturefque banks of that fublimc river the Sulquchannah, a circuniftance which tranf- ported my imagination to the w'ell known borders of the Tay, and of Loch Lomond. Translator. * I am apt to think that the experience of every pcrfon who has vilitcd North America, as well as my own country, will rife in judgment againft this ob- fervation of the Author ; for my part, were I fearch- ing for a general charaftcriftic of that part of th^ Continent, I Ihould not fciuplc to dillinguifh it, xaT e^oxvv, by the name of ihc ccufitry of the cw rious. Wherever you bend your courfc, to whom- foever you addrefs yourfelf, you are indifpcnfibly fubjed to a good humoured, inofFenfive, but mlghiy trouhlcfomc inquifition. J3o you enquire your road ? you are anfwcrcd by a qucflion, " I fuppofc you NORTH- AMERICA. 89 the French fervice, and the dcfire I expref- fed of feeing the wonders of his country, infpiring come from the Eaftward, don't you?" Opprefled with fatigue, hunger, and thirft, and drenched per- haps with rain, you anfwer fliortly in the affirma- tive, and repeat your enquiry — " Methinks you are in a mighty hafle— What news is there to the Eaft- ward ?" The only fatisfadion you can obtain til! you have opened your real, or pretended budget of news, and gratified the demander's curiofity. At an inn, thefcrutiny is more minute ; your name, quality, the place of your departure, and objeft of your jour- ney, mull: all be dechued to the good family in fomc way or other, (for their credulity is equal to their curiofity) before you can fit down in comfort to the necefiary refrelhment. This curious fpirit is into- lerable in the Eailern States, and I have heard Dr. Frankhn, who is himfelf aEoftonian, frequently re- late with great pleafantry, tliat in travelling when he was young, the firft ftcp he took for his tranquillity, and to obtain immediate attention at the inns, was to anticipate enquiry, liy i?ying, " My name is *' Benjamin Franklin, 1 was born at Bofton, am a " printer by profcliion, am travelling to Philadel- *' phia, fliall return, at fuch a time, and have no <« news — Now what can you give me for dinner?'* The only caufe which can be afiigned for the Au- thor*3 error in this refpeft is the ftate in which he travelled, his being a foreigner, and the facifity of obtaining information from the perfons of his re- ^^i^^e. Translator. I 90 TRAVELSIN infpiring him with a kind of affe^lion for me, he offered to be our conductor, lead- ing us fometimes through little paths, at others through woods, but continually climbing or defcending mountains, fo that without a guide, nothing ihort of witch- craft could have enabled us to find the road. Having thus travelled for two hours, we at laft defcended a fleep declivity, and then mounted another i during which time he endeavoured to render the converfation moreinterefting. At laft, pufhing his horfe on briikly, and flopping fuddenly, he faid to me, " You defire to fee the Natural Bridge^ don't you Sir ? You are now upon it, alight and go twenty fleps either to the right or left, and you will fee this prodigy." I had perceived that there was on each fide a confiderable deep hollow, but the trees had prevented me irom forming any judg- ment, or paying much attention to it. — Approaching the precipice, I favv at firft two great maffes or chains of rocks, which formed the bottom of a ravin, or rather of an immenfe abyfs ; but placing myfclf, not without precaution, upon the brink of the precipice. N O R T H - A IVI E R I C A. 91 precipice, I faw that thefe two buttrelTes were joined under my feet, forming a vault, of which I could yet form no idea, but of its height. After enjoying this magnificent but tremendous fpe^lacle, which many perfons could not bear to look at, I went to the weftern fide, the afped of which was not lefs impofing, but more pidurefque. This T'hebais, thefe an- cient pines, thefe enormous maffes of rocks, fo much the more aftonifhing as they ap- pear to poiTefs a wild fymmetry, and rudely to concur, as it were, in forming a certain defign ; all this apparatus of rude and (hape- lefs Nature, which Art attempts in vain, at- tacks at once the fenfes and the thoughts, and excites a gloomy and melancholy ad- miration. But it is at the foot of thefe rocks, on the edge of a little flream which flows under this immenfe arch, that we muft judge of its aflonifiiing (Irudure; there we difcover its immenfe fpurs, its back- bendings, and thofe profiles which archi- te£ture might have given it. The arch is not compleat, the eaftern part of it not be- ing fo large as the weftern, becaufe the mountain 92 TRAVELS IN mountain is more elevated on this than on the oppofite fide. It is very extraordinary that at the bottom of the dream there appear no confiderable ruins, no trace of any violent laceration, which could have deftroyed the kernel of the rock, and have left the up» per part alone fubfifting^ for that is the only hypothefis that can account for fuch a prodigy. We can have no poffible re- courfe either to a volcano or a deluge, no trace of a fudden conflagration, or of a flow and tedious undermining by the water. The rock is of the calcareous kind, and its different ftrata are horizontal ; a circumftance which excludes even the idea of an earthquake, or fubterraneous cavern. It is not, in fliort, for a fmall number of travellers to give a decided opinion for the public on this phcenomenon of Nature. It belongs to the learned of both worlds to judge of it, and they will now be enabled to attempt the difcudlon. The neceflary Aeps are taken to render it as public as its fmgularity deferves; an officer of the engi- neers, the Baron de Turpin, an excellent mathematician and an accurate draughtf- man, N O R T H - A M E R I C A. 93 man, is gone to take the principal afpe6ts and dimenfions. His labours will fupply the deficiency of mydefcription*. Though unacquainted with the powers of Nature, we may at leaft have fome idea of our own. I fhall therefore leave to more able hands the care of finifhing this piiSlure, of which I have given only an imperfect ilcetch, and continue the relation of our journey, whichj though the principal obje6t be already ac- compli{hed, is not near being terminated, for the Natural Bridge is more than 250 miles from Williamiburgh. Whilft I was examining on all fides, and endeavouring to take fome drawings, my fellow-travellers had learned from our conductor that he kept a public-houle, about feven or eight miles from the place where we were, and not more than two from the road which mufl be taken next day to leave the mountains. Mr. Grijby^ (the name of our guide) had exprefTtd his wilhes to receive us, aiTuring us we fhould be as well as at the tavern recommended by Mr. * See at the end of tbis Journal the defcriptlon and the plans* 94 TRAVELS IN Mr. Praxton ; but had this been otherwiie, we had too many cbUgations to Mr. Grifby not to give him the preference. We re- newed our journey therefore, under his guid- ance, through the woods, which were very lofty ; ftrong robull oaks, and immenfe pines fufficient for all the fleets of Europe, here grow old, and pcrifli on their native foil } from which they have never yet been drawn even by the hand of indufl"ry *. One is furprized to find every where in thefe immenfe forefts, the traces of con- flagrations. Thele accidents are fometimes occafioned by the imprudence of travellers, who light a fire when they go to fleep and neglect * The quality of the American oak is found by re- peated experience to be by no means equal to, or fo durable as that of Britain, A general furvey of the American woods was taken by order of the govern- ment of England, previous to the war, and the dif- ferent qualities afcertained by the furvcyors, who, on their general report, gave the preference to the fouthcrn oak on the Apalachians, and in the inte- rior of Georgia and Florida; but in the Englilh yards, even the Dantzick plank, which grows in Si- lefia, and that of Stettin is flili preferred to the American. Translator. N O R T H -A M E R I C A. 95 neglect afterwards to extinguifh it. Little attention is paid them when the woods alone are the victims, but as there are al- ways fome cultivated parts, the fire often reaches the fences, by which the fields are furrounded, and fometimes thehoufes them- selves, which is inevitable ruin to the cul- tivators. I recoiled that during my ftay at Mon- tlcello, from which one may difcover an extent of thirty or forty leagues of wood, I faw feveral conflagrations three or four leagues diftant from each other, which con- tinued burning until a heavy rain fell luc- kily and extinguiOied them -f*. VVe arrived at t Conflagrations which take their rife in this manner, fometimes fpread to a prodigious extent in America, in the moraffes, as well as in the woods ; in travelling from Eallon on the Delaware over the Miifconetgung mountains in the Upper Jerfey, ia 1782, I fawimmenfe tra£ls of country lying in alhes from one of thefe accidental fires ; and, during the fame fummer, Philadelphia was fometimes covered with fmoke, from a vaft morafs which had taken fire in the Jerfeys, and kept burning to a great depth from the furface, and for an extent of many miles around, for feveral months j the progrefs of which ^ T R A V E L S I N at Mr. Griiby's a little before five o'clock, having met with nothing on the road but a wild turkey, which rofe fo far off, that it was inipoffible to find it again. The houfe was not large, bat neat and commo- dious ; we found it already taken up by other travellers, to whom we aiTuredly owed every token of refped, if pre-eminence be- twixt travellers were to be meafured by the length of their refpedive journies. The other guefls were a healthy good humoured young man of eight and twenty, who fet out from Philadelphia with a pretty wife of twenty, and a little child in her arms, to fettle 500 miles beyond the mountains, in a country lately inhabited, bordering en the O/jt'o, called the country oi Keniuckct. His whole retinue was a horfe, which carried his wife and child. We were aftonifhed at the eafy manner with which he proceeded on his expedition, and took the liberty of mentioning our furprize to him. He told us could not be {lopped by the large trenches dug by the labour of the whole country, nor until it was cxtinguilhcd by the autumnal rains. Translator. N d R T H - A M E R I C A. 97 ^s that the purchafe of good land In Pen« fylvania was vtivy extravagant, that provi- fions were too dear, and the inhabitants too numerous, in confequence of which he thought it more beneficMl to purchafe for about fifty guineas the grant of a thoufand acres of land \\\Ke7itucket . This territory had been formerly given to a Colonel of militia^ until the King of England thought proper to order the diftributlon of thofe immenfe countries ; part of which v/as fold, and the other referved to recom pence the Ameri» can troops who had ferved in Canada ** * The Author means the foldlcrs who ferved irt Canada againft the French in the war before the laft. Kentucket is at prefent peopled by above fifty thoufand fettlers, and is on the point of being ad- mitted into the union, as an independent flatCi Kentucket is a fettlement on the creek, or rather river of that name, which falls into the Ohio, and is 627I miles diflant from Fort Pitt ; but is extending in every direftion over a traft of the finell and moft fertiJe country in the world ; and as it is from the interior fettlements of this vail country, that America will derive her future greatnefs, and eftablifh new empires to rival, and perhaps out- do the antient world, I hope I Ihall be pardoned for Vol. II. H But, ^8 TRAVELS IN But, faid I, where are the cattle ? The im- plements of hufbandry with which you muft tranfcriblng the following fliort but interefting ac- count of the banks ^f the Ohio from Captain Hut- cbins's Topographical Dcfcription of that country, accompanying his Maps — *' The lands upon the Ohioy *' anti its branches, are differently timbered accord- *' ing to their quality and fituation. The high and " dry lands are covered with red, luhitc, and black " oak, hickcry, walnut, red and luhltc mulberry, and *' ajh trees, grape vines, ^'c. The low and mea- *• dow lands are filled \\n\.\\fycamore, poplar, red and «' ivhlte mulberry, cherry, beech, elm, a/pen, maple, or «■ Jugar trees, grape vines, he. And below, or fouth- *' wardly of the Rapids, are fcveral large cedar and *' cyprefs f-joamps, where the cedar and cyprefs- trees ** grow to a remarkable fize, and where alfo is great «« abundance of canes, fuch as grow in South Carolina. *' There is a great variety of game, viz. buffaloes, bear, *' deer, hcc. as well as ducks, geefc,fv:ans, turkles, phea- *' Cants, partridges, he. which abound in every part of *' this country. The Ohio, and the rivers emptying *'into it, afibrd green, and other /«?'//t, and fifh of *' various forts ; particularly carp, fiurgeon, perch *' and catfijb ; the two latter of an uncommon fize ; *' viz. perch from eight to twelve pounds weight, and *» catfljh from fifty to one hundred pounds weight. ** The country on both fides of the Ohio, extending *♦ fouth-caficrly and fouth-weflerly from Fort Pitt *' to the AfiJJlfipply and watered by the Ohio river <' and its branches, contains at Icall a million of N O R T H - A M E R I C A. 99 muft begin to clear the land you have pur- chafed ? — In the country itfelf, replied he. H 2 I carry *' squARE MILES, and it may with truth be affirm- *' cd, that no part of the globe is blelTed with a *' more heakhful air or cHmate ; watered with more *' navigable rivers, and branches communicating *' with the Atlantic ocean, by the rivers Fotowmacky *' James, Rapahamiock^ AHJJiJtppi, and St. Lawrence ; *' or capable of producing, with lefs labour and ex- *' pence, wheat, Indian corn, buck wheat, rye, oatSy *' barley, flax, hemp, tobacco, rice, Jilk, pot-ajh, he. *' than the country under confideration ; and it *' may be added, that no foil can yield larger *' crops of red and white clover, and other ufeful *' grafs, than this does." -Colonel Gordon, in his Journal, gives the following defcription of this foil and climate: " The country on the Ohio, he. *' is every where pleafant, with large level fpots of *' rich land, remarkably healthy. One general re- " mark of this nature may ferve for the whole *' tradl comprehended between the wellern fkirts ** of the Allcgheney mountains, beginning at Fort " Ligonier, thence bearing fouth-wefterly to t!ie " diflance of 500 miles oppofite to the Ohio falls, *' then croffing them northerly to the heads of the "rivers that, empty themfelves into the Ohio • *« thence eait along the ridge that feparates the lakes " and Ohioh ilreams to French Creek, which is op- " pofite to the abovementioned Fort Ligonier nor- " tberly. This country may, from a proper know- lOO TRAVELS IN I carry nothing with me, but 1 have money in my pocket, and fliall want for nothing. 1 began •* ledge, be nffirmod to be tlie moft healthy, the *' moft plcalant, the moft commodious, and moft " fertile fpot of earth known to European people.^* To which may be added the following extrad of a letter addrclTcd to the Eail of Hillfborough, in the year 1772, then Secretary of State for the North American department. *' No part of North America will require lefs en- *' couragement for the production of vavaljlcrcs, *< and* rmu mnicrlals for manufactures in Europe, *' and for fupplying the Weft India illands with *' lumber, proviJio7ts, l^c. than the country of the Ohio, *' and for the following reafons : Firft, the lands ** are excellent, the climate temperate, the native " ^x'x^z%^ f.lk ivcrmi znd mulbcrry-irecs abound every ** where; bimp, hops, and rye grow fpontaneoufly in '• the vallics and low-lands ; /cad and irsn ore, ** coal alfo, are plenty in the hills ; fait and frefli *' fprings are innumerable ; and no foil is bct- *' ter adapted to the culture of tobacco, flax and " ccticn than that of the Ohio. Secondly, the *' country is well watered by fcveral navigable rivers *' communicating with each other ; by which, and •* a ftiort land carriage, the produce of the lands of *' the Ohio can even now (in the year 1772) be fent *' cheaper to the feaport town oi j^lcxandria, on ** thePotowmack in Virginia, than any kind ofmer- •• chandizc is lent from Korthamptcn to Loadon.^ NORTH-AMERICA. ifc I "began torelirti the refolution of this young man, who was a6llve, vigorous, and free H 3 from *^ Thirdly, the Ohio is, at all fcafons of the year, na- ■** vigable with large boats hkc the zveft country *' barges, rowed only by four or five men ; and ■*' from the month of February to April, large lliips " may be built on the Ohio, and fent to Jca laden *' with hemp, iron, liax, filk, rice, tabacco, cotton, *' pot-afhes, &c. Fourthly, corn, beef, fhip-plank, " and other ufeful articles can be fent down tin *' Jlream of Ohio to Weft Florida, and from thence *' to the Weft-Indies, much cheaper, and in better *' order than from New-i'ork or Philadelphia, *' Fifthly, hemp, tobacco, iron, and fach bulky ar- " tides may alfo be fent down the Ohio to the fea, *' at leaft 50 per cent, cheaper than thefe articles *' were ever carried by a land carriage of only fixty *' miles in Penfylvania, where waj^gonage is cheaper *' than in any other part of North Air,°rica. Sixthly, *' the expence of tranfporting European raanufac- ^' iures from the fea to the Oh'io^ will not be fo much *' as is now paid, and muft ever be paid, to a *' great part of the couutles of Pmfylvania, Virgin *' 7iia^ and Maryland, as there is fcarce a place be- ** tween Fort F'ltt and the Rapids, a dlftance of 705 ** computed miles, where good roads may not be *' made, on the banks, which are not liable to crumble *' away, and horfes employed in drawing up laro-e '' barges, as is done on the margin of the Thames ** in England) and the Seine i«i France, againft a 102 TRAVELSIN from care ; but the pretty woman, twenty years of age only, I doubted not but (he was in ftream remarkably gentle, except in high frefli-s. Whenever the farmers or merchants of Ohio fliall properly undcrftand the bulinefs of tranfpor- tation, they will build fchooners, (loops, &c. on the Ob:o, fuitable for the J-Fcji-India or European maikets ; or by having black walnut, cherry-tree, oak, &c. properly favved for foreign markets, and formed into rafts, as is now praftifed by the fet- tlers near the upper parts of the Delaware river, and thereon ftow their hemp, tobacco, bcc. and proceed with them to l^eui Orleans. It may not be amifs perhaps, to obferve, that large quanti- ties of f^our are made in the diftant {•weflern) counties of Penfylvania, and fent by an expen- fivc land carriage to the city of Philadelphia, and from thence Clipped to South Carolina, and to Eaft and 'Veil Florida, there being little or no wheat raifed in thefc provinces. The river Ohio feems kindly defigned by Nature as the channel through which the two Floridas may be fupplicd with Hour, not only for their own confump- tlon, but for the carrying on an exteniive com- merce with Jamaicoy (the Floridas were then in the polTcffion of England) and the Spanifh fct- tlcments in the Bay of Mexico. Milljloncs in abundance are to be obtained in the hills near the Ohio, and the country is every where well wa- tered vith large, and conrtant fpripgs, anc^ NORTH -AM ERIC A. 103 in defpair at the facrifice fhe had made; and I endeavoured to difcover,in her features and looks, *' flrcams for grifl: and other mills. The pafTage " from Philadelphia to Penfacola, is feldom made " in Icfs than a month, and fixty Ihillings flerling " per ton freight (conlifting of lixteen barrels) is *' ufually paid for flour, &:c. thither. Boats car- *' rying from Soo to 1000 barrels of flour may go ** in about the fame time from the Ohio (even " from Tittjhiirgh) as from Philadelphia to Penfa- *' cola, and for half the above freight ; the Ohio mer- *' chants would be able to deliver flour, &c. there *' in much better order than from Philadelphia, and *' without incurring the damage and delay of the *■*■ fea, the charges of infurance, and riik in time ** of war, &c. or from thence to Penfacola. This " is not mere fpecvilatioa ; for it is a fad, that " about the year 1746, there was a great fcarcity *« of provifions at isciv Orleans; and the French " fettlements at the Illinois, fmall as they then were, " fent thither, in one winter, upwards of eight " hundred thoufand weight of flour.'' Mr. Lewis Evans, in the Analyfis to his Map of the Middle Colonies of North America, in the year 1755, fays, that " Vellels from 100 to 200 tons burthen, by " taking advantage of the fpring floods, may go *' {\:om Pit tjburgh to the fea with, fafety, as then the *' falls, rifts, and fhoals are covered to an equality *^ with the reft of the river." To which Captain Hutchins, the prefent Geographer General to ihelJnited States, adds, " And though the diilance is upwards. 104 TRAVELSIN looks the fecret fentiments of her foul, Though file had retired into a little cham-- ber, to make room for us, fhe frequently came into that where we were ; and I iliw, not without afloniiliment, that her natural charms were even embcllifhed by the fere- nity of her mind. She often carelTed her hufband and her child, and appeared to me admirably difpofed to fulfil the firft object of every infant colony — " to increafe and multiply." Whilll fupper was preparing, and we were talking of travels, and examine ing on the map the road our emigrants were to follow, I recolleded that we had as yet an hour's day light, and that it was juft the time 1 had iecn the woodhcns, of which, they afuired me, there was plenty in the neighbourhood, and that there is a critical moment *' of tzL'o ihoufand miles from Fort Pitt to the fca, " yet as there arc «o ohfiruitiGns to prevent vefTels ♦' from proceeding both day and night, I am per- *' fuaded that this extraordinary inland voyage *' maybe performed, during the feafon of the floods, ♦' by rowing, mjixteen or fevcntccn days." Here furcly is a iational and ample field for the well regulated imagination of the philofophcr and politician ! ! i Translator* NORTH-AMERICA. 105 moment in hunting as well as love. I took my fowling-piece, therefore, and proceeded to the woods ; but inftead of wood-hens, I found only a rabbit, which 1 wounded> but it rolled down into a bottom, where I loil: fight of it, till it was difcovered by Mr* Grilby's dogs, which, accuflomed to the report of a gun, found it in a hollow tree, to the top of which it would have fcramb- led had its leg not been broken. The rab- bits of America differ from thofe of Eu- rope ; they do not burrow, but take refuge in hollow trees, which they climb like cats, and often to a very confiderable height. Content with my vid:ory, I returned to the houfe, but (lopped fome time to hear, at fun- fet, two thrufhes, which feemed to chal- lenge each other to the fong, like the iliep- herds of Theocritus. This bird ought, iri my opinion, to be confidered as the night- ingale of America ; it refembles thofe of Europe in its form, colour, and habits ; but is twice as large. Its fong is fimilar to that of our thrufh, but fo varied and fo much more perfed, that, if we except the uniform plaintive notes of the European night- io6 TRAVELS IN nightingale, they might be taken for each other. It is a bird of pafl'age, like the mocking-bird, and like it, alfo, fometimes remains through the winter. At my return to the houfe, fupper was the fole objedl ; about which Mr. and Mrs, Grilby took great pains, whild their daugh- ters, about iixteen or fevcnteen, who were perfetl beauties, were laying the cloth. I aiked Mr. Gri{bby to fup with us, but he cxcufcd himfelf, by aiibring us that he was yet employed in our fcrvice ; nor was his attention ufelefs, for we had an excellent fupper ; and though whiiky was our only drink, we contrived to convert it into tole- rable toddy. Breakfaft was ready betimes the next morning, and correfponded with our fupper. Mr. Grilby, who had nothing to do, fat down to table with us. He had a horfe faddled, that he might accompany us as a guide as far as Greenly Fcr?'y, where we were to repafs the Fluvanna ; but I was informed that one of the fervant's horfes was fo much wounded in the withers, that it was impoflible to mount him. This acci- dent was the more inconvenient, as I had already N O R T H . A M E R I C A. 107 already been obliged to leave one at Mr. JefFerfon's, fo that I had no frefh horfe to fubftltute. On applying to Mr. Grifby, he told me that the only horfe he had which could anfwer my purpofe, was the one he generally rode, and which he was going to make life of to condud us, but that he would willingly oblige me with it, and take mine in its place. On my affuring him that I would give him any thing he thought proper in return, he went tolookat my horfe, and when he came back told me, that when cured^ he thought he might be worth his own, and that he left the difference entirely to myfelf. As each of them might be worth ten or twelve guineas, I gave him two in exchange, and he was perfedly con- tented. I had juft before aiked for the bill, and when he declined letting me have it, I gave him four guineas. He received them with fatisfa6tion, alluring me it was double the fum he could have charged. At laft we were obliged to take our leave of this good houfe, but not of Mr. Grifby, who had taken another horfe to accompany us. On the road he fhewed us two plantations v/hich io3 TRAVELS IN which he had occupied fucceffively, before he fettled on the one he at prefent culti- vates. He hr.d left them in good condi- tion, and fold them at the rate of twelve or thirteen (hillings, Virginia currency, an acre, about ten livres of our money (8s. ^ Englifh.) We faw feveral other fettlements in the woods, all of which were fituated on the banks of fome ftream, whofe fo irce was not far diftant. The peach-trees, which they take care to plant, and the Judas-tree (or pUquaflrum^ but different from that which produces the balm of Mecca) which grows naturally at the water's edge, were both in flower, and made a charming contrafl: to the immenfe firs and oaks, in the centre of which were fituated thefe new plantations. It was near ten o'clock when we arrived at the ferry, and as we approached, ftill fol- lowing the courfe of the river, I faw an animal, to which I was a ftranger, returning from the fide of the river, and endeavour- ing to reach the wood. 1 pufhed my horfe towards it, hoping to frighten and make it climb a tree- for I took it for a racoon ; in fadt it mounted the nearcft tree, but very flowly NORTH-AMERICA. 109 (lowly and aiikwardly. I had no great dif- ficulty in killing it, for it did not even en- deavour to hide itfelf,, like the fquirrel, be- hind the large branches. When I had taken it from the dogs, among which it struggled hard, and had bitten them pretty fharply ; on examining it v/ith attention, I difcovered it to be the 7nonax^ or the mar^ mofet of America. In its form, fur, and colour it refembled very much the mulk rat ; but it is larger and differs eifentially in the tail, which is Ihort and rough. Like the mufk rat, however, its ribs are fo fhort and flexible, that they might be miftaken for griftles, fo that though it is much bulkier than a hare, it can pafs through a hole of not above two inches in diameter. Greenly Ferry derives its name from the proprietor, and is fituated between two Heep banks. We pafled it in three trips, and parting with Mr. Grifby, depended en- tirely on our own induftry to find the road to a very fteep, but little frequented gap, the only pallage by which we could get out of the mountains. They told us, at the ferry, that we (hould find but one houfe, three 4 no TRAVELS IN three miles from thence, and at the foot of the very mountain \vc were to climb. A little path concluded us to this houfe : after alking new inftru6lions, we followed another path, and began toafcend, not with- out difficulty, for in general the acclivity was fo rapid, that we were obliged toftop our horfes to give them breath. This afcent, which formed the road, is at leafl: three miles long, by which you may judge of the height of thefe mountains j for in the fpace of an hundred miles, this is the leaft fteep of any which compofe what are called the Blue Ridges. Arrived at the fummit, we enjoyed the reward generally beflowed on fuch labours. A magnificent, but favage profpe61:, prefented itfelf to our eyes ; we faw the mountains which form the North Ridge, and thofe which, crofling from one chain to the other, fometimes unite the Blue Ridges. In one of thefe traverfes of moun- tains, the Natural Bridge is placed. It is to be obferved, that I fpeak here only of the view to the north, for we had not the ad- vantage of enjoying the double profpe6l ; fome neighbouring fummits, and the height of NORTH-AMERICA. in of trees, prevented us from extending our view to the fouthward. The defcent was not lefs rapid than the afcent ; its length was alfo three miles. We judged it necef- fary, for the relief of our horfes and our own fafcty, to alight and walk ; though the ftones, which rolled under our feet, rendered it very incommodious. The dogs, which were not fo fatigued by this inconvenience as ourfelves, beat the vt^oods, while we walked flovvdy on, and two hundred paces from us they fprang five wild turkeys ; but as thefe birds diredled their flight towards a fteep hill behind us, we did not think pro- per to follow them. We were almoil at the bottom of the mountain when we began to perceive the horizon; but this horizon dlfco- vered nothing but woods and mountains, far lefs elevated than thofe we were leaving, if we except three fummits known by the name of the Peaks of OtUr, which are very lofty, and advance from the Blue Ridges as a kind of counter-guard. In general, all the coun- try from the Blue Ridges to the fources of the Jlpamatocky may be confidered as a gla- cis compofed of little mountains, beginning at 112 TRAVELS IN at the foot of the Blue Ridges, and conti- nually diminifliing. Of this the beft charts of Virginia give not the leaft indication, fa that it is inipollible, by the infpe^lion of them, to form a jufc idea of the nature of this country. It was half paft one o'clock, and we had rode fixteen miles in very bad roads, when we arrived at the firft houfe at the foot of the gap ; but as it was an indifferent hut, we were obliged to proceed two miles fur- ther, to a planter's of the name of Lambert^ W'ho received us with every mark of polite- nefs. He gave us cakes and milk, for he had neither bread nor bifcuit ; and, whilft our horfes were feeding, he entertained us with gay, joyous converfatlon. Mr. Lambert is a kind of phenomenon in America, where longevity is very rare ; he is eighty-three years of age, and fcarcely appears to be fifty-five ; he is well known in the country, for there is hardly a trade he has not follow- ed, nor a part of it he has not lived in. He is now a hufbandman, and refides at a very fine plantation, which he has cleared, at the foot of the mountains. His wife, who is only NORTH-AMERICA. 113 only fixty-five, looks much older than he does j his fons are yet young; one is a Cap- tain in the Virginia Legion, and formed his company himfelf in the beginning of the war. It was then compofed of fixty-three men, all enlifted in the neighbourhood 5 and at the end of fix campaigns all the fixty- three are living, feme few of them only having been wounded. At five we mount- ed again to proceed ten miles further, to the houfe of a Captain Midler, who, like Mr, Lambert, does not keep a public houfe, but willingly receives the few travellers who pafs by this unfrequented road. Although they affureduswecould not pofliblymifs the road, they would more properly have faid it was impoflible to find it ; for we deemed it very fortunate to lofe ourfslves but twice, and at length, after dark, we arrived at Mr. Mul- ler's. He is a man about fixty, fix feet high, and bulky in proportion, very loquacious, but a good kind of man, attached to his country, and a great newfmonger. He told us he would do his beft to give us fome- thing for fupper, but that he could offer us no other lodging than the room in v/hich Vol. 11. I he 114 TRAVELS IN he received us, where he would order thera to place our beds. The room was fpacious and clean, but already occupied by a fick perlon, whom he could not dlflurb, and whom he begged us to leave in the little corner he pofiefled. This was an unfor- tunate old man of eighty, who, two days before, travelling in the neighbourhood, had been halt devoured by a great bitch, whofe whelps he had imprudently approached ; ihe had lacerated one of his arms and thighs. ^Ir. Muller beftowed on him every pofTible care, and Mrs. Muller herfelf dreffed his wounds. This poor man fleptall the even- ing, but in tlie night he complained much, and fometimes awakened us. On my alk- afking him, the next morning, how he found himfelf, he anfwcred, mighty weak*. Before we went away I delired to have the bill, but I\Ir. Akiller not chufing to prefent any, I begged him to accept of a couple of guineas, dehring, at the fame time, to know if it was cnouo-h. ** Too much, replied he, you come from France to my country to fupport and defend it ; I ought * Mighty little, mighty few, mighty weak, &c. are favourite expieffiojis in America. Translator, N ORTH-AMER I C A. 115 tJUglit to receive you better and take nc« thing, but I am only a poor countryman, and not in a condition to deraonftrate my gra- titude. If I were not ill, (and indeed he was afthmatic) I would mount my horfe and attend you to the field of battle*" The little refource we had found in this houfe, and the neceffity of dividing the long journey we had to make, determined us to fet out very early, and breakfafl at New London, a little town, two miles from hence. The difficulty of finding the road flill remaining, I luckily met a man in the court-yard, jull: ready to mount, who re- lieved us from this anxiety. He was an old captain of the Virginia Legion, whom I had feen arrive in the evening in company with two tall young ladies, in huge gauze bonnets, covered with ribbands, and dref- fed in fuch a manner as formed a perfe(5l contraft to the fimplicity of the houfe in which they were *. Thefe, 1 underftood, I 2 were * The rage for drefs amongfl the women In Ame- rica, in the very height of the miferies of war, was beyond all boiinds ■■, nor was it confined to the great towns, it prevailed ccpally on the fea-coails, and ii6 TRAVELS IN were Mr. Muller's daughters, returned frorr^ fupping in the neighbourhood ; but I was careful not to fpeak to them, as I doubted not but we had taken poiTeifion of the beds deflined for thefe fines ladies and their company, and was in great terror leaft French ill the woods and folitudes of the vaft extent of country, from Florida to New Hampflilre. In tra- velling into the interior parts of Virginia I fpent a delicious day at an inn, at the ferry of Shenandoah, or the Catafton Mountains, with the moll en- chanting, accompliihed, and voluptuous girls, thf daughters of the landlord, a native of Bofton, tranf- planted thither ; who, with all the gifts of Nature, poflefled the art of drefs not unworthy of Parifiau milliners, and went regularly three times a week to the diflance of feven miles, to attend the Icflbns of one de Grace, a French dancing- mafter, who was making a fortune in the country. In one of my journics, too, I met with a young Frenchman, who was travelling on the bufincis of the celebrated M. de Beaumnrchais, and was uncommonly fucccfsful in his amours, of which 1. fpeak from pcrfonal knowledge. On my enquiring the fecret of his fuccefs, he afTurcd me, and put it beyond a doubt, that his pajp -par -tout, or mafler-key, confided in a fathionable afTortment of ribbands, and other (mail articles contained in a little box, from which, in difficult cafes, he opened an irreflible and never- failing battery Translator. N O R T H -A M E R I C A. 117 French gallantry fhould compel us to re- fign them. I know not how they managed, but they appeared again in the morning and were far from handfome. The Captain had been to fleep a mile from hence, at a fifler's of Mr. Muller, and was mounting his horfe to return to New Loudon, whither he offered to conduct us, and to provide our breakfaft as he kept a tavern. I accepted both his propofals, and we travelled the diftance of ten miles very agreeably; the country, like that through which we pafTed the preceding evening, being diverfified with very pretty plantations. New London, where we ar- rived at ten in the morning, is an infant town, but already pretty confiderable, for there are at leafl: leventy or eighty houfes. There is likewife a military magazine ef- tablifhed here, and feveral work(hops for repairing arms. Its fituation, in the mid- dle of the woods, far diftant from the feat of war, as well as commerce, does not re- quire it fnould be fortified, but Nature has prepared every thing to make it a ftrong plac?. Situated upon a little platform, fur- I 3 rounded iiS TRAVELS IN rounded by a glacis, the declivity of which is exadly what could be vviflied, this Httle town might be fortified at a fmall expence, and defended by a trifling garrifon j we left it about twelve o'clock, and had twen- ty-four miles to go to the only houfe where we could find a good lodging. It was not a tavern, but the proprietor, Mr. Hunter, received firangers with pleafure. The dif- ference between a real tavern, and a hofpi- table houfe cf reception, is greatly to the advantage of the traveller; for in America, as in England, publicans pay heavy taxes, and indemnify themlelves by their exorbi- tant charges. Mr. Hunter received us wcl], and in a very clean houfe. We fet out early the next morning, and after riding eight miles, always in dry, arid woods, we flopped to breakfafl at Mr. Patii/Gns. He is a fat man, about forty- five, difabled in his legs fince he was two years old, and fo helplefs that he cannot tranfport him- fclf from one place to another, but by pufli- ing his chair. One would hardly think that a man affiiclcd with fuch an infirmity ^ould choofc to live in the rnidft of woods, \vhcre N O R T H - A M E R I C A. 119 where he has no company but one white man fervant, and negroes of each fex. I believe him impotent in more than one re- fpc^l, for he has lived in a conftant ftate of celibacy, and his oftenfible imbecility would have been no obftacle in a country where every body marries. After we had proceeded twenty miles farther, we flopped, at four o'clock, at a Scotfman's of the name oi Joknfon^ who is the mofl: ridiculous perfonage imaginable. He pronounces Englilh in fo unintelligible a manner, that Mr. Dillon afked him, very ingenuoully, what language he was fpeak- ing. As Mr. Johnfon was an ill-tempered fellow, and a little drunk, I forefaw that this queftion could not fucceed, and would turn out to our difadvantage, on quitting this fort of tavern. It happened as I ima- gined ; for after a ftay of only three quar- ters of an hour, he was not afliamed to aik feven dollars for about twenty pounds weight of the leaves of Indian corn for our horfes, and two bowls of teddy for the fervants. I confoled myfelf, like Monfieur de Pour- Ceaugnac in Moliere, with the iatisfaclion only, J20 TRAVELS IN only, on paying him, of telling him my fentimcnts of his behaviour, and went twelve miles further to feck hofpitality at another Scotfman's, where we arrived at the clofe of d^y. But this was a very dif- ferent charader from the other. He was an old man of feventy-tvvo, called Hodneity who has been eflablilhed in America above forty years, though but lately fixed in the plantation where he now lives. He was eager to pleafe, polite, and even in- clined to compliment, proud of being born in Europe, and having part: fome time at Cork, where he milled, he told me, a fine opportunity of learning French ; for he had lived with feverai Frer.ch merchants, whofe names he yet remembered, although it was upwards of fifty years ago. He enquired at leaft twenty times of me if I knew them, and brought me an old book, the only one he had in the houfe, which was a bad treatife of geography. It was doubled in at the article of Cork, and one might fee that he often read this chapter, as the pa- per was more tiiumbed there than elfe- wherc, Whilft he prefentcd mc with this bookj NORTH-AMERICA. 121 book, he obferved, with an air of import- ance, that in his opinion it was the beft geographical work exifting, nor was it dif- ficult to perceive that it was the only one he ever heard of. I amufed niyfelf how- ever with afluring him that he poiTeffed a real treafure, and that he ought carefully to prefsrve it. He went immediately to lock it up, and returned with a fcrap of illuminated paper, which reprefented the arms and mottoes of the family of the Hodnetts, I made him happy by declar- ing they were known all over Europe, and furely it was not paying too dear for a good fupper and good beds ; for the next morning he would not give us any bill. 1 thought proper, however, to pay him handfomely -, hoping, at the fame time, that the family of the Hodnetts would know nothing of it, nor think themfelves under the neceflity of adding the fign of aii ale-houfe to their armorial bearings. It was on the 23d, but the heat was al- ready very troublefome, when we arrived to breakfall at nine o'clock at Cumberland Court-houje, This is the chief manor-houfe of %2z TRAVELS IN of a very conrider«ible country ; it is fituat- ed in a plain of about a mile diameter, fix teen miles from HodnetCs. Befides the court-houfe, and a large tavern, its neccf- fary appendage, there are {^x^n. or eight houfes inhabited by gentlemen of fortune. I found the tavern full of people, and un- derftood that the judges were aflembled to hold a court of claims^ that is to fay, to hear and regifter the claims of fundry per* fons, who had furniflied proviiions for the army. We know that in general, but par- ticularly in unexpe6l:ed invafions, the Ame- rican troops had no eftabliflied magazines, and as it was neceffary to have fubfiilence for them, provifions and forage were indif- criminatejy laid hold of, on giving the pwners a receipt, which they called a rtr- t'ljicalc. During the campaign, whilll: the enemy was at hand, little attention was given to this fort of loans, which accumulated inceil'antly, without the fum total being known, or any means taken to afcertain the proofs. Virgmia being at length load- ed with thefc certificates, it became necef- fary, fooner or Liter, to liquidate thefe ac-j counts, NORTH-AMERICA. 123 counts. The lafl alTembly of the State of Virginia, had accordingly thought proper to pafs a bill, authorizing the Juflices of each county to take cognizance of thefe cer- tificates, to authenticate their validity, and to regifter them, fpecifying the value of the provifions in money, according to the eftablilhed tariff. I had the curlofity to go to the Gourt-houfe, to fee how this affair was tranfa61:ed, and faw it was performed with great order, and iimplicity. The Judges wore their common deaths, but were feated on an elevated tribunal, as at London in the Court of King's Bench or Common Pleas. One of them feeing me ftanding at the door of the hall, defcended from the bench, and invited me to go and take fome refrefh- inent at his houfe, where the family would entertain me till the feifions v/ere fmiihed. I told him 1 was obliged to proceed on my journey, and really we had no time to lofe, for there yet remained twenty-eight miles to travel, and on a road fo un- provided v/ith every neceifary for travellers, that though we intended giving our horfes another bait^ we could not find forage nearer than 124 TRAVELS IN than at a fmith's fliop, at twenty miles dif- tance. As I intended therefore ftayingonly half an hour at moll:, I feated myfelf un- der fome trees ; but Monfieur £)'Oyr/ hav- ing gone into the houfe, returned and told me there was a company of four or five young girls, all pretty and very well dref- fed. Curiofity inducing me to fee them, my attention was foon fixed upon a young woman of eighteen, who was fuck ling her child. Her features were fo regular, and there was fuch decency and modefly in her behaviour, that (he recalled to my mind thofe beautiful virgins of Raphael, the mo- del, or example of the beau ideal. As I no longer permit myfelf to confider beauty but with a philofophic eye • ^ I fhall here make * The reader will here, doubtlefs, be apt to pi£luic to himfelf the Author as a grey-headed worn out veteran, or an unimpaflioned, ftoical member of tlic Frmich academy, barely remembering " the days vfhcn he was young;" but it is ray duty to unde- ceive him i the Marquis dc Chajicllux is a well made, handfome man, of about four and forty, with eyes full of intelligence and fne, the carriage and deport- ment of a man of rank, and with a difpofitioix extremely remote from an indifference to beauty. Translator. NORTH-AMERICA. 125 make an obfervation which has occurred to me in foreign countries, particularly in England and America ; it is, that the beauty of forms and of features, the beauty inde- pendant of grace, motion, and expreffion, is oftener found amongft the people of the North, or amongft their defcendants, than in France, or towards the South. If I were to affign the caufe of this difference, I fhould fay, that from fome unaccountable reafon, unconnected, doubtlefs, with the tempera* tureof the climate, the youth of both fexes are more more forward, and more ripe, amongffc them than with us, from which it refults, that young people, particularly young girls of twelve, or thirteen, unite that roundnefs of form, frefhnefs of complexion, and regularity of features, before they are modified by paffions and habits. In France it is quite different ; children are there very pretty to the age of feven or eight years ; but it is feldom that girls pre- ferve their beauty to the age of puberty* This is the epoch, however, when we muft form our opinion of what they may be ; but even thefe prognofticks are often deceit- ful. 1-6 T R A V £ I, S T N fill. This period is a kind of chryfalis, a ftate of probation, in which the handfome become ugly, and the ugly handfome. It is from the age of twenty to twenty-five that the features develop and declare them- felves, and that Nature compleats her work, if not diverted from her courfe byficknefs, but efpecially by the moral and natural con- fequences of marriage. On the other hand, our women, this danger once over, retain their beauty longer than in any other coun- try. It appears as if their very fouls were identified in their features, and watched over their prefervation ; not a movement without a grace, no grace v.^ithout expreffion ; the defire of pleafmg improves and perpetuates the means ; and Nature, rather aided than counteracted by Art, is never abfolutely abandoned to a domeftic life, nor lavifhed by an unlimited fecundity ■. Thus ufeful trees may * It is certain that population is not the main ob- je6t of marriage in France amongfl the higher claf- fes. Amongft the nobility, in particular, the par- ties are generally contracted, when very young, by their refpcdlive parents, who bring them together to make an heir, or two, for the family ; which object. N O R T H - A M E R I C A. 127 may ferve to decorate our gardens, if the too great quantity of fruit does not prevent the' reprodudion of their blolToms. Thefe re- flections prove, that the French vv^omeu have no reafon to envy Grangers ; that their beauty, in hSc, though longer in coming to maturity, and lefs perfed:, is more be- witching and more durable ; tliat if otliers furnifh better models for the painter, they will Hand the teil: of a longer examination, and that, in fhort, if they are not always thofe we moft admire, they are certainly thofe we mufl love the moft and the longeft. But let me return from this dangerous excurfion, and refume my journey. We had once compleated, they part with as little afFe^tion as when they met, but with lefs paffion, and pals the remainder of their lives in perfeft freedom. Whilft family duty is performing for family purpofes, their conduft is di£lated, in general, by the nlcefl honour, and their noble blood is tranfmitted tolerably pure and free from contamination; but " unlimited fecun- dity," as it is checked by fomeon principles of ceco^ nomy and prudence, is deemed vulgar and barbarous by all, except the lower clafles, who are Grangers to this fyllem of refinement, Translator. 12^ TRAVELS IN" had rode forty-four miles, and night was clofing faft upon us, when we arrived at Towhatan Court- houfe j this is a more recent, and more ruftic fettlement than that of Cumberland. It confifts only of two mean huts, one for the purpofe of holding the fefiions, the other by way of publick houfe; but which hitherto is fcauccly fit for the reception of travellers. It is kept by a young man who has jurt: fettled here ; his wife is a tall, handfome woman, his fifter- in-law not quite fo pretty. We had a good fupper and good beds, but our horfes were obliged to do without forage. The county of Powhatan takes its name from a King of the Savages, famous in the hiftory of Virgi- nia, who reigned at the commencement of the laft century ; when the colony formed its firft eftablifliment at "James ^own, it was often necelfary to treat, and fometimes to wage war with him. He is reprefented as a profound, but perfidious, politician. He had conquered all the country betwixt the Apamatock and Bay of Chefapeak, and was dreaded by the neighbouring nations. We N O R T H - A M E R I C A. 129 We left Powhatan the 24th, early iri the morning, and, after having flopped twice, the firfl time to breakfaft in a poor Httle houfe, eight miles from Powhatan, and the laft, twenty-four miles further, at a place called Chejlerjield Court-houfe^ where we faw the ruins of the barracks formerly occupied by Baron Stuben, fincc burnt by the Eng- lifh, arrived in good time at Peter/burg* This day's journey w^as alfo forty- four miles. The town of Peterlburg is iituated on the right bank of the j^pamatock', there are fome houfes on the oppofite fhore, but this kind of fuburb is a diflrid: independent of Peterfburg, and called Pocahunta, We paffed the river in a ferry-boat, and were condudled to a little public houfe about thirty ileps from thence, which had an in- different appearance ; but, on entering, we found an apartment very neatly furnifhed 5 a tall woman, handfomely dreffed, and of a genteel figure, who gave the neceffary orders for our reception, and a young lady, equally tall, and very elegant, at work. I enquired their names, which I found were not lefs entitled to refpedl than their appearance. Vol. 11, K The ISO . TRAVELS IN The miftrefs of the houfe, already twice a widow, was called Spencer, and her daugh- ter, by her firll hufband, Mifs Saunders. I was fhewn my bedchamber ; and the firft thing which ilruck me was a large magni- ficent harplicord, on which lay alfoa guitar^ Thefe mufical inflruments belonged to Mifs Saunders, who knew very well how to ufe them ; but as we flood more in need of a good fupper, than a concert, I was appre- henfive at firft of finding our landladies toa good company, and that we fhould have fewer orders to give than complik.ents to make. Mrs. Spencer, however, happened to be the beft woman in the world ; a gay, chearful creature, no common difpofition in America; and her daughter, amidft the elegance of her appearance, was mild, polite, and eafy in converfation. But to hungry travellers all this could, at the beft, be conlidered but as a good omen for the fupper, for which we had not long to wait ', for fcarcely had we time to admire the neatnefs and beauty of the table-cloth, before it was covered with plenty of good difhes, particularly fome very large and ex- cellent .1 NORTH-AMERICA. 131 tellent fifli. We were very good friends with our charming landladies before we went to bed, and breakfafted with them the next morning. We were jiift going out to take a walk, when we received a viiit from Mr. ViBor^ whom I had feen at Wiiliamfburgh ; he is aPruffian, who had formerly been in the army, and, after having travelled a great deal in Europe, came and fettled in this country, where, by his talents, he lirftmade his fortune; and, like every body elfe> finifhed by turning planter. He is an ex- cellent mufician, and plays every kind of in- ftrument,- which makes his company in great requeil: by the whole neighbourhood. He told us he was come to pafs a few days with Mrs. Bowiing, one of the greatefl land*- holders in Virginia, and proprietor of half the town of Peterfburg. He added, that fhe liad heard of our arrival, and hoped we would come and dine with her, which in- vitation we accepted, and put ourfelves un- der the guidance of Mr. Victor, v/ho firf!: took us to the warehoufes or magazines of tobacco. Thefe warehoufes, of which there are numbers in Virginia, though, K 2 unfortU" 132 T R AV E L S I N unfortunately, great part of them has been burned by the EngHih, are under the direc- tion of pubhc authority. There are in- fpe6lors nominated to prove the quality of the tobacco brought by the planters, and if found good, they give a receipt for the quantity. The tobacco may then be confi- dered as fold, thcfe authentic receipts circu- lating as ready money in the country. For example : fuppofe I have depofited twenty hoglheads of tobacco at Peterlburg, I may go fifty leagues thence to Alexandria or Frederickfburg, and buy horfes, cloths, or any other article, with thefe receipts, which circulate through a number of hands before they reach the merchant who pur- chafes the tobacco for exportation. This is an excellent inftitution, for by this means tobacco becomes not only a fort of bank- flock, but current coin. You often hear the inhabitants fay, " This watch coft me ten hogfheads of tobacco ; this horfe fifteen hogrtieads ; or, I have been offered twenty, &;c." It is true that the price of this ar- ticle, which feldom varies in peace, is fub- jedt to fluctuations in time of war ; but then. NORTH. AMERICA. 133 then, he who receives it in payment, makes a free bargain, calculates the riiks and ex- pectations, and runs the hazard ; in fhort^ we may look on this as a very ufeful efla- blifhment ; it gives to commodities value and circulation, as foon as they are manu- fa<5turcd, and, in fome meafure, renders the planter independent of the merchant. The warehoufes at Peterfburg belong to Mrs. Bowling. They were fpared by the Englilh, either becaufe the Generals Phil- lips and Arnold, Vvho lodged with her, had fome refpe6l for her property, or becaufe they wiflied to preferve the tobacco con- tained in them in expectation of felling it for their profit. Phillips died in Mrs. Bowling's houfe, by which event the {u.- preme command devolved upon Arnold ; and 1 heard it faid, that Lord Cornwaliis, on his arrival, found him at great variance with the navy, who pretended that the booty belonged to them. Lord Cornwaliis terminated the difpute, by burning the to- bacco ; but not before Mrs. Bowling, by her intereft, had time fufficient to get it re- pioved from her warehoufes. She was lucky K 3 enough, 134 T R A V E L S I N enough, alfo, to fave her valuable property in the fame town, conlifling of a mill, which turns fuch a number of mill-ftones, bolting machines, cribbles, 6cc. and, in Co iimpie and eafy a manner, that it produces above jf-^^^ ^ y^^^ llcrling I pafled up-? wards of an hour in examining its vari- ous part?, and admiring the carpenter's, work, and the conflruction. It is turned by the waters of the Apamatock, which are conveyed to it by a canal excavated ii> the rock. Having continued our walk ii^ the town, where we favv a number of fliopSj^ many of whicii were well {locked, we thought it time to pay our refpedls to Mrs, Bowling, and begged Mr. Vidtor to condu the troop which furroundcd him, until, un- fortunately, imagining he could fave himfelf by crofling a morafs, he ftuck faft, fo that the N O R T H - A M E R I C A. 137 the favages, againft whom he had no means of defending himfelf, at lafl took and bound him, and condu(5led him to Powhatan. The King was fo proud of having Captain Smith in his power, that he fent him in tri- umph to all the tributary Princes, and or- dered that he fhould be fplendidly treated, till he returned to fuffer that death which was prepared for him"'*. The * Dr, Rohertfon, Mr. Jdalr, and a number of writers have given an account of the cruel mode by which the Indians torture their prifoners of war, before they put them to death. IDuring my refidence near Alexandria, in Virginia, in 1782, I had the following relation of their barbarous treatment, from a gentleman who had juft efcaped out of the hands of thefe infernal furies. Colonel Crawford., and his Ibn, two great land furveyors, and moll refpedlable planters in Virginia, in heading a party againft the Indians and Tories, aided by fome light horfe from the Britifh frontiers, who had fpread horror and de- vaftation through the infant back fettlements of the United States, were defeated and made prifoners. The gentleman, from whom I had this account, was furgeon to the party, and was condufted, with Mr. Crawford and his fon, to be facrificed in his turn, at one of the Indian villages, to the manes of their people llain in battle. The bloody bufinefs commen- jCfd with Mr. Crawford, the father, who was deli- «|8 TRAVELS IN The fatal moment at lafl arrived, Cap- tain Smith was laid upon the hearth of the Lvage rered over to the '■juomcn, and being faften^ to a flake, in the centre of a circle formed by the favages and ^trrr aNies, the female furies, after the preamble of a "^ar fong, began by tearing out the nails of his toes ^td fingers, then proceeded, at confiderable intervals, to cut off his nofe and ears ; after which they fluck "hiis lacerated body full of pitch pines, large pieces of •which they infcrtcd, horrid to relate ! into bis pri- Tate parts j to all of which they fct fire, and which continued burning, amidft the inconceivable tortures cf the u!ihappy man, for a confiderable time. After tbfls glutting their revenge, by arts of barbarity, the Jbccefs of which was repeatedly applauded by the furrounding demons, they cut off his genitals, and Tafbingin upon him, finifhed his mifery with their tomohawks, and hacked his body limb from limb. This dreadful (ctne pafled in the prefence of the fon of the unhappy fuiFerer, and the furgeon, who were to be conveyed to different villages to undergo the fame fate. The nextday, accordingly, young Craw- ford was facrificed with the fame circumftances of horror; after which, the furgeon, being cntrufled to the care of four of the favages, v.ho fortunately got drunk with fomc rum, given them as a re- compence by their European friends, efcaped from them in the woods, and, bound as he was, wander- ed for four or five and twenty days, fubfifting on leaves and berries, before he reached the neigh- bourhood of Wincheflcr, whence he got down to NORTH-AMERICA. 139 favage King, and his head placed upon a large ftone to receive the ftrokc of death, when Pocahunta, the youngeft and darl^ ing daughter of Pouchatan, threw herfelf upon his body, clafped him in her arms, and declared, that if the cruel fentence were executed, the fjrfl: blow {hould fall on her. Alljavages, {abfolute fovereigns and tyrants not Alexandria. Amongfl thefe wretches was one Simon Girty, a native of Virginia, who was formerly weli acquainted with Colonel Crawford, and had been employed by the afferably of Virginia to conciliate the favagcs, and obtain tlieir neutrality ; but who having been deteflcd by the Governor in fome mal- verfations of the public money entrufted to hiin, and his duplicity difcovered, went over to the Britifh, and became more rnercllefs than the worfl of thefc infernal hell-hounds. Mr. Crawford, in the midft of his tremendous fufFerings, feeing Girty Handing in. the circle, with a gun, called to him by his name, and implored him as an old friend, a chriflian, ^nd a countryman, to Ihoot him, and by that a£t pf mercy relieve him from his mifery, but the in- iiuman monfter tauntingly replied, " No, Crawford, J have got no poivdeVi your aflembly did not chufe to truft me, and you muft now pay for it," and conti- pued to feafl: his eyes with the bloody facrifice. Translator. I40 TRAVELS IN not excepted,) are invariably more affe(^-. cd by the tears of infancy, than the voice of humanity. Povi^hatan could not refill: the tears and prayers of his daughter ; Cap- tain Smith obtained his life, on condition of paying for his ranfom a certain quantity of mufkets, powder and iron utenfils ; but how were they to be obtained ? They would neither permit him to return to James- Town, nor let the Englifh knov/ where he was, left they ihould demand him fword in hand. Captain Smith, who was as fen^ fible as courageous, faid, that if Powhatan would permit one of his fubje£ls to carry to James-Town a little board which he would give him, he fliould find under a tree, at the day and hour appointed, all the articles demanded for his ranfom. Powha- tan confented, but without having much faith in his promifes, believing it to be only an artifice of the Captain's to prolong his life. But he had written on the board a few lines fufficient to give an account of his fituation. The meflenger returned. The King fent to the place fixed upon, and v/as N O R T H - A M E R I C A. 141 was greatly afloniflied to find every thing which had been demanded. Powhatan could not conceive this mode of tranfmit- ting thoughts, and Captain Smith was henceforth looked upon as a great magician, to whom they could not fhew too much re- fped:. He left the favages in this opinion, and haftened to return home. Two or three years after, fome frefh differences ariiing amidft them and the Englifh, Pow- hatan, who no longer thought them for- cerers, but ftill feared their power, laid a horrid plan to get rid of them altogether. His project was to attack them in profound peace, and cut the throats of the whole colony. The night of this intended con- fpiracy, Pocahunta took advantage of the obfcurity, and in a terrible florm which kept the favages in their tents, efcaped from her father's houfe, advifed the Englifh to be upon their guard, but conjured them to fpare her family, to appear ignorant of the intelligence fhe had given, and terminate all their differences by a new treaty. It would be tedious to relate all the fervices which thi$ 141 TRAVELS iN this angel of peace rendered to both na- tions. I fhall only add, that the Englifh^ I know not from what motives, but cer- tainly againll: all faith and equity, thought proper to carry her off. Long and bitterly did fhe deplore her fate, and the only con- folation fhe had was Captain Smith, in whom (he found a fecond father. She was treated with great refpedt, and married to a planter of the name of Roile^ who foon after took her to England. This was in the reign of James the Firjl ; and, it is faid, that this monarch, pedantic and ridiculous in every point, was fo infatuated with the prerogatives of royalty, that he expreffed his difpleafure, that one of his fubjeds fhould dare to marry the daughter even of a favage King. It will not perhaps be dif- ficult to decide on this occafion, whether it was the favage King who derived honour from finding himfelf placed upon a level with the European prince, or the Englifh monarch, who by his pride and prejudices reduced himfelf to a level with the chief of the favages. Be that as it will, Captain Smith, N O R T H - A M E R I C A. 143 Smith, who had returned to London before the arrival of Pocahunta, was extremely happy to fee her again, but dared not to treat her with the fame familiarity as at James-Town. As foon as fhe faw him, (he threw herfelf into his arms, calling him, her father ; but finding that he neither re- turrted her carefles with equal warmth, oor the endearing title of daughter, (he turned afide her head and wept bitterly, and it was a long time before they could obtain a (in- gle word from her. Captain Smith enquir- ed feveral times what could be the caufe of her affliaion.— " What !" faid fhe, « did f ** notfavethy life in America ? When I was " torn from the arms of my father, and " conduced amongft thy friends, did(l '* thou not promife to be a father to me ? " Bidft thou not aiTure me, that if 1 went •=' into thy country thou wouldft be my fa- ** ther, and that I fhould be thy daughter ? *' Thou haft deceived mc, and behold me, •' now here, a ftranger and an orphan." It was not difficult for the Captain to make his peace with this charming creature, whom he tenderly loved. He prefented her J44 TRAVELS IN her to feveral people of the firfl quality^ but never dared take her to court, from which however flie received feveral favours. After a refidence of feveral years in England, an example of virtue and piety, and attach- ment to her hufband, flic died, as flie was on the point of embarking on her return to America. She left an only fon, who was married, and left only daughters ; thefe daughters, others ; and thus, with the fe- male line, the blood of the amiable Poca- hunta now flows in the veins of the young and charming Mrs. Bowling. I hope I fliall be pardoned this long di- greffion, which may be pleafmg to fomc readers. My vifit to Mrs. Bowling and her family, having convinced me, that I fhould pafs part of the day with them agree- ably, I contiiiued my walk, with a pro- mife of returning at two o'clock. Mr. Vic- tor conduded me to the camp formerly oc- cupied by the enemy, and teflified his re- gret that I could not take a nearer view of Mr. Bannijlers handfome country-houfe, which was in light ; there being no other obftacle however than the diftance, about a mile N O R T H - A M E Pv I C A. 145 a mile and a half, and the noonday heat, we determined that this fhould not Hop us; and, walking llowly, we reached, without fatigue, this houfe, which is really worth feeing. It is decorated rather in the Italian, than the Englifh or American flyle, having three porticoes at the three principal en- tries, each of them fupported by four co- lumns *. It was then occupied by an in* * The Italian archite£lure, that of porticoes in particular, is admirably adapted to all hot climates, and of courfe to the Southern States of America. The fame motives therefore, which induced the in- vention of this mode of building in antient Greece and Rome, and in general throughout the Eaftem world, would naturally give rife to the fame inven- tions of convenience in fimilar climates ; and, infaft, though the richer and more polifhed defcendants of Britain^ in the New World, may be fuppofed to adopt thefe porticoes from Italy, as the cultivated mind of the Author imagines ; the very pooreft fet- tler, nay even the native Indian, invariably attempts fome kind of fubflitute for this neceffary protedlion from the fun and weather. Every tavern or inn is provided with a covered portico for the convenience of its guefts, and this evidently from the necedity of the cafe. We have only to examine the refources of the favage illander in the Pacific Ocean, and recur Vol. II. L habitant 146 1 R A V^ E L S IN habitant of Carolina, called Ne/fin, who had been driven from his country by the war, whicli followed him to Peterfburg, He invited nie to walk in, and whilft he made mc, according to cuftom, drink a glafs of wj nc, another Carolinian, of the name of Bull, arrived to dine with him. The latter v/as a militia General, and came from General Greene's army, where his time of fervice was expired The hiilory of Mr. Bull, which is not long,, will give a general idea of the Hate of the Southern Provinces. PoflelTed of a great number of negroes, large perfonalproperty, particularly in plate, previous to,, and dur- ing the war, he did not think proper, after the capture oi Charles-Town, to expofe his wealth to the rapacity of the Englifh. He fet off therefore with two hundred negroes, followed by a great number of waggons la- den with his effects, and provifions, for his little to the origin of all archite<£iure, fioni the fluted Corinthian in the hail ot empire, to the rullic prop of the thatclicd roof, to difcover tlic natural pro- gvcfr. of the human r l; '1 'nd the fnnilarity of hu- jiian genius. Thanslatoz. N O R T H - A M E R I C A. !47 little army, and travelled, in this manner, thro' South and North Carolina, and part of Virginia, pitching his camp every evening in the moft commodious (ituations. At length he arrived at Tukakoe^ on James's River, the feat of his old friend Mr. Randolph, a rich planter of Virginia, who gave him a fpot of ground near his houfe, on which his ne- groes built one for himfelf. Here he lived in tranquillity, furrounded oy Ins ilaves and his flocks, until Arnold and Phillips invad- ed Virginia, and approached his new afy- lum. Mr. Bull once more departed with his wealth, his flocks, and negroes, to retire into the upper country near Frederickf- burg. On my aiking him what he would have done, had we not opportunely arrived to expel the Englifh, w ho intended to com- pleat the conqueft of Virginia, " I fliould have retired to Maryland," he replied, — - and if they had gone thither ?— ** I fhould have proceeded to Penfylvania, and fo on, even to New England." Does not this re- call to mind the ancient patriarchs emigrat- ing with their family and flocks, v/ith a certainty of finding every where a country L 2 to i4Sr TRAVELS IN to receive and nourlfh them ? * General Bull was preparing to return to Carolina in hopes, * I have already faid, that I had the happinefs of a particular acquaintance with many of the principal genllemcn of South Carolina. The reflexion on the pleafing hours I pafled with them in their exiled fituation at Philadelphia, and the warm fricndlhip with which they honoured me, whilft it reconciles me to the world, and foothes the memory of pall fufferings, touches the tendercft affe6lions of a fcn- fible and grateful heart. My bofom beat high with genuine ardour in the caufe for which they facrificed every pcrfonal confideration, but I had, frequently, the opportunity of appreciating that facrifice. Seeing what 1 faw, I want no inftances of Greek or Roman virtue to ftimulate my feelings, or excite my emula- tion ; and it will ever be matter of congratulation with me, to have witnefled, in the principal inhabitants of Carolina, all the blandifliments of civilize4 fociety, the love of life and all its bleflings, a humanity void of reproach, an hofpitality not exceeded in the pa- triarchal ages, contrary to the paradoxes of fyflema- tic writers, blended with the inflexible virtue which diftinguiflied the befl and pureft ages of the world. From the number, I fliall only felcdl the brilliant examples of Major Pierce But/erf and Mr. Arthur Middlcton. Wealth, honour, intercfl, domcf- tic happinefs, their children, were nothing in the eyes of fuch men, though calculated to enjoy, and to cjommunicate happinefs in every fphere. N O R T H -A M E R I C A. 149 hopes, henceforth, of paffing happier days. After putting many queftions to him re- fpeding affairs to the Southward, which he anfvvered with great franknefs and good fenfe, I returned to Mrs. Bowhng's, where I was not difappointed in finding a good din- ner, the honours of which The did with much cordiaHty, without reflraint, or cere- mony. After dinner, Mifs Bowling played on the harpfichord, and fung like an adept in mufic, although her voice was not agreeable; whilft the defcendantof Pocahunta touched a guittar, and fung like a perfon unfkilled in mufic, but with a charming voice. On my return home, I had another concert ; Mifs Saunders finging fome airs, which fhe ac- companied fometimes with the harpfichord, and fometimes with the guittar. L 3 Next when put In competition with the great objefls of univerfal public happinefs, and facred Freedom's holy caufe. How painful is it to be compelled to add, that fuch was the cold, felfifli fpirit of too many of the inhabitants of Philadelphia towards their Caro ina brethren, who had every claim upon their fympathy, and good offices^ as to merit the indignation of every feeling mind, and to fix an in- delible {lain upon their character as men and citi- zens-. Translator. 150 TRAVELS IN Next day we were obliged to quit this good houie and agreeable company ; but before I left Peterfburg, 1 obferved that it was already a flourilhing town, and muft become more {o, every day, from its favour- able fituation with rcfpe£l to commerce. Firfl:, becaufe it is placed immediately be- low the Ftil/s, or Rapids of the Apamatock, and the river can here float veflels of fifty or fixiy tons burthen. Secondly, becaufe the produdlions of the Southern part of Virginia have no other outlet, and thofe even of North Carolina are gradually tak-^ ing this way, the navigation of the Roanoke . and Albemarle found being by no means fo commodious as that of the Apomatock and Jametj's River. But thefe advantages are unfortunately balanced by the infalu- brity of the climate j for 1 have been af- furcd, that of all the inhabitants of the three little burghs of Pocahunta, of Bland- ford and Peterfburg, which may be con- fidered as forming one town, net two per- fons are to be found who are natives of the country. Commerce and navigation, not- withAanding, produce a concourfe of flran- gers. The fituation, bcfide§, is agreeable, aiid NORTH-AMER ICA. 151 and the climate may probably be lendereii more falubrious by d^ainin^^ fome nioraiics in the neighbourhood. Five miles from Peterfburg, we pafTcd the fmall river of Randolph, over a flone bridge ; and travelling, through a rich and well peopled country, arrived at a fork of roads, where we were unlucky enough pre- cifely to make choice of that which did not lead to Richmond, the place of our def- tination. Eat we had no reafon to regret our error, .as it was only two miles about ; and we fkirted James river to a charming place called Warwick^ where a groupe of handfome houfes form a fort of village, and there are feveral fuperb ones in the neighbourhood ; amongft others, that of Colonel Carey*, on the right bank of the river, and M. Randolph\ on the oppofite fhore. One muft be fatigued with hearing the name of Pvandojph mentioned in tra- velling in Virginia (for it is one of the mod ancient families in the country) a Randolph being amongft the firfl: fettlers, and is like- wife one of the moft numerous and rich. * This is the gentleman whofe fine mills were burnt by ArnoI'J, as mentioned in the London Ga- zette. Translator. 152 TRAVELS IN It is divided into feven or eight branches, and I am not afraid of exaggerating, when I fay, that they poflefs an income of up- wards of a milHon of livres. It is only twenty-five miles from Peterfburgh to Rich- iTjond, but as we had lofl our way, and tra- velled but flowly, it was near three o'clock when we reached Manchejfer, a fort of fu- burb to Richmond, on the right bank, of the river, where you pafs the ferry. The paffage was fliort, there being two boats for the accommodation of travellers. Though Richmond be already an old town, and well fituated for trade, being built on the fpot where James river begins to be navigable, that is, juft below the Rapids, it was, before the war, one of the leaft confiderable in Virginia, wliere they are all, in general, very fmall J but the feat of government having been removed from Williamfburgh, it is become a real capital, and is augmenting every day. It was necefifary, doubtlef'?, to place the legiflative body at a diflance from the fea-coaft, where it was expofcd to the rapid and unexpected inroads of the Englifli, but Williamfburgh had the flill farther in- convenience NORTH-AMERICA. 153 convenience of being fituated at the ex- tremity of the flate, which obliged a great part of the Delegates to make a long jour- ney to the Affembly ; befides, that from its portion between James and York rivers, it has no port nor communication with them but by fmall creeks very difficult for navi- gation, whilfl veffels of 200 tons come up to Richmond. This new capital is di- vided into three parts, one of which is on the edge of the river, and may be confidered as the port ; the two others are built on two eminences, which are feparated by a little valley. I was conducted to that on the weft, where I found a good inn, and my lodgings and dinner ordered by a fervant whom I had fent on two days before, with a lame horfe. We were ferved, therefore, im- mediately, but with fuch magnificence and profulion, that there would have been too much for twenty perfons. Every plate that was brought us produced a burft of laughter, but not without confiderable alarm for the bill of the next day ; for I had been apprized that the inns at Richmond were uncommonly extravagant. 154 TRAVELS IN extravagant. 1 efcaped, however, for feven or eight Louis d'or, which was not enormous, confidering our expenditure, A fliort time before, Mr. de Rochambeau had paid five and twenty Louis, at another inn, for fome horfes which remained there for four or five days, although he neither ate nor flept in it himfclf. Mr. Formicalo, my landlord, was more honeft ; his only error was the ex- alted idea he had formed of the manner in which French General Officers mufl: be treated. He is a Neapolitan, who came to Virginia with Lord Dunmore, as his Maiire d'Hotel, but he had gone rather round about, having been before in Ruffia. At prelent he has a good houfe, furniture, and flaves, and will foon become a man of confequence in his new country. Hs flill, however, re- colleds his native land with pleafure, and I have no doubt that my attention in addref- fjig him only in Italian, laved ir.e a few Louis. After dinner I went to pay a vifit to Mr, Harrifon^ then Governor of the State. I found him in a homely, but fpacious enough houfe, which was fitted up for him. As the AfTcmbly was not then fitting, there was N O R T H . A M E p. I C A. 155 was nothing to didingulfh him from other citizens. One of his brothers, who is a Colonel of Artillery, and one of his fons, who ads as his Secretary, were with him. The converfation was free and agreeable, which he was even defirons of prolonging; for on my rifing in half an hour, left I might interrupt him, he affured me that the buli- nefs of the day was at an end, and defired me to refume my feat. We talked much of the firil Congrefs in America, in which he fat for two years, and which, as I have already faid, was compofed of every perfon diflinguifhed for virtue and capacity on the continent. This fubjed led us naturally to that which is the rnofl favourite topic amongfl: the Americans, the origin and com- mencement of the prefent revolution. It is a circumftance peculiar to Virginia, that the inhabitants of that country were certain- ly in the beft fituation of all the colonitls under the Englifli government. The V'ir- ginlaus were , planters, rather than merr chants, and the objeds of their cultuie were rather valuable than the refult of induilry. They poffelled, almoil exclufively, the pri- vileged 156 TRAVELS IN vileged article of tobacco, which the Eng- glifli came in queft of into the very heart of the country, bringing in exchange every article of utility, and even of luxury. They had a particular regard and prediledion for Virginia, and favoured accordingly the pe- culiar difpofition of that country, where cupidity and indolence go hand-in-hand, and ferve only as boundaries to each other. It was undoubtedly no eafy matter there- fore, to perfuade this people to take up arms, becaufe the town of Bofton did not chufe to pay a duty upon tea, and was in open rupture with England. To produce this efted, it was neceffary to fubfti- tute a(5tivity for indolence, and forefight for indifference. That idea was to be awaken- ed at which every man, educated in the principles of the Englifh conftitution, fhudders, the idea of a fervlle fubmllTion to a tax to which he has not himfelf con- iented. The prec if© cafe however relative to them, had not yet occurred, though every enlightened mind forefaw that fuch was the object, and would be the inevitable con- fequence of the early mcafures of the go- 4 vernmcnt : NORTH-AMERICA. 157 vernment : but how were the people to be convinced of this ? By what other motive could they be brought to adopt decifive meafures, if not by the confidence they repofed in their leaders ? Mr. Harrlfon in- formed me, that when he was on the point of fetting oat with Mr. JefFerfon and Mr. Lee to attend the firft Congrefs at Philadel- phia, a number of refpedtable, but unin- formed inhabitants, waited upon, and ad- dreffed them as follows : '* You affert that *' there is a fixed intention to invade our ** rights and privileges; we own that we *' do not fee this clearly, but fince you ** afTure us that it is fo, we believe the hS:, *' We are about to take a very dangerous ** flep, but we confide in you, and are ready *' to fupport you in every meafureyou (hall " think proper to adopt." Mr. Harrifoa added, that he found himfelf greatly reliev- ed by a fpeech made by Lord North foon af- ter, in which he could not refrain from avowing, in the clear^ft manner, the plan of the Briti(h Government *. This fpeech was * I cannot here refid tranfcriblng a pafiage from Mr. Pay fie' s celebrated Le4:ter to the Jbhe Ray7ia!, 35? T R A V E L S I N was printed in the public papers, and all America rang with its contents. Return- ing which merits prefervation, and mav ferve to illuf- tratc the ideas of America refpefting the general views of Britain, in hopes that every reflefting Enghlh- man is at length difpaffionate enough to bear the obfervation. " I fliall now take my leave of this *' paffage of the Abbe, with an obfervation, which *' until fomcthing unfolds itfelf to convince me of *' the contrary, I cannot avoid believing to be true; *' which is, that it was the fixed determination of *' the Ihitifh cabinet to quarrel with America at all *' events. 7 hey (the members who compofe the *' cabinet) had no doubt of fuccefs, if they could *' once brin^, it to the iflue of a battle ; and they " expedled from a conqueft, what they could nei- *' thcr propofe with decency, nor hope for by nego- *' tiation. The charters and conftitutions of the " colonies were become to them matters of offence, *' and their rapid progrefs in property and popula- *' tion were beheld with difguft, as the growing and " natural means of independence. They faw no ** way to retain them long, but by reducing them " in time. A conqueft would at once have made ** them lords and landlords ; and put them in pof- " fellion both of the revenue and the rental. The *' whole trouble of government would have ceafed *' in a vitlory, and a final end been put to remon- *' ftrance and debate. I'he experience of the ftamp- *' aft had taught them how to quarrel, with the ad« N O K. T H - A IVI E R I C A. 1^9 inP" afterwards to Virginia, he fawthe fame perfons who had thus addreffed him on his departure, who now confelfed that he had not deceived them, and that henceforward they were refolutely determined upon war„ Thefe *' vantages of cover and convenience, and they had *' nothing to do but to renew the fcene, and put *' contention into motion. They hoped for a re. *' bellion, and they made one. They expelled a *' declaration of independence, and they were not *' difappointcd. But after this, they looked for *' vi£lory, and they obtamcd a defeat. If this be *' taken as the generating caufeof the contefl, then *' is every part of the conduft of the Britifh mini- •' {try confiftent, from the commencement of the *' difpute, until the figning the treaty of Paris^ (the *' American and French alliance) after which, con- *' queft becoming doubtful, they had recourfe to irego- *' tiation, and were again defeated. If we take a re- " view of what part Britain has afted, we fhall *< find every thing which ought to make a nation ** blufh. The moft vulgar abufe, accompanied by *' that fpecies of haughtinefs which diftinguifhes " the licio of a mob from t'lc charafterof a gentle- *' man ; it was as much from her manners, as from *' her injuilice, that fhe lofl the colonies. By the " latter ilie provoked their principles, by the for- *' mer flie exhaufted their patience. And it ought '*' to be held out to the world, to ftiew, how necef- " fary it is to conduft the bufinefs of government *' with civility," ' Translator. i6o TRAVELS IN Thefc particular details cannot but be ufe- ful to fuch Europeans as are delirous of forming a juft idea of thofc great events, in which they took fo deep an interefl: ; for they would be much deceived in imagin- ing that all the Thirteen States of America were invariably animated by the fame fpirit, and affected by the fame fentiments. But they would commit a fHll greater error, did they imagine, that thefe people re- femble each other in their forms of govern- ment, their manners and opinions. One muft be in the country itfelfj one mufl be acquainted with the language, and take a pleafure in converfing, and in liftening, to be qualified to form, and that flowly, a proper opinion and a dccifive judgment *. After * The fame ingenious author of Common Senfe makes another obfervation, in his anfwer to the very ignorant, or very prejudiced work of the Abbe Ray- nal on the revolution of America, to which, how- ever it may militate againfl the utility of the prefent publication, or the notes of the Tranflator, he can- not avoid perfectly" fubfcribing : viz. '* I never yet ♦' faw an European defcription of America that waf *• true, neither can any perfon gain a juft idea of it< *« but by coming to it." Translator. N O R T H - A M E Pv I G A. 161 After this reflection, the reader will not be jfurprized at the pleafure I took in converf- ing with Mr. Harrifon. Befides that I was particularly happy to form an acquaintance with a man of fo eftimable a character ia every refpe6t, and whofe bed eulogium it is to fay, that he is the intimate friend of Dr. Franklin '^, He prelfed me to dine * The illufirious and amiable chara6ler of t)r. Franklin is far beyond my praife. To have known him ; to have been a frequent witnefs to the diflin- guifhed afts of his great mind ; to have been in a fituation to learn, and to admire his comprehenfive views, and benevolent motives ; to have heard the profound maxims of wife philofophy and found po- Jiitics, drop from his lips with all the unaffefted fim- plicity of the moft indifferent converfation ; to have heard him deviate from the depths of reafon, and adopt his inflruftive difcourfe to the capacity and temper of the young and gay ; to have enjoyed in Ihort, the varied luxuries of his delightful fociety, is a fubjeft of triumph and confolation, of which nothing can deprive me. He too as well as the envious and interelled enemies of his tranfcendent merit, muft drop from off the fcene, but his name, cere peren- nius, is infcribed in indelible charafters on the im- mortal roll of philofophy and freedom, for the ar- dentla verba of the moll honeft advocate of freedom. Vol. ir, M with i62 TRAVELSIN \vith him next day, and to pafs another day at Richmond -, but as there was no- thing to excite curiofity in that town, and I was defirous of flopping at Weflover be- fore I returned to Williamfburgh, where I was anxious to arrive, we fet out the 27th at eight in the morning, under the efcort of Colonel Harrifon, who accompanied us to a road from which it was impofTible to go aflray. We travelled fix and twenty miles without halting, in very hot weather, but by a very agreeable road, with magni- ficent houfes in view at every inftant ; for the banks of James-River form the garden of Virginia. That of Mrs. Bird, to which I was going, furpalfes them all in the mag- nificence of the buildings, the beauty of its of the prefent age the late Serjeant Glynn, on a great occafion ; the adion againft Lord Halifax for the falfe imprifonmcnt of Mr, Wilkes, may with pecu- liar juriice be applied to this great man. " Few men ' ' in whole revolving ages can be found, who dare op' " pofe themf elves to the force of tyranny , andwhofefn^ *• glc breafls contain thefpirit of nations. ^^ Translator; N O R T H - A M E R I C A. 163 its fituation, and the pleafares of fociety *. Mrs. Bird IS the widow of a Colonel who ferved in the war of ^y$^, and was after- wards one of the council under the Rritifh Government. His taknts, his perfonal qualities, and his riches, for he poflefTed an immenfe territory, rendered him one of the principal perf>nages of the country; but being a fpendthrift and a gambler, he: left his affairs, at his death, in very great diforden He had four children by his firft wife, who were already fettled in the world, and has left eight by his fecond, of whom M 2 the * The moft perfeft eafe and comfort charafterize the mode of receiving ftrangets in Virginia, but no where are thefe circumftances more conrpicuous than at the houfe of General vVafliington. Your apart- ments are your home, the fervants of the houle are yours, and whilft every inducement is held out to bring you into the general fociety in the drawing room, or at the table, it refts with yourfelfto be ferved or not with every thing in your own cham- ber. In Ihort, nothing can more refemble the eafy reception of guefls at the country refidence of tlie late Sir Charles Turner in Yorklhire, where hofpi- tality perha^js was ftrained farther than confided with a proper alTortment of company, or even with fafety, Translator» 1^4 T R A V E L S I N tl e widow takes care. She has prcferved his beautiful houfe, fituated on James -Ri- ver, a large perfonal property, a confider- ahlc number of flaves, and fome plantations which file has rendered valuable. She is about two-and-forty, with an rgreeable countenance, and great fenfe. Four of her eight children are daughters, two of whom are near twenty, and they are all amiable and w-ell educated. Her care and aclivity have in feme meafure repaired the effeds of her hufband's diffipation, and her houfe is flill the mofl celebrated, and the mofl agreeable of the neighbourhood. She has experienced however frefh misfortunes ; three times have the English landed at Wedover, under Arnold and Cornw^allis ; and though thefe viiits coft her dear, her hufband's former attachment to England, where his cldefl fon is now fervins" in the arniy, her relationship with Arnold, whofe coufin german Ihe is, and perhaps too, the jealoufy of her neighbours, have given birth to fufpicions, that war alone was not the obje6l which induced the Englifli always to make their defcents at her habitation. She has N O R T H . A M E R I C A. 165 Iras been accufed even of connivance with them, and the government have once put their fcal upon her papers ; but fhe has braved the tempeft, and defended herfelf vi^ith firmnefs; and though her affair be not yet terminated, it does not appear as if ihe was likely to fuffer any other inconve- nience than that of being difturbed and fuf- peded. Her two eldeft daughters paffed the laft winter at WilliamfDurgh, where they were greatly complimented by M. de Rochambeau and the whole army *. I had M 3 . alfo * The prudent conduft of the French officers, and the ftrift difcipline of their troops in a country with different manners, language, and religion, full of inveterate prejudices, and wherein they had very lately been regarded as natural enemies, mull ever be confidered as an epocha and a phaenomenon, in the hillory of policy and fubordination. Whilft all ranks of officers were making it their fludy fuccefs- fully to conciliate the good opinion of the higher clafles, nothing could exceed the probity, and urbani- ty of the common foldiers ; not only did they live with the American troops in a harmony, hithereto unknown to allied armies, even of kindred language, intereft, and religion, but their conduii was irre- proachable, and even delicate to the inhabitants of the country. They who pre4i<^ed difcord on ths. x66 TRAVELSIN alfo received them in the befl manner I could, and received the thanks of Mrs. Bird, with a prefiing invitation to come and fee her ; I found myfelf in confequence, quite at home. I found here alfo my ac- quaintance, the young Mrs. Bowling, who was on a vifit to Mr. Mead, a friend and neighbour of Mrs Bird's, who had invited him and his company to dinner. I paifed this day therefore very agreeably, and Mr. and Mrs. Mead, whom I had alfo known at Williamfburgh, engaged the company to dine with them the next day. The river alone feparates the two houfes, which are notwithflanding, upwards of a mile dif- tant from each other ; but as there is very little current, the breadth of the water be- tween them does not prevent it from being foon pafied. Mr. Mead's houfe is by no means introdnftion of a French army, had reafon and ex- perience on their fide, but the fpirit of policy and wirJoni which prefidcd in the French councils had gone forth, and difFufing itfclf through every fubpr- dinatc clafs of men, perfuaded even the meaneft ac- tors in the war, and baffled forefight. Nor was this one of the Icail extraordinary circumftanccs of this wonderful revolution. Translator. NORTH-AM ER ICA. 167 means Co handfome as that of Weftover, but it is extremely well fitted up within, and {lands on a charming fituationj for it is diredly oppofite to Mrs. Bird's, which, with its furrounding appendages, has the appearance of a fniall town, and forms a moft delightful profpe£l. Mr. Mead's gar- den, like that of Wertover, is in the na- ture of a terrace on the bank of the river, and is capable of being made ftill more beautiful, if Mr. Mead preferves his houfe, and gives fome attention to it; for he is a philofopher of a very amiable but fingular turn of mind, and fuch as is particularly uncommon in Virginia, fince he rarely at- tends to affairs of intereft, and cannot pre- vail upon himfelf to make his negroes work "f-. He is even fo difgufted with a culture t Whilft the Tranlla,tor was employed in this paf- fage, he read in the public prints, the exultation of a friend to his fellow-creatures, that a Mr. Pleafants, a quaker on James-River in Virginia, had liberated his flaves, and made a facrlfice of 3000I. flerling to this noble aft of humanity. The Tranflator knows the country too well not to feel the force of the Au- thor's fubfcquent reafoning on the difficulty and danger of a general emancipation of the negroes. / l68 TRAVELS IN culture wherein it is neceflary to make ufe of flavcs, that he is tempted to fell his pof- feffions in Virginia, and remove to New England. Mrs. Bird, who has a numerous family to provide for, cannot carry her phi- lofophy fo tar; but (he takes great care of her negroes, makes them as happy as their fituation will admit, and ferves them herfelf as a dodor in time of ficknefs. She has even made fome interefting difcoveries on the diforders incident to them, and difcovered a very falutary method of treating a fort of putrid fever which carries them off com- monly in a few days, and againft which the phyficians of the country have exerted themlelves without fuccefs. The 29th, the whole of which day I fpent at Weflover, furnifhes nothing inte- refting in this journal, except fome infor- jnatlon I had the opportunity of acquiring refpe(5ling two forts of animals, of very dif- ferent nor after mature rcfleftion now, and on the fpot, is he able to overcome his objeftions. But God, in his Divine Providence, forbid that fo fplendid aa example of active virtue, fhould clafh with the una- yoidablp policy, or the neceflary welfare of focicty ! Translator. NORTH-AMERICA. 169 ferent fpecies, tht Jiurgeon and the humming" bird. As I was walking by the river-fide, I faw two negroes carrying an immenfe llurgeon, and on my afking them how they had taken it, they told me that at this fea- fon, they were fo common as to be taken eafily in a fean' (a fort of fi{hing-net), and that fifteen or twenty were found fometimes in the net ; but that there was a much more fimple method of taking them, which they had juft been ufing. This fpecies of monfters, which are fo a6live in the even- ing as to be pepetually leaping to a great height above the furface of the water, ufually fleep profoundly at mid-day t* Two f From General Wafhington's houfe, which ftands on the lofty banks of the Potowmack, in a fituation more magnificent than I can paint to an European imagination, I have feen for feveral hours together in a fummer's evening, hundreds, perhaps I might fay thoufands of llurgeon, at a great height from the water at the fame inftant, fo that the quantity in the river muft have been inconceivably great ; but notwithilanding the rivers in Virginia abound with filh, they are by no means plentiful at table, fuch is the indolence of the inhabitants ! Mr, J70 TRAVELS IN Two or three negro;;s then proceed in a little boat, furniflicd with a long cord, at the Mr. Lund fVaJhington, a relation of the General's, and who managed all his affairs during his nine years abfence with the army, informed me that an En- glifh frigate having come up the Potowmac, a party was landed who fet fire to and dellroyed fome gen- tlemen's houfes on the Maryland iide in light of Mount Vernon the General's houfe, after which the Captain, (I think Captain Graves of the Action) fent a boat on fhore to the General's, demandincr a large fupply of provifions, he. with a menace of burning it likcvvife in cafe of a refufal. To this mcffage Mr. Lund U' afhington replied, "that when the General engaged in the contefl he had put all to ftakc, and was well aware of the expofed fituation of his houfe and property, in confequence of which he had given him orders by no means to comply with any fuch demands, for that he would make no unworthy compromife witli the enemy, and was ready to meet the fate of his neighbours." The Captain was highly incenfcd on receiving this an- fwer, and removed his frigate to the Virginia Ihore ; but before he commenced his operations, he fent another mcflage to the fame purport, offering like- wife a palTport to Mr. Wafhington to come on board : he returned accordingly in the boat, carrying with him a fmall prefcnt of poultry, of which he beg- ged the Captain's acceptance. His prcfence produced the beft effcft, he was hofpitably received notwith- N ORT H-AMER I C A. 171 the end of which is a fliarp iron crook, which they hold fufpended like a log line. M foon as they find this line flopped by fome obftacle, they draw it forcibly to- wards them, fo as to ftrike the hook into the (lurgeon, which they either drag out of the water, or which, after fome ftrug- gling, {landing he repeated the fame fentiments with the fame fumnefs. The Captain exprelTed his perfonal refpeft for the charafter of the General, commend- ing the condua: of Mr. Lvmd Washington, and af- fured him nothing but his having mifconceived the terms of the firft anfwer could have induced him for a moment to entertain the idea of taking the fmalleft meafure ofFenfive to fo illuflrious a charac- ter as the General, explaining at the fame time the real or fuppofed provocations which had compel- led his feverity on the other fide of the river. Mr. Wafliington, after fpending fome time in perfeft har- mony on board, returned, and Inftantly difpatched Iheep, hogs, and an abundant fupply of other ar- ticles as a prefent to the Englifh frigate. The Tranflator hopes that in the prefent ^ate of men and rneafures in England, Mr. Graves, or whoever the Captain of that frigate was, will neither be offended at this anecdote, nor be afraid to own himfelf the aftorinthis generous tranfaftion. Henry IVth fup- plied Paris with provifions whilll he was blockad- iixg it I Translator. 1^2 T R A VE L S I N gling, and lofing all its blood, floats at length upon the furface, and is eafily taken. As for the humming-birds, I favv them for the firfl: time, and was never tired of beholding them. The walls of the garden and the houfe were covered with honey- fuckles, which afforded an ample harveft for thefe charming little animals. I faw them perpetually flying over the flowers, on which they feed without ever alighting, for it is by fupporting themfelves on their wings that theyinfmuatetheir beaks into the calix of the flowers. Sometimes they perch, but it is only for a moment ; it is then only one has an op- portunity of admiring the beauty of their plumage, efpecially when oppofite to the fun, and when in removing their heads, they dif- play the brilliant enamel of their red necks, which almoft rival the fplendor of the ruby or the diamond. It is not true that they are naturally pafTionate, and that they tear to pieces the flowers in which they find no honey. I have never obferved any fuch cir- cumftance myfelf, either at Weftover or Williamfburgh j and the inhabitants of the country afliired me, that they had never jiiade any fuch obfervation. Thefe birds appear N OR TH- AMERICA. 173 appear only with the flowers, with which likewife they difappear, and no perfon can tell what becomes of them. Some are of opi- nion that they hide themfelves, and remain torpid the remainder of the year. In fa(fl, it is difficult to conceive how their wings, which are fo flight and flender as to be imperceptible if not in motion, could pof- fibly refid the winds, and tranfport them to diflant climates. They are not intract- able, for I have feen one of them, which was taken a few days before, in no wife frightened at the perfons who looked at it, but flew about the room, as in a garden, and fucked the flowers which they prefented to it ; but it did not live above a week. Thefe birds are fo fond of motion, that it is im- poflible for them to live without the enjoys ment of the moil: unreftrained liberty. It is difficult even to catch them, unlefs they happen, as was the cafe with that I am fpeaking of, to fly into the chamber, or be driven there by the wind. An inhabitant of the country, who amufed himfelf in pre- ferving them for his cabinet, has difcover- ed a very ingenious method of killing, without disfiguring them. This is a very difficult r74 TRAVELS IN difficult undertaking; for a fingle grain of fmall fliot is a cannon bullet for Co fmall a creature. This method is to load his gun with a bladder filled with water. The ex- plofion of this water is fulticicnt to knock down the humming-bird, and deprive it of motion. The reader will certainly not accufe me' of playing the orator, and referving objeds of the greatefl: magnitude for the end of my difcourfe; for I Ihall here conclude my journal. It is unneceflary to fpeak of my re- turn to Williamfourgh, unlefs it be worthy of remark, that the Chickahoming^ which is only a fecondary river, fmce it falls into that of James, is yet fo wide, fix miles from its conflux, that 1 was three quarters of an hour in pafiing it. But if he will i\\\\ favour me with his attention, 1 fliall termi- nate this long narrative of a fhort journey, by fome obfervations on a country I have travelled through, and inhabited long enough to know it thoroughly. The Virginians differ effentially from the inhabitants to the north and eaflward of the Bay, \^oi Chefapeak) not only in the . nature of their cliuiate, that of their foil, and NORTH-AMERICA 175 and the objects of cultivation peculiar to it, but in that indelible chara6ter which is imprinted on every nation at the moment of its origin, and which by perpetuating itfelf from generation to generation, jufti- fies the following great principles, that every thing 'which isj partakes of that which has been^ The difcovery of Virginia dates from the end of the fixteenth century, and the fettle- ment of the colony took place at the com- mencement of the feventeenth. Thefe events paffed in the reigns of Elizabeth and James the firft. The republican and democratical fpirit was not then common in England ; that of commerce and navigation was fcarce- ly in its infancy ; and the long wars with France and Spain had perpetuated, under another form, the fame military caft given to the nation by William the Conqueror, Richard, Coeur de Lion, Edward the third, and the Black Prince. There were no longer any Knights Errant, as in the time of theCroifades, but in their place arofe a num- ber of adventurers who ferved indifferently their own country, and foreign powers, and gentlemen, who difdaining agriculture and commerce, had no other profeffion but that of 176 TRAVELS IN of arms; for at that period the military fplrit maintained the prejudices favourable to that nobility, from which it was long infeparable ; befides that the dignity of the peerage, from being lefs common in Eng- land, gave more eclat and more confiftence to thofe who polTefTed it by hereditary right. The firil colonics of Virginia were compofed, in great meafure, of fuch foldiers, and fuch gentlemen, fome of whom went in fearch of fortune, and others, of adven- tures. And in fa^l, if the eflablifhment of a colony requires all the induftry of the merchant and the cultivator, the difcovery, and conqueft of unknown countries feems more peculiarly adapted to the ideas of the warlike and romantic. Accordingly the firfl company which obtained the exclufive property of Virginia, was principally com- pofed of men the moft diftingulflied by their rank or birth ; and though all thefe illuftrious proprietors did not a6lually be- come colonifts, fevcral of them were not afraid to pafs the feas ; and a Lord Delaware was amongft the firil: Governors of Virginia. It was natural therefore for thefe new co- lonifts, who were filled with military prin- ciples, N O R T H - A M E R I C A. 177 ciples, and the prejudices of nobility, to carry them into the midft even of the fa- vages whofe lands they were ufurping ; and of all our European ideas, thefe were what the unpolifhed tribes moft readily conceiv- ed. 1 know that there now remains but an inconliderable number of thefe ancient families, but they have retained a great eftimation, and the firil impulfe once given, it is not in the power of any legillator, nor even of time itfelf, wholly to deftroy its ef- fe(£l. The government may become demo- cratic, as it is at the prefent moment; but the national character, the fpirit of the government itfelf, will be always ariftocra- tic. Nor can this be doubted, when we take into conlideration another caufe, co- operating with the former ; I mean to fpeak of flavery ; not that it is any mark of diftindion, or peculiar privilege to pof* fefs negroes, but becaufe the empire mea exercife over them cherifhes vanity and lloth, two vices which accord w^onderfully with the already eftabhftied prejudices. It will, doubtlefs, bealked, how thefe prejudi- VoL.lh N ces 17^ TRAVELS IN ces have been brought to coincide with a re- volution founded on fuch different princi- ples. I (hall anfwer that they have evea perhaps contributed ta produce it. That whilft the revolt of New England was the reiult of reafon and calculation, pride pof- fibly had no inconfiderable fliare in diclat- ing the meafures of Virginia. I fhall add> what I have above hinted, that in the beginning, even the indolence of this peo- ple may have been ufeful to them, as it obliged them to rely upon a fmall number of virtuous and enlightened citizens, who led them farther than they would have pro- ceeded, without a guide, had they confult- ed only their own difpofitions. For it mufl be allowed, that Virginia fteppcd forth with a good grace, at the very commencement of the troubles ; that (he was the firft to of- fer fuccours to the Boftonians, and the firfk alfo to fet on foot a confiderable body of troops. But it may likewife be obferved, that as foon as the new legillature was efta- bliflied,and when, inftead of leaders, fliehad a government, the mafs of citizens was taking N O R T H - A M E R t d A. 179 taking part in that government, the national character prevailed, and every thing went worfe and worfe. Thus, ftates, like indi- viduals, are born with a particular com- plexion, the bad efFe6ls of which may be corre6led by regimen and habits, but can never be entirely changed. Thus, legifla- tors, like phyficians, ought never to flatter themfelves that they can beftow, at pieafure, a particular temperament en bodies politic, butftrive to difcover what they already have, and thence ftudy to remedy the inconve^ niencies, and multiply the advantages re- fulting from it. A general glance at the different States of America will ferve to juftify this opinion. The people of New England had no other motive for fettling in the New World, than to efcape from the arbitrary power of their monarchs, who, at once, fovereigns of the ilate* and heads of the church, eXercifed at that period the double tyranny of defpotifm and intoler* ance. They were not adventurers, they were men who wifhed to live in peace, and who laboured for their fubfiftence. Their N 2 principles i8o TRAVELS IN principles taught them equality, and dif- pofed them to induftrious purfuits. The foil, iraturally barren, affording them but fcanty refources, they attached them- felves to fiiliing and navigation ; and at this hour, they are ftill friends to equality and induftry ; they are fifhermen and navi- gators. The flates of New-York, and the Jerfeys, were peopled by neceffitous Dutch- men who wanted land in their own country, and occupied themfelves more about domef- tic ceconomy than the public government. Thefe people have preferved the fame cha- rader ; their interefts, their efforts, fo to fpeak, are perfonal ; their views are con- centered in their families, and it is only from neceflity that thefe families are form- ed into a State. Accordingly, when Gene- ral Burgoyne was on his march to Albany, the New Englandmen chiefly contributed to impede his progrefs ; and, if the inhabi- tants of the State of New- York and of the Jerfeys have often taken arms, and difplay- ed courage, it is becaufe the former were animated by an inveterate hatred againft the favages. NORTH-AMERICA. i8i lavages, which generally preceded the En- glifh armies *, and the latter were excited N 3 to * The employing the Indians, independent of the meafure, it is now pretty generally admitted, produ- ced confequences directly oppolite to the intereft of Great Britain ; uniting the inhabitants of all the countries liable to their incurfions as one man againfl them and their allies, and producing fuch bloody fcenes of inveterate animolity and vengeance as make human nature Ihudder. The following nar- rative will prove how far men of all cafts, colours, and religions, referable each other in firailar litua- tions, and to what lengths even the chrillians of an enhghtened age can go, when compelled to a£t un- der the guidance of the worft paffions. The inha- bitants of the back frontiers of Penfylvania, goad- ed to fury by the ravages committed on them by the Indians, and by the murder of their families and kindred, collefted the militia in the beginning of 1782, and took the field againft their favage intru- ders. In one of their excurlions they fell in with a fmall tribe of chriftian Indians, called the Mujk'in- gums^ who being fufpefted of attachment to the Americans, had been for fome time confined at De- troit, and were releafed only on condition of obfer- ving a drift neutrality, fince they could not be per- fuaded to take arms. Thefe unhappy wretches, to the number of about two hundred, returning to their habitations, were employed in putting their feed-corn into the ground, when they were furprif- ed by the American militia. In vain did they urga j82 TRAVELS IN to take perfonal vengeance for the exccfles committed by the troops of the enemy, when their fituation, and their fufferings from the Britifh; they were Indians^ and their captors, men who had loft fons, brothers, fathers, wives or children in this horrid war ; no other plea was neceflary to palliate their meditated vengeance. The Indians were fhut up in a barn, and ordered to prepare for death, but . ivith this barbarous confolation, that, as they were converted chriftians, they fhould be allowed a re- fpite till the next morning. The innocent viftims fpcnt the night in finging Moravian hymns, and in other a£ls of chriftian devotion ; and in the morn- ing were led, men, women, and children, to the llaughter, and butchered by their fellow vvorlhippcrs of the meek Jefus ! The Moravians at Bethlehem an.d Naxareth» whofe miffionarics had cpnverted them, made flrong reprefentations to Congrefs oa the fubjedt. I was at Philadelphia when the news arrived ; and it is but juftice to fay, that horror was painted on every counteiiance, and every mind was at work to deyifc expedients for avenging this atro- cious murder ; but after various efforts, both Con- grefs and the Aficmbly of the State were found un- equal to the punifhment of thefc aflaflins, who were armed, diftaat from the feat of government, the ^)r;ly f;ufeguard and protection of the frontiers, and from their own favage nature alone fit to cope wiUi (l)e 4re^dfi)i pnemy brought into aftion by the Br^' f;lh. N O R T H - A M E R I C A. i«3 v;bcn they over-ran the country '''. If you go further to the fouth, and pafs the Dela- ware, you will find that the government of Penfylvania, in its origin, was founded on two very oppofite principles ; it was a go- vernment of property, a government in it- Jfelf feodal, or, if you will, patriarchal, but the fpirit of which was the greateil tolera- tion, and the moft compleat liberty. Penn!s family at firft formed the vain projecl of eflablifhing a fort of Utopia^ or perfe6l go- vernment, and afterwards of deriving the greateft poffible advantage from their im.- menfe property, by attra6ling foreigners from all parts. Here it arifes that the peo- ple of Penfylvania have no characfteriftic affimilation, that they are iiitermingled and confounded, and more a^^uated to individual, than to public liberty, more inclined to anar- chy * The murder committed on A'lr^. Alaxwcll^ the wife of a refpeftable and popular clergyman in the Jerfeys, and afterwards on himfelf, with fimilar a6ls jof cruelty perpetrated by a licentious foldiery, and iinprincipled refugees, inflamed the minds of a great Ibojdy of the inhabitants, particularly of the Dutch i8^ TRAVELS IN chy than to democracy '". Maryland, fubjed- ed in the firit inftance to a proprietary go- vernment, and their defcendants, who, as the Marquis ob- ferves, were certainly difpcfcd at kail to a neutrahty. Translator. * The Irifli and the Germans form the mod numerous part of the inhabitants of Pcnfylvania. The latter, if I am not miliaken, conftitutes a f.frh, if not a fourth, of the whoJe number, and are a moll ufeful, induftrious body of men, well verfed in the mechanic arts and agriculture. 1 have travelled fcveral days in the interior parts of that llate, and heard fcarcely any other language than German, the afts of Congrels, and the State are promulgated in tliat language, German Ga- zettes are p\:hl;fhed at Philadelphia, and in gene- ral they proved theniielves true friends to the re- volution. Congrefs availing tLemfclves of this circumftance, very politically encamped the Brunf- vvick, and other German troops taken with Bur- goyne, near the town of Reading, where I faw them. The neighbourhood abounding with their country- men, the men had permilTion to work at harvcft, and other trades, and foon formed connexions with the fcniales of the country. Calculating their market price, and the obligation they lay under to rcflorc them, or their prime cofl, thty took every meafure to prevent them from remaining in the country ; for which purpofc, they tranfmitted but fmall fums at a lime by their commiirarics from New-York, tak- ing care to k'.ep large arrears in their hands, as ?- N O R T H -A M E R I C A. 185 vernment, and confidered only as a private domain, remained long in aftateof the moft abfolute dependence. This is the firfl time fhe merits to be regarded as a ftate ; but this ftate feems to be forming under good aufpi* ces 5 (he may become of great weight after the prefent revolution, becaufe fhe was for- merly of no fignificance. The two Carolinas and Georgia are next to be confidered ; but I am not fufficiently acquainted with thefe three flates to hazard on them any obfervaticns, which may not be fo juft in fad as they ap- pear to me J but which are at leaft of a deli- cate nature, and require more than a fuper- ficial examination. I only know, ihat North Carolina, peopled by Scotfmen, brought thither by poverty, rather than by induftry, is a prey to a and became their equal. Hence that emu- lation among the (laves to obtain their liber- ty, either as a favour, or to purchafe it with the fruit of their labour. There were two advantages in this ; the poffibility of en- franchlfing them vvithout danger, and that ambition which almoft generally took place among them, and turned to the advantage of morals, andof induftry. But in the pre- sent cafe, it Is not only the flave who is be- neath his mafter, it is the negro who Is be- neath the white man. No a it has been thought proper, in ftiort, to form a fort of feparate body in the State, under the name of the Judicial Body. Thefe ge- neral views are perhaps falutary in them- felves } but they are attended with an incon- venience at the prefent moment ; for the lawyers, who are certainly the mod enlight- ened part of the community, are removed from the civil councils, and the adminiflra- tion is entrufted either to ignorant, or to the leall Ikilful men. This is the princi- pal obje£lion made in the country to the prefent form of government, which to me appears excellent in many refpe£ts. It h every where in print, and eafily to be pro- cured ; but I fhall endeavour to give a (ketch of it in a few words. It is compofed, ift. Of the Aflembly of Deputies, named by the cities and counties, a body correfponding with the Houfe of Commons. 2dly. Of a Senate, 2o8 TRAVELS IN Senate, the members of Vvbich are elet^ed by feveral united counties, in a greater or leis number, according to the population of the counties, which anfwers to the Houfe of Peers. 3dly. Of an Executive Council, of which the Governor is prefident, and the members chofen by the two Chambers ; a fubftitute for the executive power of the King in England*. It is not by accident that I have pofl- poned the confideration of every thing re- fpeding the progrefb of the Arts and Scien- ces in this country, until the conclufion of my reflexions on Virginia ; I have done it cxprefsly becaufe the mind, after beflowing its attention on the variety of human in(ii- tutions, repofes itfelf with pleafureon thofe which tend to the perfe6lion of the under- ftanding, and the progrcfs of information : and above all, becaufe having found myfelf under the necefiity of fpeaking lefs advan- tage© u fly * See the Conflitutions of the different States * republifhed in Englainl hy the Reverend Mr. Jack- fon, and the excellent tranflation from the original, with notes, publilhcd in Paris by the Duke de la Rochefoucault. Translator. N O R T H - A M E R I C A. 209 tageoufly of this State thanlwifhed to have done, 1 am happy to conclude with an ar- ticle, which is wholly in their commenda- tion. The College of William and Mary, whofe founders are announced by the very name, is a noble eftablifliment which em- belliihes Williamfburg, and does honour to Virginia. The beauty of the edifice is fur- pafled by the richnefs of its library, and that, flill farther by thediftinguiflied merit of feveral of the Profelfors, fuch as the Dodors Maddifouy Wythe, Bellini, &c. &c, who may be regarded as living books, at once affording precepts and examples. I muft likewife add, that the zeal of thefe Profefibrs has been crowned with the moil diftingulfhed fuccefs, and that they have already formed many diftinguilhed characters, ready to ferve their country in the various departments of government, Amongft thefe, it is with pleafure I men-' tion Mr. Short, with whom I was parti^ cularly connedled. After doing juftice to the exertions of the Univerfity of Wil- Jiamfburg, for fuch is the College of Wil- VoL. IL P liam 210 TRAVELS IN liam and Mary ; if it be neceffary for its further glory to cite miracles, ) fhall only obferve that they created me a Dpctof of JLaws. Williamjhurgt ijl of May 1782, ^ Journey NORTH-AMERICA. 211 A Journey -into New Hampfilrey the State of Majfachiijfets, and Upper Penjyhania, r' The Baron deViomenil having joined the army in the beginning of Odober, I ought to have refigned to him of courfe the command of the firfl divifion, fo that I had now no fteceffary occupation, unlefs I had chofen to take the command of the fecond divifion, in which cafe I muft have fuperfeded the Comte de Viomenil, which was far from my intention ; it depended upon myfelf, therefore, to return to Philadelphia, to wait for Mr. de Rochambeau, who was ex- pelled there, after marching his troops to the eaftward ; but my departure would have too plainly difcovered the intention of em- barking them, which it was wiflied to keep a fecret, at leaft until they had reached Hartford. The Comte de Viomenil, on the other hand, being defirous of vifiting Saratoga, the Baron de Viomenil requested me to retain the command of the firft, whilft V z he 2iri TRAVELS IN he took that of the fccond divifion. I con- fented, therefore, to fcicrifice another lift- lefs and fatiguing fortnight, and marched with the troops to Hartford*. 1 fubmitted alfo * The Tranflator attended the French army on tlieirmarch, nearly the whole way, from Alexandria to the North River, and was a witncfs to their ftrift difciphnc, and thefurprizing harmony between them and the people of the country, to whom they gave not the ilightefl rcafon of complaint. He inlifts the more on this faft, as it appears to him no lefs fingu- lar than interefting. On their arrival at their quar- ters on the march, the whole country came to fee them, and it was a general fcene of gaiety and good humour. When they encamped at Alexandria, on the ground formerly occupied by Bradock, the mofl elegant and handfonie young ladies of the neigh- bourhood danced with the officers on the turf, in the middle of the camp, to the found of military muilc ; and, (a circumftance which will appear fmgu- lar to European ideas,) the circle was in a great mca- fure compofcd of foldicrs, who, from the heat of the weather, had difengaged themfelves from their cloaths, retaining not an article of drefs except tlieir fliirts, which in general were neither extremely long, nor in the befl: condition ; nor did this occafion the leall cmbaralTcmcnt to the ladies, many of whom were of highly polifhcd manners, and the moft ex« quifite delicacy ; or to their friends or parents i fo whimfital and arbitrary are maimers. Translator. N O R T H -A M E R I C A . 213 alfo not to return to the fouthward, before Mr. de Rochambeau, and to accompany him thither after feeing them embarked. I de- termined, however, to avail myfelf of thefe circumflances to vifit the upper part of the State of Maflachuffets, and New Hamp- fhire, which I had not yet feen. With this view I fet out from Hartford the 4th of November, the very day the Comte de Ro- chambeau marched with the f.rft divifion to encamp at Bolton*. It was two in the af- ternoon when I got on horfeback ; my companions were Meiiieurs Lynch, de Mon- tefquieu, the Baron de Taleyrand, and Mr. de Vaudreuil. We followed the Bolton route to a crofs road, about three miles be- P 3 yond * The French army, at the time the Marquis fpeaks of, had been for fome time encamped at Crompont, near Cortland's manor, a few miles from that of General Wafhington's, and between which there was a daily intercourfe. The Tranfla- tor dined, in October 178a, in General Washing- ton's tent, with the Marquis de Laval, the Baron de Viomenil, and feveral French officers, within hearing of the Britifh guns, which were at that pe- riod happily become a bri 0^4 232 TRAVELSIN Jmerica-y M. de Siber, \Jit\Jiitmn\. en pied of the Pluton ; JNI. d'Hizenres, Captain of the regiment of Vicnncis, kc. after din- ner we went to drink tea with Mr. Langdon. He is a handfome man, and of a noble car- riafre ; he has been a member of Con^refs, and is now one of the firft people of the country ; his houfe is elegant and well fur- nifhed, and the apartments admirably well wainfcotted ; he has a good manufcript chart of the harbour of Portfmouth. Mrs. Langdon, his wife, is young, fair, and to- lerably handfome, but I converfed lefs with her than with her hufband, in whofe favour I was prejudiced, from knowing that he had difplayed great courage and patriotifm at the time of Burgoyne's expedition. For repairing to the council chamiber, of which he was a member, and perceiving that they were about to difcufs feme affairs of little confequence, he addrtffed them as follows : •' Geptlemen, you may talk as long as you ** pieafe, but I know that the enemy is on ** our frontiers, and tl at I am goirg to ** take my piftols, and m^unt my hoife, <« to combat with my fellow citizens i'* the NORTH-AMERICA. 233 the greateft part of the members of the council and alTembly followed him, and joined General Gates at Saratoga. As he was marching day and night, repofing him- felf only in the woods, a negro fervant who attended him fays to him, " Mafter, you '* are hurting yourfelf, but no matter, you " are going to fight for Liberty ; I fhould ** fuffer alfo patiently if I had Liberty to *« defend." " Don't let that ftop you," replied Mr. Langdon, ** from this moment *' you are free." The negro followed him, behaved with courage, and has never quitted him. On leaving Mr. Langdon's, we went to pay a vifit to Colonel Wentworthy who is refpeded in this country, not only from his being of the fame family with Lord Rockingham, but from his general acknowledged chara£ler for probity and ta- lents. He conduced the naval department at Portfmouth, and our officers are never weary in his commendation. From Mr. Wentworth's, M. deVaudreuil and M. de Rioms took me to Mrs. Whipple s, a widow lady, who is, I believe, fifter-in-law to General Whipple ; (he is neither young nor hand- 2^4 T R A V E L S I N handfome, but appeared to me to have a good undcriianding, and gaiety. She is educating one of her nieces, only fourteen years old, who is already charming. Mrs. Whipple's houfe, as well as that of Mr. Wentworth's, and all thofe I faw at Portf- mouth, are very handfome and well furnifhed. I propofed, on the morning of the i ith, to make a tour amongft the iflands in the harbour, but fomefnow having fallen, and the weather being by no means inviting, I contented myfelf with paying viiits to fome officers of the navy, and amongfl; others to the Comte de Vaudreuil, who had flept on Ihore the preceding night ; after which we again met at dinner at Mr. Albert's, a point of union which was always agreeable. M. d'Hizeure had ordere(J the mufic of the regiment of V^ennois to attend, and 1 found with pleafure, that the tafte for mufic, which I had infpired into that corps, ftill fubfifted, and that the ancient muficians had been j udicioufly replaced.* After din- ner, * The Marquis dc Chaflcllux, amongfl his vari- ous accomplifhmcnts, is diftinguifhed not only in the charafter of an amateur j but for his fcientific knowledge of mufic. Translator. N O R T H - A M E R I C A. 235 ner, we again drank tea at Mr. Langdon's* and then paid a vifit to Dr. Brackeit, an efteemed phyfician of the country, and af- terwards to Mr. Tbompfon. The latter was born in England ; he is a good feaman, and an excellent fhip- builder, and is befides a fenfible man, greatly attached to his new country, which it is only fifteen years fince he adopted. His wife is an American, and pleafes by her countenance, but flill more by her amiable and polite behaviour. We finifhed the evening at Mr. Wentworth's, where the Comte de Vaudreuil lodged ; he gave us a very handfome fupper, without ceremony, during which the converfation was gay and agreeable. The 1 2th I fet out, after taking leave of M. de Vaudreuil, whom I met as he was coming to call on me, and it was certainly with the greateft fincerity that I teftified to him my fenfe of the polite manner in which I had been received by him, and by the officers under his command. The following are the ideas which I had an opportunity of acquiring relative to the town of Portfmouth. It was in a pretty flourilhing -36 TRAVELS IN flouri(Ling ftate before the war, and carried on the trade of Ihip timber, and fait fi(h. It is eafy to conceive that this commerce muft have greatly fuifered fmce the com- mencement of the troubles, but notwith- ftanding, Portfmouth is, perhaps, of all the American towns, that which will gain the mod by the prefent war. There is every appearance of its becoming to New England, what the other Portfmouth is to the Oldy that is to fay, that this place will be made choice of as the depot of the continental marine. The accefs to the harbour is eafy, the road immenfe, and there are feven fa- thoms water as far up as two miles above the town ; add to this, that notwith- itanding its northern fituation, the harbour of Portfmouth is never frozen, an advantage arifing from the rapidity of the current. This circumftance, joined to its proximity to the timber for fhip-building, efpecially for mafls, which can only be balanced by the harbour of Rhode Ifland, will doubtlefs determine the choice of Congrefs. But if a naval eftabllfliment be thought neceffary at Portfmouth, the quays, the rape-walks, the NORTH-AMERICA. 237 the arfenals, &c. mufl: be placed in the iflands, and not on the continent ; for it would be eafy for an enemy's army to land there, and take pofleffion of the town, the local fituation of which would require too condderable a developement of fortifica- tion to Shelter it from infult. I imagine however, that a good entrenched camp might be formed between the two creeks, but I am only able to judge of that from a flight obfervation, and from charts. It has happened in New Hampfhire, as in the State of MaflachuflTets, that the lof- fes of commerce have turned to the advan- tage of agriculture ; the capitals of the rich, and the induftry of the people having flow- ed back from the coafts towards the inte- rior of the country, which has profited ra- pidly by the reflux. It is certain that this country has a very flouriOiing appearance, and that new houfes are building, and new farms are fettling every day. New Hampihire hitherto has no perma- nent conftitution, and itsprefent government is no more than a fimple convention ; it much refembles that of Penfylvania, for it confifts 2-8 TRAVELS IN confifts of one legiflative body, compofed of the reprefcntatives of the people, and the executive council, -which has for its chief, a Prefidcnt, inftead of Governor. But dur- ing my ftay at Portfmouth, I learnt that there was an aflembly at Exeter for the pur- pofe of eftabllfliing a conftitution, the prin- cipal articles of which were already agreed on. This confcitution will be founded on the fame principles as thofe of New- York and Maflachuffets. There will be, as in the former, an executive power vefled in the hands of the Governor, the Chancellor and the Chief Juftices ; the latter of whom will be perpetual, at lead: quam diufe bene gejfcrlnt, during good behaviour, but the members of the lenate will be annually changed, and the requifite qualification of SI fenator, very inconliderable, which I think is a great inconvenience ''. Mr. Langdon obfcrves, and perhaps with reafon, that the country is as yet too young, and the materials wanting to give this fenate all * A new form of govcramcat has been eflablifli- cd fincc the peace. Translator. N O R T H - A M E R I C A. 239 n]l the weight and confiftence it ought to have, 2S in Matyland, where the fenators are eledled for three years, and muft polTefs at leafl five hundred pounds. At Portlmouth I was told of a new fe£l, which could not fail of making fome noife in the country. An individual, 1 think, of the name of Andrews^ thinks proper to preach a doctrine called that of the Uni- verjali/is. He pretends that Jefus Chrift having redeemed all men, no man can be damned ; for were it otherwife, his miffion would be iifelefs, at leafl: in a great mea- fure. If this opinion be not novel, it is certainly very commodious ; but it forms rather a fubje6t of converfatioo, and even of pleafantry, than matter of difpute. When I was at Portfmouth the necefia- ries of life were very dear, owing to the great drought of the preceding fummer. Corn coils two dollars a bufliel, (of fixty pounds weight) oats almoil: as mj.ich, and Indian corn was extremely fcarce. I fhall hardly be believed when I fay, that I paid eight livres ten fols (about kvcn (hillings and three-pence) a day for each horfe. Butcher's 240 TRAVELS IN Butcher's meat only was cheap, felling at two-pence halfpenny a pound. That part of New Hampfliire bordering on the coaft is not fertile j there are good lands at forty or fifty miles diftance from the fea, but the cxpence of carriage greatly augments the price of articles, when fold in the more inhabited parts. As for the value of land- ed property it is dear enough for fo new a country. Mr. Rufpert, my landlord, paid feventy pounds currency per annum, (at eighteen livres, or htteen fhillings the pound) for his inn. Lands fell at from ten to fixteen dollars an acre. The coun- try produces little fruit, and tlie cyder is indifferent. The road from Portfmouth to Newbury pafles through a barren country. Hamp- ton is the only townHiip you meet with, and there are not fuch handfome houfes there as at Greenland. As we had only twenty miles to go, I was unwilling to flop, anddefired the Vicomte de Vaudreuil only, to go on a little before us to dinner. It was two o'clock when we reached Mcrimack ferry, and from the fhore we faw the open- ing N O R T H -A M ERICA. 241 nss of the harbour, the channel of which pailes near the northern extremity of Plumb JJhfid, on which is a fmall fort, with a few cannon and mortars. Its fituation ap- pears to me well ehofen, at leaH: as far as I was capable of judging from a diftance. At the entrance of the harbour is a bar, on which there are only eighteen feet water in the higheft tides, fo that although it be a very commercial place, it has always been refpeded by the Englifli. Several frigates have been built here j amongft others, the Charks-T^owriy and the Alliance *. The har- VoL. II. R hour * Tlie privateers which fo greatly moleiled the Brltifii trade were chiefly from the ports of New- bury, Beverley, and Salem, in which places large fortunes were made by this means ; and fuch mufb ever be the cafe in any future war, from the pecu- liarity of their portion, whence they may run out at any feafon of the year, and commit depreda- tions on any of the maritime powers to which Ame- rica is hollile, with little fear of retalation. New- foundland, Nova Scotia, the Gulphs of bt. Law- rence, and of Florida, and the whole trade of the Weft- Indian Archipelago, are in a manner at their doors. However Great Britain may affedt to defpife America, fjie is perhaps, even in her prefent iniant 242 TRAVELS IN bour is cxtenfive, and well fheltercd. Af- ter pafling the ferry in little flat boats, which held flatc, ficm various clrcumdanccs, the mofl formid- able enemy llie can have to cope with, in cafe of a rupture ; for, as nations ought collectively to be ctifpaflionate, though individuals are not, it behoves her to retled, where, and in what manner flie can return the blow. Mr, Jcffcrfon^ the prcfent Minifter of the United States at Verfailles, amongll other excellent obfervations on this fubjeft has the follow- ing, which I extra£l with pleafure from his A'o/« on Virginia^ a moft interefling work, with which T have juft privately been favoured. *' The fea is the field *' on which we lliould meet an European enemy, *' on that element it is neceflary we Ihould pofTefs *' fome power. To aim at fuch a navy as the *' greater nations of Europe poflefs would be a " foolifli and wicked wafte of the energies of our ** countrymen. It would be to pull on our heads *' that load of military cxpence which makes the " European labourer go fupperlefs to bed, and moi- ♦' ftcns his bread with the fweat of his brow. It *' will be enough if wc enable ourfelvcs to prevent *' infuit from thofe nations of Europe which are *' weak on the fca, bccaufe clrcumjlances cx'ijl which *' render even the Jirongcr ones ueak as to us. Previa *' dence has placed tkclr rlchcji and moji defencelefs pof- ** fijjions at our door ; has obliged thiir moJi precious *' commerce to pafs as it were in revieiv before us. •' To protcft this, or to alTail us, a fmall part N O R T H - A M E R I C A. 243 held only five horfes each, we went to Mr. Davenport's inn, where we found a good R 2 dinner ** only of their naval force will ever be rifqued •' acrofs the Atlantic. The dangers to which the ** elements expofe them here are too well known, *' and the greater danger to which they would be *' expofed at home, were any general calamity to *' involve their whole fleet. They can attack us *' by detachment only ; and it will fuffice to make our *< felves equal to what they may detach. Even a " fmaller force than they may detach will be ren- ** dered equal or fuperior by the qulcknefs with which *' any check may be repaired with us, while lofles with " them will be irreparable till too late. A fmall ** naval force then is necellary for us, and a fmall •' one is neceffary. What this (hould be I will not " undertake to fay. I will only fay itfhould by no *' means be fo great as we are able to make it. Sup- " pofing the million of dollars, or ^^300, 000 fieri. *' which Virginia would annually fpare without dif- *' trefs, be applied to the creating a navy. A fingle " year's contribution would build, equip, man, and *' fend to fea a force which fliould carry 300 guns. " The reft of the confederacy exferting themfelves *' in the fame proportion would equip 1500 guns ** more. So that one year's contribution would fet " up a navy of 1800 guns. The Brltifh fhips of the ♦* line average 76 guns; their frigates 38. 1800 *' guns then would form a fleet of 30 (hips, 18 244 TRAVELS IN dinner rend3^ 1 IvjiJ letters from Mr. Wentworth to Mr. John Iracy^ the moll coiiliderable merchant in the place; but, be- fure I had time to fend them, he had heard of my arrival, and, as I was rifing from ta- ble, entered the room, and very politely in- vited me to pafs the e-vening with him. lie v/as accompanied by a Colonel, whofe name is too difncult for me to write, having rcver been able to catch the manner of pronouncing it; but it was fomething like IVkjlcps. This Colonel remained with me till Mr. Tracy fin ifhed his bufmefs, when he came with two handfome carriages, well equipped, and conduced me and my Aide de Camp to his country-houfe. This houfe flands a mile from the town, in a very beautiful fuuation ; but of this I could my- fel/ '» ofwliich might be of the line, and 12 frigates. " Allowing eight men, the Britifli average, for every •• gun, their annual expence, including fuLfiftcncej ** cloathing, pay, and ordinary repairs, would be *' a"bout,i2So dollars for every gun, or 2,304,000 " dollars for the whole. I (late this only as one " year*^ poflibic exertion, without deciding whe- ♦' ther more or lefi thaa a year's exertion Hiould *' Ic thus applied." 'I'R a:>:slator. N O R T H - A AI E R I C A. 2.5 felf form no judgment, as it was already night. I went however, by moonlight, to fee the garden, which is compofed of dit- fiTent terraces. There is likewife a hot- houfc and a number of young trees. The hcufe is very handfome and well finiflied, and every thing breathes that air of mag- nificence accompanied with fimplicity, which is only to be found amongll m.er- chants. The evening palled nipidlyby the aid of a2:reeable converfation and a few glafies of punch. The ladies we found af- lerabled were Mrs. Tracy, her two hfters, and their coufin, Mifs Lee, Mrs. Tracy has an agreeable and a fenfible countenance, and her manners correfpond with her ap- pearance. At ten o'clock, an excellent fup- per was ferved, we drank good wine, Mifs Lee fung, and prevailed on Mefiieurs de Vaudreuil and Taleyrand to fing alfo : to- wards midnight the ladies withdrew, but we continued drinking Madeira and Xery. Mr. Tracy, according to the cuflom of the country, offered us pipes, which were ac- cepted by M. de Taleyrand, and M. de Mon- tefc^uieu, the confequence of which was R 3^ that 546 TRAVELS IN that they became intoxicated, and were led home, where they were happy to get to bed. As to myfelf, I remained per- fet as a fdend to JBntain, for that would have tbo TRAVELS IN iupcrb, in agood llyle of architedure, well decorated, dndwell lighted; it is admirably well calculated for the coup cPoeil, and there is good order, and every necefl'ary rcfredi- nicnt. This afiernbly is much fuperior to that of the City Tavern at Philadelphia. The I5i;h, in the morning, M. de V"au- dreuil, and M. le Tombes, the French Conful, called on nie the momer.t I was Soin^r out to vi!lt them. After fome con- verfation, we went firll to wait on Governor Hancock- , who was ill of the gout, and unable to receive us ; thence we went to have been pardonable, but to difcord, for he was at tliis very inftant boalling of his invcte^ificy to iJri- tain. .'I'raxslator. * I hnd iVcn Mr. Hancock eighteen months hc- fore, on my I'ormer journey to IJollon, and had a Joiig converlation with him, in which I cafily dif- covcred that energy of character whicli liad enabled liim to :i^\ lb djlVinj;uiriied a part in the prcfcnt revo- lution. He formerly pofTcfled a large fortune, which lie has almofc entirely facrihced in the defence of his country, ami which contributed not a little to main- rain its credit. Though yet a yuung man, for he is not yet fifty, he is unfortunately very fubjeft to the {:out, and is fomtlimes, for v. hole montlis, unable to kc company. N ORTH-AM E R IC A. 261 to Mr. Bowdoi?2's, Mr. Bric/is, and Mr. Cufiings, the Deputy Governor. I dined with the Marquis de Vaadreuil, and after dinner drank tea at Mr. Bov/doin's, who engaged us to fupper, only allowing; M. de Vaudreuil and mylelf h.iif an hour to pay a vifit to Mrs. Cufhinc^. The eveninfr was fpent agreeahly, in a company of about twenty perfons, among whom was Mrs. VVhitmore, and young Mrs. Bowdoin, who was a new acquaintance for me, not hav- ing (ttn her at Bofton when 1 was theie the preceding year. She has a mild and agree- able countenance, and a character corre- fponding with her appearance. The next morning 1 went with the Mar- quis de «Vaudreuil to pay fome other vifits, and dined with Mr. Brick, where were upwards of thirty perfons, and amongft others Mrs. T^udor^ Mrs. Morton^ Mrs. Swan, &c. The two former under flood French ; Mrs. Tudor in particular knows it perfectly, and fpeaks it tolerably well. I was very intimate with her during my flay at Boflon, and found her pofTefied, not only of underftanding, but of grace and deli- S 3 cacy, » 262 TRAVELS IN cncy, in her mind nnd manners. After dinner, tea was fcrvcd, which being over, Tvlr. Brick in fome loit inlifted, but very politely, on our flaying fupper. This fup- per was on table exa£lly four hours after we rofe from dinner ; it may be imagined therefore that we did not cat much, but the Americans paid fome little compliments to it ; for, in general, they eat lefs than we do, at their rcpafts, but as often as you choofe, which is in my opinion a very bad method. Their aliments behave with their flomachs, as we do in France on paying vifits ; they never depart, until they fee others ent.r. Jn other refpcfts we palled the day very agreeably. Mr. Brick is an amiable man, and does the honours of his table extremely well ; and there reigned in this fociety a to7i of eafe and freedom, which is pretty general at Bollon, and cannot fail of being pleafing to the French. The day following! waited at home for M. deVaudreuil, who called on me tocondu6l me todinner on ho2ird ihtSouverain. This fliip, as well as the Hercukf was at anchor about a iiiile from the port. The officer who com- N O R T H . A M E Pv I C A. 263 commanded her, gave us a great and ex- cellent dinner, the honours of which he did, both to the French and Americans, with that noble and benevolent fplrit which chara6terizcs him. Am.ong the latter was a young man of eigliteen, of the name of Barrel, who had been two months on board, that by living continually with the French, he might accuftom himfelf to fpeak their language, which cannot fail of being one day ufeful to him*. For this is far from being a common qualification in America, nor can it be conceived to what a degree it has hitherto been ncgled:ed ; the Importance of it however begins to be felt, nor can it be too much encouraiied for the benefit of o both nations. It is laid, and certainly Vv'ith great truth, that not only individuals, but even nations, only quarrel for w^ant of a proper underflanding ; but it may be af- firmed * This is a very amiable young gentlemaa, and his father a great connoifTeur in prints and paintings. He was happy to have the opportunity of purchafing a compleat colledlion of Hogarth's piints from the Tranflator, then on his return to Europe. Translator. 264 TRAVELSIN firmed in a more direct and pofitive fenfe, t'iat mankind in general are not difpofed to love thofc to \vho;ii they cannot eafily com- irjuuicate their ideas, and impreffions. Nut only does their vivacity ruffcr, and their impaticoce become inflamed, but felf-love is offended as often as they ffeak v\ithuut being undeiflood j inflead of which, a man experiences a rcul fatisfafricn in enjoying an advantage not poflciTed by other-, and of which he is authorized con mufl be attributed folely to their valour. The Britifh troops were repulfed on all fides, and put in fuch diforder, that Gen. Howe is faid to have been at one time left fingle in the field of battle, until General Clinton arrived with a reinforcement, and turned the left of the American pofition, which * Bunker's-hill Is an eminence neither more fleep, nor more difficult of accefs than Primrofe hill near Hampflead, in the neighbourhood of London. Translator, 570 T R A V E L S I N which was weaker and more acceflible on that fide. It was then that Gen. Wafren^who was formerly a phyfician, fell, and the Ame- ricans quitted the field, lefs perhaps from the fnperiority of the enemy, than from knowing that they had another pofition as good, behind the neck which leads to Cambridge; for, in fadt, that of Bunker's- hill was ufeful only in as much as it com- manded CharleAown ferry*, and allowed them to raife batteries againll the town of Bofton. But was it necefiary to expofe themfelves to the dedru^lion of their own houfes, and the (laughter of their fellow citizens, only that they niight harrafs the Englifli in an afylum which fooner or later they mud abandon ? Befides that, the Ame- ricans could only occupy the heights of Bunkcr's-hill, the (loops and frigates of the enemy taking them in flank the inftant they defcendcd * A bridge of 1503 feet in length, and 42 in breadth, is juft compleatcd (in 1786) between Boflon and Charlellown, well lighted at night with 40 lamps. This important work was executed by fubfcription. The greatell depth of the water is 46 feet nine inches, and the Icaft is 14 feet. Translator. NORTH . A MERICA. 271 defcended from them. Such, however, was the efFedt of this memorable battle, in every refpe£l honourable for our allies, that it is impofiible to calculate the confequences of a complete vidory*. The Englifli, who had upv/ards of eleven hundred men killed and wounded, in which number were feventy officers, might pofiibly have lofl: as many more in their retreat ; for they were under the neceffity of embarking to return to Bollon, which would have been almoft impra(5licable, without the protedion of their (hipping ; the little army of Bofton would in that cafe have been almofl: totally deftroyed, and the town mufi: of courfe have been evacuated. But what would have been the refult of this ? Independence was not then declared, and the road to negociation was flill oiDcn : an accommodation might have taken place between the Mather Coun- try and her Colonies, and animolities might have * This attack on Bunker's-hill took place in the time of the hay harvell, and much execution was done amongft the Britiih by fome field-pieces, and mufquetry concealed behind the cocks of hay. Translator, 272 TRAVELS IN have fubfided. The feparation not have been compleated, England would not have ex- pended one hundred millions ; ftie would have preferved Minorca and the Floridas ; nor would the balance of Europe, and the liberty of the feas have been reHiored. For it muft in general be admitted, that England alone has reafon to complain of the manner in which the fate of arms has decided this long quarrel. Scarcely have you paffed the neck which joins the peninfula to the Continent, and which is hemmed in on one fide by the mouth of the Myjlick^ and on the otlier by a bay called Milk Pondy than you fee the ground rifing before you, and you difiin- guifh on feveral eminences the principal forts which defended the entrenched camp of Cambridge. The left of this camp was bounded by the river, and the right ex- tended towards the fea, covering this town which lay in the rear. I examined feveral of thefe forts, particularly that of Profpe^i' bill. All thicfe entrenchments feemed to nie to be executed with intelligence ; nor was 1 furprized that the Englifh refpecled them N O R T H -A M E R I C A. 273 them the whole winter of 1776. The American troops, who guarded this pofl, pafled the winter at their eafe, in good barracks, well flanked, and well covered ; they had at that time abundance of provi- fions, whilfh the English, notwithftanding their communication with the fea, were in want of various eiTential articles, particularly fire- wood and frelh meat. Their govern- ment, not expe(5ting to find the Americans fo bold and obftinate, provided too late for the fupply of the little army at Bofton. This negligence, however, they endeavoured to repair, and fpared nothing for that pur- pofe, by freighting a great number of veiTels, in which they crowded a vaft num- ber of flieep, oxen, hogs, and poultry of every kind ; but thefe fhips, failing at a bad feafon of the year, met with g les of wind in going out of port, and were obliged to throw the greateft part of their cargoes into the fea, infomuch that, it is faid, the coad of Ireland, and the adjoining ocean, were for fome time covered with herds, which, unlike thofe of Proteus, were neither able to live amidfl the waves, nor gain the fhore. Vol. II. T The zU TRAVELS IN The Americans, on the contrary, who had the whole contuient at their difpofal, and had ncltlier exhauHed their refources, nor their credit, lived happy and tranquil in their barracks, awaiting the fuccours pro- miled them in the fpring. Thefe fuccours were offered and furniOied with much gene- rofity by the Southern Provinces ; provinces, with which, under the Englilh Govern- ment, they had no connexion whatever, and w hich were more foreign to them than the mother country. It was already a great mark of confidence, therefore, on the part of the New Englanders, to count upon that aid which was offered by generofity alone :* but who could forefee that a citizen of Vir- ginia, who, for the firfl time, vifited thefe northern countries, not only fhould become their liberator, but Ihould even know hov/ to ercdl trophies, to ferve as a bafe to the great • Surely good policy had fome fliare in the ala- crity of thefe proffered fuccours, nor docs this fup- pofition, whilft it does credit to the difcernment, ^derogate from the generofity of the Virginians.—— Tjta iii ogitur, parii'i (um proximus ardct ! Translator. NORTH-AMERICA. 275 great edifice of Liberty ? Who could forefee thattlieenterprize, which failed at Bunker' s- hill, at the price even of the blood of the brave Warren, and that of a thoufand Engli(h facrificed to his valour, attempted on another fide and conducted by General Wafhingtori, fhould be the vi'ork only of one night, the effect of a fimple manoeuvre, of a fingle combination ? Who could fore- fee, in fhort, that the Englifh would be compelled to evacuate Bofton, and to aban- don their whole artillery and all their am- munition, without coiling the life of a fin- gle foldier ? To attain this important objedl, it was only necelTary to occupy the heights of Dorchejler^ which formed another penin- fula, the extremity of which is within can-^ non fliot of Bofton, and in a great meafure commands the port : but it required the eye of General Washington to appreciate the importance of this poft ; it required his activity and refolution to undertake to fteal a march upon the Englifh, who f grounded it with their Shipping, and who could .tranfport troops thither with the greateft T 2 facility.^ 276 TRAVELS IN facility. But it required flill more : no- thing Ihort of the power, or rather the great credit he had already acquired in the army, and the difcipline he had eftabliilied, were requifite to effect a general movement of the troops encamped at Cambridge and at Roxbury, and carry his plan into execu- tion, in one night, with fuch celerity and filence, as that the Englifh fliould only be apprized of it, on feting, at the break of day, entrenchments already thrown up, and batteries ready to open upon them. Indeed he had carried his precau- tions fo far, as to order the whips to be taken from the waggoners, left their im- patience, and the difficulty of the roads might induce them to make ufe of them, and occaiion an alarm. It is not eafy to jadd to the aflonifhment naturally excited by the principal, and above all, by the early events of this memorable war ; but I mull mention, that whilft General Wafhington was blockading the Englifli in Bofton, his iirmy was in fuch want of powder as not to have three rounds a man ; and that if a bomb-ketch had not chanced to run on fhore N O R T H - A M E R I C A. 277 Hiore in the road, containing fome tons of powder, which fell into the hands of the Americans, it would have been impoffible to attempt the affair of Dorchefter ; as with- out it, they had not wherewithal to ferve the batteries propofed to be ere6led. I apprehend that nobody will be difpleaf- ed at this digreffion ; but (hould it be otherwife, I mud obferve, that in a very fhort excurfion I had made to Boilon, eighteen months before, having viiited all the retrenchments at Roxbury and Dorchef- ter, I thought it unneceilary to return thi- ther, and 1 was the lefs difpofed to it from the rigour of the feafon, and the fhort time I had to remain at Boflon. But how is it poflible to enter into a few details of this fojuftly celebrated town, without recalling the principal events which have given it re- nown ? But how, above all, refift the plea- fure of retracing every thing which may contribute to the glory of the Americans, and the reputation of the illuflrious Chief? Nor is this ftraying from the temple of the Mufes, to confider objefls which mufl long continue to conflilute their T 3 theme. 27$ TRAVELS IN theme. Cambridge is an alyluni worthy of them ; it is a little town inhabited only by ftudents, profeflbrs, and the fmall num- ber of fervants and workmen whom they employ. The building deftined for the univeiTity is noble and commanding, though it be not yet compleated ^ it already con- tains three handfome halls for the dalles, a cabinet of natural philolophy, and inftru- ments of every kind, as well for allronomy, as for the fciences dependant on mathema- tics ; a vaft gallery, in which the library is placed, and a chapel correfponding with the grandeur and magnificence of the other parts of the edifice. The library, which is already numerous, and which contains, handfome editions of the heft authors, and well bound books, owes its richnefs to the zeal of feveral citizens, who, (hortly be- fore the war, formed a fubfcription, by means of which they began to fend for books from England. But as their fund was very moderate, they availed themfelves of their connexions with the mother coun- try, and, above all, of that generofity vvhich the English invariably diff lay when- ever N O R T H - A M E R I C A. 279 ever the object Is, to propagate ufeful knowledge in any part of the world. Thefe zealous citizens not only wrote to England, but made feveral voyages thither in fearch of affiftance, which they readily obtained. One individual alone, made them a prefent to the amount of J^^oo fterling ; I wifli I could recollect his name, but it is eafy to difcover it *. It is infcribed in letters of. gold over the compartment containing the books which he bellowed, and which form a particular library. For it is the rule, that each * The Tranflator is happy in being able to fup- ply this deficiency, by recording the rcfpedled name of the late Thomas Hollis, Eiq; a truly eminent citizen of England, who, in every aft of his public and private life, did honour to his illuftrious name, to his country, and to human nature. One of his anccftors too, of the fame name, founded, in this fame college, a profelTorjfhip for the mathematics and natural philofophy, and ten fcholarlhlps for ftudents in thefe and other fcienccs, with other bencfa£lions, to the amount of little lefs than ^5000 fterling. Public virtue, and private accompliflimenis feem to be hereditary in this family ; Mr. Ihomas Brand HoUls, the inheritor of this fortune, purfuing the footfteps of his excellent predeceiTors — pajjlhus aviuis^ Translator. ago TRAVELS IN each donation to the univerfity fhall re- main as it was received, and occupy a place apart ; a practice better adapted to encour- age the generouty of benefactors, and to exprefs gratitude, than to facilitate the li- brarians labour, or that of the ftudcnts. It is probable therefore, that, as the col- leflion is augmenting daily, a more com- modious arrangement will be adopted. 1 he profeflbrs of the univcrfity live in their own houfes, and the Audents board in the town for a moderate price. Mr. Willard, who was juil: eleded Prefident, is alfo a member of the academy of Bofton, to which he adls as Secretary of the foreign correfpondencc. We had alrea'^y had fome intercourfe with each other, but it pleafed me to have the . opportunity of forming a more particular acquaintance with him; he unites to great underftanding and literature, a knowledge of the abftrufe Iciences, and particularly aftronomy. I mufl here repeat, what I have obferved elfcwhere, that in compar- ing our univerfities and our fludies in ge- neral, with thofe of the Americans, it would N O R T H . A M E R I C A. s8i would not be our interefl to call for a de-r ciiion of the queflion, which of the two nations fiiould be confidered as an infant people. The Ihort time I remained at Cambridge allowed me to fee only two of the pro- fellbrs, and as many ftudents, whom I either met with, or who came to vilit me at Mr. Willard's. I was expeded to dine with our Conful, iVlr. de Letombes, and I was obliged to hurry, for they dine earlier at Bofton than at Philadelphia. I found upwards of twenty perfons affembled, as "well French officers, as American gentle- men, in the number of whom was 'DoSior Cooper^ Q. man juftly celebrated, and not lefs diftinguiflied by the graces of his mind, and the amiablenefs of his character, than by his uncommon eloquence, and patriotic zeal. He has always lived in the flriclefl: intimacy with Mr. Hancock, and has been ufeful to him on more than one occafion. Amongft the Americans attached by poli- tical intereft to France, no one has difplay- ed a more marked attention to the French, nor has any man received from Nature a character 2B2 TRAVELS IN character more analogous to their own. But it was in the fermon he delivered, at the folemn inauguration of the new conftitu- tion of Maffachullets, that he feemed to pour forth his whole foul, and develop at once all the refourccs of his genius, and every fentiment of his heart. The French nation, and the monarch who go- verns it, are there characterized and cele- brated with equal grace and delicacy. Ne- ver was there fo happy, and fo poignant a mixture of religion, politics, philofophy, morality, and even of literature. This dif- courfe muft be known at Paris, where I fent feveral copies, which I have no doubt will be eagerly tranflated. I hope only that it will efcape the avidity of thofe hafty writers, who have made a fort of property of the prefent revolution -, nothing, in fa(5t, is more dangerous than thefe precipitate traders in literature, who pluck the fruit the moment they have any hopes of felling It, thus depriving us of the pleafure of en- joying it in its maturity. It is for aSallufl and a Tacitus alone to tranfmit in their works, the a«5tions and harangues of their contem- N O R T H - A M E R 1 C A. 2S3 contemporaries ; nor did they write till after fome great change in affairs had placed an immenie interval between the epocha of the hillory they tranfniitted, and that in. which it was compofed the art of printing too, being then unknown, they were en- abled to meafare, and to moderate, at plea- fure, the publicity they thought proper to give to their produ£lions. Dodtor Cooper, whom I never quitted without regret, propofing to me to drink tea with him, I accepted it without dif- ficulty. He received me in a very fmall houfe, furnifhed ia the limpleft manner, every thing in it bore the charatler of a mo- defty which proved the feeble foundation of thofe colonies fo induftrioufly propagated by the Englifh, who loft no occafion of infi- nuating that his zeal for the Congrefs and their allies had a very different motive from patriotifm and the genuine love of liber- ty *. A vilit to Mrs Tudor, where Mr. de Vaudreuil * Mr. John Temple finding himfelf detefted, ^nd ill received at Bofton, was the undoubted author of thefe calumnies againft Doctor Cooper, who had 2g4 T R A V E L S I N Yaudreuil and I had again the plealure of an agreeable converfation, interrupted I'rom tinrie to time by plealing mulic, rapidly brought round the hour for repairing to the club. This affembly is held every Tuef- day, ill rotation, at the houfes of the dif- ferent members who compofe it ; this was the day for Mr. KiiJJel^, an honeft mer- chant, nobly dared to warn his countrymen againfl his iniidious attempts to difunite the friends to liberty, under the malk of zeal and attachment to America. He dared, contrary to the dccifive evidence of a^ong feries of pure diiintercfted pubhc conduft in the hour of danger, when Mr. Temple was a Ikulking^ pcniioned refugee in England, more than to in(i- nuate, that Doftor Cooper, and Afr. Hancock., that martyr to the public caufe, were adually in pay of the French court ; but if ever there could be a doubt, entertained of fuch characters, founded on the alfertions of fuch a man, his fubfequent con- duct has irrcfragably proved, that as the calumny was propagated by him, fo the fuggeftion muft have originated in his own heart. Let not the Anglo- American Conful General to the United States com- plain. Hiftorical judlce will overtake both him and Arnold. It is a condition in the indenture of tlieir bargain. Translator. * The Tranflator had the pleafure of being ac- quainted with the fen of Mr. Ruflel arid his friend PHnthrop, in France and Holland. He had the good fortune likcwifc to meet with the latter at Bof- N O R T H - A M E R I C A. 285 chant,- who gave us an excellent reception. The laws of the clab are not ftraitenine, the number of diihes for fupper alone are limited, and there muft be only two of meat, for fupper is not the American re- pad. Vegetables, pies, and efpecially good wine, are notfpared. The hour of aflem- bling is after tea, when the company play at cards, converfe, and read the public pa- pers, and fit down to table between nine and ten. The fupper was as free as if there had been no Grangers, fongs were given at table, and a Mr. Stewart funo- fome which were very gay, with a tolerable good voice. The 19th the weather was very bad, and I went to breakfaft with Mr. Broom^ where I remained fome time, the converfition be- ing always agreeable and unrestrained. Some officers who called upon me, having taken up the reft of the morning, I at length joined Mr. de Vaudreuil to go and dfnc ton. He takes a pride in mentioning thefe amiable young men, as they cannot fail of becoming valuable members of a rifing country which attra£ts the at- tention of the world. Translator, 286 TRAVELS IN dine with Mr. Cuflilng. The Lieutenant Governor, on this occafion, perfedly fup- ported thejuflly acquired reputation of the inhabitants of Bodon, of being friends to good wine, good cheer, and hofpitality. After dinner he conduced us into the apartment of his fon, and his daughter-in- law, with whom we were invited to drink tea. For though they inhabited the fame houfe with their father, they had a feparate houfehold, according to the cuftom in Ame- rica ; where it is very rare for young peo- ple to live with their parents, when they are once fettled in the woild. In a nation which is in a perpetual flate of increafe, everv thing favours of that general tenden- cy ; every thing divides and multiplies. The fenfible and amiable Mrs. Tudor was once more our centre of union, during the evening, which terminated in a familiar and very agreeable fupper at young Mrs. Bowdoin's. Mr. de Parois, and Mr. Du- mas fung different airs and duets, and Mrs. Whitmore undertook the pleafure of the jj eyes, whihl they fupplied the gratification 1 of our ears, The N O R T H - A M E R 1 C A. aSy The 2oth was wholly devoted to fo- ciety. Mr. Broom gave me an excellent dinner, the honours of which were per- formed by Mrs. Jarvis and her fifter, with as much politenefs and attention as if they had been old and ugly. I fupped with Mr. Bowdoin, where I ftill found more hand- fome women aflembled. If I do not place Mrs. Temple, Mr. Bowdoin's daughter, in the number, it is not from want of refpe£t, but becaufe her figure is fo diftinguiflied as to make it unneceflary to pronounce her truly beautiful ; nor did fhe fufFer in the comparifon with a girl of twelve years old, who was formed however to attradt attention. This was neither a handfome child nor a pretty woman, but rather an angel in difguife of a young girl ; for I am at alofs otherwife to exprefs the idea which young perfons, of that age, convey in Eng- land and America; which, as I have al- ready faid, is not, amongfl us, the age of Beauty and the Graces. They made me play at whift, for the firfl: time fince my ar- rival in America. The cards were Englifh, that is, much handfomer and dearer than ours^ 28S TRAVELS IN ours, and we marked our points with Louis- d'ors, or fix-and-thirties ; when the party- was finiflied, the lofs was not difficult to fet- tle ; for the company was ftill faithful to that voluntary law eflahlifhed in fcciety from the commencement of the troubles, which prohibited playing for money dur- ing the war. This law however, was not fcrupuloufly obferved in the clubs, and par- ties made by the men amongft themfelves.' The inhabitants of Bofton are fond of high play, and it is fortunate, perhaps, that the war happened when it did, to moderate this paffion which began to be attended with dangerous confequences ''''\ On Thurfday the 21ft there fell fo much fnow as to determine me to defer my de- parture, and Mr. Brick, who gave a great dinner to Mr. d'Aboville, and the French artillery officers, underftanding that I was ftill at Boflon, invited me to dine, whither I went '* It Is with real concern the Tranflator adds, that gaming is a vice but too pravelcnt in all the great towns, and which has been already attejided with, the raofl fatal confequences, and with frequent fui- cidc. Translator. NORTH-AMERICA, 2^9 Went in Mr. de Vaiidreuirs carnage. Mr, Barrel came alfo to invite me to tea, where we went after dinner ; and, as foon as we were difengaged, haftened to return to Mrs* Tudor's. Her hufband, * after frequently whifpering to her, at length communicated to us an excellent piece of pleafantry of her invention, which was a petition to the Queen, written in French, wherein, un- der the pretext of complaining of Mr. de Vaudreuil and his fquadron, fhe beftowed on them the moft delicate and mod charm*- ing eulogium. We pafTed the remainder of the evening with Mr. Brick, who had again invited us to fupper, where we enjoy- ed all the pleafures infeparable from his fo- ciety. I had a great deal of converfation with DoSior Jarvis, a young phyfician, and alfo afurgeon, but what v/as better, a good whig, with excellent views in politics. When Mr. D'EJaing left Bofton, the fick and wounded were intruded to his care. Vol. II. U and * Mr. Tudor is the gentleman who has fo fre- quently dlilinguifhed himfelf by animated orations on the annual commemoration of fome of the lead- ing events of this civil war. Translator. t^ TRAVELS IN and he informed me, that the fick, who were recovering faft, in general relapfed, on re- moving them from the town of Boflon, where they enjoyed a good air, to Roxbury, which is an unheahhy fpot, furroundcd with marflies. The phyficians in America pay much more attention than ours to the quaHties of the atmofphere, and frequently employ change of air as an effectual re- medy. The 2 2d I fet out at ten o'clock, after taking leave of Mr. Vaudreuil, and having had reafon to be fatisfied with him, and the town of Bodon. It is inconceivable how the ftay of the fquadron has contributed to -conciliate the two nations, and to flrengthen the connections which unite them *. The virtue * During my flay at Bofion, a young Chevalier de IMalthe, Monfieur dc F Eplne, belonging to Mr. de Vaudreuil's fquadron, died, and I was prefent at his funeral. He was buried with the forms of the Catholic Church, by the fnft Chaplain to the tieet, and his remains were attended to the place of inter- ment, befides his brother officers, &c. by the mem- bers of the fenate and aflembly, the principal inha- bitants of the town, ^'Axd the minifters of every feci cf religion in Bollon. The holy candles, and all the N b R T H - A M E R I C A. 291 virtue of Mr. de Vaudreuil, his fplendid example of good morals, as well as the fim- plicity and goodnefs of his manners, an ex- ample followed, beyond all hope and belief, by the officers of his fquadron, have cap- tivated the hearts of a people, who, though now the mod determined enemies to the Englifh, had never hitherto been friendly to the French. I have heard it obferved a hundred times at Bofton, that in the time U 2 evea Catholic ceremonies were ufed on the occafion, in a town too, where, a few years before, the hierarchical pomp even of the church of England barely met with toleration ; an ufeful leiTon this to Macliiave- iian rulers, whole ftrength coniifls in the filly dif- cord and divilions of their fellow creatures. The Tranflator contemplated this interefling fcene with a complacent curiofity, which was only interrupted by the folitary diffatisfaftion of Mr. John Temple, who, as well as his honeft coadjutor, the pious Ar- nold, " was lliocked at feeing his countrymea " participating in the rites of a church, againft whofc antlchrifiian corruptions your pious ancellors " would have witnefled with their blood." See this zealous protejiant'% proclamation, after felling himfelf to England, for -^7000 3 per cents, and fa- crificing the amiable, unhappy Afajor Andre. Translator, 492 TRAVELS IN even of the greatefl: harmony with the mo- ther country, an Englifh Hiip of war never anchored in the port without fome violent quarrels between the people and the failors> yet the French fquadron liad been there three months without occafioning the flighteft difference. The ofiicers of our navy were every where received, not only as allies, but brothers i and though they were admitted by the ladies of Bofton to the greatefl: familiarity, not a fingle indif- cretion, not even the moft diftant at- tempt at impertinence ever difturbed the confidence, or innocent harmony of this pleafing intercourfe. The obfervations I have already made on the commerce of New England, render it unnecelTary to enter into any particular de- tails on that of the town of Bolton. I fhall only mention a vexation exercifed towards the merchants ; a vexation llill more odious than that I have fpoken of relative to Mr. •Tracy, and of which I had not the fmalleft fufpiclon, until Mr. Brick gave me a parti- I cular account of it. Befides the cxcife and licenfe duties mentioned above, the mer- chants N O R T H - A M E R I C A. 293 chants are fubje6l to a fort of tax on wealth, which is arbitrarily impofed by twelve af- fefTors, named indeed by the inhabitants of the town ; but as the moft confiderable merchant has only one vote any more than the fmalleft Ihoopkeeper, it may be imagin- ed how the interefts of the rich are refped- ed by this committee. Thefe twelve af- feflbrs having full powers to tax the people according to their ability, they eftimate, on a view, the bufinefs tranfadted by each merchant, and his probable profits. Mr. Brick, for example, being agent for the French navy, and interefted befides in fe- feveral branches of commerce, amongft o- thers in that of infurance, they calculate how much bufinefs he may be fuppofed to do, of which they judge by the bills of ex- change he endorfcs, and by the policies he underwrites, and according to their valu- ation, in which neither lofles nor expences are reckoned, they fuppofe him to gain fo much a day ; and he is confequently fub- je£led to a proportionable daily tax. Dur- ring the year 1781, Mr. Brick paid no lefs than three guineas and a half fer day. It U 3 is 294 TRAVELS IN is evident that nothing fliort of patrlotifon, and above all, the hope of a fpeedy conclu- fion to the war, could induce men to fub- mit to fo odious and arbitrary an impoft ; nor can the patience with which the com- mercial intereft in general, and IVIr. Brick in particular, bear this burthen, be too much commended. The 2 2d I went, without flopping, to Wrentham, where 1 flept, and reached Pro- vidence to dinner the 23d ; where I found our infantry aflembled, and waiting till the veilels were ready to receive them. Here I remained fix days, during which I made an cxcurfion of four-and-twenty hours to vifit my old friends at Newport. The 30th I left Providence, with MefTrs. Lynch, Montefquieu, and de Vaudreuil, and ilept at Voluntown. Tiie next day Mr. Lynch returned to Providence *, and we * Mr. Lynch, who was Aide Major General, and de(igned to be employed under the orders of the Ba- ron dcViomenil, embarked with the troops. Mr. dc Talcyrand was determined to follow them as a fimplc volunteer, and, afiuming the uni- form of a foidicr in the regiment of SoilTonnoiSj^ N O R T H - A M E R I C A. 295 we feparated with mutual regret. The fame day, the ill of December, we flop- ped at Windham to reft our horfes, and (lept at IVhites tavern at Andover, near Bol- ton. The 2d I got to breakfaft at Hartford, where I ftaid two or three hours, as well to arrange many particulars relative to the de- parture of my baggage, as to pay a vifit to Mrs. Wadfworth. Mr. Frank Dillon, who had come to me atProvidence, where he re- mained a day longer than me, joined me here. From hence we went to Farming- ton, where we arrived as night was coming on, and alighted at an inn kept by a Mr. Wadfworth, no relation of the Colonel's ; but with whom I had lodged a month be- fore, when on the march with my divifion. Mrs. Lewis, hearing of my arrival, fent her fon to offer me a bed at her houfe, which I declined with a promife of breakfafling with he marched into Bofton in the ranks of the com- pany of Chafleurs. This company embarked in the fame veflel with the Comte de Segur, then Colo- nel en fccond of the Soiflbnnois ; and Mr. de Ta- leyrand remained attached to it till his return to Europe. a96 TRAVELSIN with her the next morning ; but, in a quar- ter of an hour, fhe called on me herfclf, accompanied by a militia Colonel, whole name I Ivave forgot, and fupped with us. The 3d, in the morning, I vifited Mr. Pitkin the minifter, with whom I had lodged the preceding year, when the French army was on its march to join General Wafliington on the North river. He is a man of an ex- traordinary turn, and rather an original, but is neither deficient in literature nor in- formation. His father was formerly Gover- nor of Connecflicut j he profefl'es a great regard for the French, and charged me, half joking, and half in earneft, to give his compliments to the King, and tell him that there was one Prcfbyterian minifter in' America on whofe prayers he might reckon. I went to breakfafl: with Mrs. Lewis, and at ten fct out for Litchfield. The roads were very bad, but the country is embclliihed by new fettlements, and a confiderable num- ber of houfes newly built, feveral of which were taverns. It was four when we arriv- ed at Litchfield, and took up our quarters at Sbeldings tavern^ 2l qew inn, large, fpa- cioiis N ORT H-AME R IC A 297 clous and neat, but indifferently provided. We were ftruck with melancholy on fee- ing Mr. Shelding fend a negro on horfe- back into the neighbourhood to get fome- thing for our fupper, for which however we did not wait long, and it was pretty good. The 4th we fct out at half part eight, and baited at Wafhington, after adnniring afecond time the pi6lurefque profpecflof the two falls J and the furnaces, half way be- tween Litchfield and Wadiington. Nor was it without pleafure that I obferved the great change two years had produced in a coun- try at that time wild and defart. On paf- fing through it two years before, there was only one miferable alehoufe at this place ; at prefent we had the choice of four or five inns, all clean and fit to lodge in. Mor- gan'' s paffes for the bell, but through mif- take we alighted at another, which I think is not inferior to it. Thus has the war, by flopping the progrefs of commerce, pro- ved uftful to the interior of the country j for it has not only obliged feveral merchants to quit the coafls, in fearch of peaceable habitations 29* TRAVELS IN habitations in the mountains, but it has compelled commerce to have recourfe to in» land conveyance, by which means many roads are now frequented which formerly were but little ufed. It was five in the after- noon when I arrived at Moorhoufe's tavern. In this journey, 1 pafTed the river at BuWs 'Works, and having again flopped to admire the b-eauty of the landfcape, I had an op- portunity of convincing myfclf that my former eulogium is not exaggerated. The liver, which was fwelled by the thaw, ren- dered the cataract ftill more fublime ; but a magazine of coals having fallen down, in ibme meafure deflroyed the profped: of the furnaces. On this occafion 1 had not much reafon to boaft of the tavern. Colonel Moorhoufe, after whom it was named, no longer kept it, but had refigned it to his fon, who was abfent, fo that there were none but women in the houfe. Mr. Dillon, who had gone on a little before, had the greatefl diiliculty in the world to perfuade tliem to kill fome chickens ; our fupper was but indifferent, and as foon as it was over, and we had got near the fire, we faw thefe women, to. the number of four, take our place NORTH-AMERICA. 299 place at table, and eat the remainder of it, with an American dragoon, who was fta- tioned there. This gave us fome uneafinefs for our fervants, to whom they left in fa(5t a very trifling portion. On afking one of them, a girl of fixteen, and tolerably hand- fome, fome queftions the next morning, I learnt that (he, as well as her fifter, who was fomcthing older, did not belong to the family ; but that having been driven by the favages from the neighbourhood of ffyommgy where they lived, they had taken refuge in this part of the country, where they worked for a livelihood, and that being in- timate with Mrs. Moorhoufe, they took a pleafure in helping her, when there were many travellers ; for this road is at prefent much frequented. Obferving this poor girl's eyes filled with tears in relating her misfortune, I became more interefted, and on defiring farther particulars, (he told me, that her brother was murdered, almofl be- fore her eyes, and that fhe had barely time to fave herfelf on foot, by running as faft as fhe could ; that fhe had travelled in this manner fifty miles, with her feet covered yi'ith blood, before fl^e found a horfe. In other Soo TRAVELS IN other refpects fhe was in no want, nor did ihe experience any mifery. That is a bur- then almoft unknown in America. Stran- gers and fugitives, thefe unfortunate lifters had met with fuccours. Lodgings, and nou- rilhment, are never wanting in this coun- try i cloathing is more difficult to procure, from the dearnels of all forts of fluffs ; but for this they ftrive to find a fubftitute by their own labour. I gave them a Louis to buy fome articles of drefs with, my Aides de Camp, to whom I communicated the flory, made them a prefent likewife, and this little a NORTH-AMERICA. 315 jured by habitual bad health, her behaviour is that of an accompiiflied woman, and her converfatlon amiable. The evening was fpent very agreeably, partly in converfatlon, and partly at play; for Mrs. Poops gave me a leflbn of backgammon, and I gave her one of trie tree. I had fome converfation alfowith Mr. Scotland, a young man, who though but lix-and-tvventy, has made three campaigns, as Captain of artillery, and is now a lawyer of great practice. I have already obferved that this is the moft refpec- table, and moft lucrative profefTion in Ame- rica. He told me that he ufually received, for a iimple confultation, four dollars, and fometimes half a Joe ; (thirty-fix ihillings fterling) and when the action is commenced fo much is paid for every writ, and every deed, for in America lawyers a£t like wife in the capacity of notaries and attornies. I had much pleafure in converfing with Mr. Poops, who is a man of a good educa- tion, well informed, and adive, and con- cerned in a variety of bufinefs, which he condu6ls with great intelligence. He had been employed in the Commifrary's depart- ment 3i6 TRAVELS IN ment when General Green * was Quarter*- Mafter General, and made extraordinary ex* crtions to fupply the army, which render- ed him fo obnoxious to the tories, that he was for a long time obliged to remain arm- ed in his houfe, which he barricaded every night. The fupper was as agreeable as the preceding part of the evening ; the ladies retired at eleven, and we remained at table till midnight. Mr. Poops^s brother arriv- ed as we were at the defert ; he appeared to me a fenfible man, he had married in Virginia the daughter of Colonel Fims^ who had efpoufed one of his fifters. He was now a widower. The next day, the loth of December, we breakfafted with the ladies, and fet out at half paft ten ; Mr. Poops accompanying me * The Gazettes have jufl announced the death of General Gre?n. In him America has loft one of her beft citizens, and moft able foldiers. It is his greatcft eulogium to fay, that he ftood high with General Wafhington, who recommended him to Congrcfs, and that he amply juftified the opinion entertained of him by that great, good man. Translatop., NORT H.AMERICA. 31; me to Eaflon^ where he had fent to prepare dinner. I fliould have preferred my ufual cwftom of making my repaft at the end of my day*s journey, but it was neceflary for a little complaifance to return the civilities I had received. Two miles from the houfc of Mr. Poops we forded a fmall river, and travelled through an agreeable and well cul- tivated country. Some miles before wc came to Eafton, we pafled over a height from whence one difcovers a vafl tradl of country, and amongft others, a chain of mountains, which Mr. Poops defired us to remark. It forms a part of that great chain which traverfes all America from South to North*. He pointed out to us two hiatus, or openings, refembling two large doors or windows, through one of which flows the river Delaware ; the other is a gap leading to the other fide of the mountains, and is the road to Wyoming , a pafs become cele- brated * Thefe are called the Kittatinny mountains. For an account of this hiatus., or gap, fee Mr. Charles *Thompfori% Obfervations on Mr. JefFerfon's 'Notes on. V'lYiima^ upder the account of the National Bridge, Translator, 3i8 T R A V E L S I N brated by the march of General SuHivan in 1779 *. Before v/e got to Eallon, we pafled, Ml * Sec the iirft Journal,, where tie ai^thor £iv?s an accouat of his converfations with Central Schuylqr. In whatever manner this expedition was fet on foot, which took, place in 1779, after the evacuation of Philadelphia, and the diverlion made by d'Eftaing's fquadron, the greateft difficulty to furraount jya?, the long march to be made through woods, delerts* and morafles, conveying all their' provifions onbc^fls of burthen, and being continually expofed to the at-* tacks of the favages. The inftruftions givfn byi General Sullivan to his officers, the order of m^^rclx he prefcribed to the troops, and the difciplinehehaJ ^ the ability to maintain, would have done honour to the mofl experienced amongft ancient or modern Generals. It may fafcly be aflerted, that the Jocrn;tl of this expedition would lofc nothing in a coTa^paiiibii with the famous retreat of the $cn thoufc/nd, which it would refcmble very much, if we could compare tlie manoeuvres, the objcft of which is attack^ with fhofe which have no other than the prefcrvaticrt of- st For- lorn army. General Sullivan, after a j;nonth's marcHi arrived, without any check, at the entrenched camp, the laft refuge of the favages ; here he attacked them, and was received with great courage, iufomuch tiiat the viftory would have remained undecided, had not the Indians loil many of their Chicis ia battle, which never fails to intimidate Uicm, and retreated during the N O R T H * A M'E R 4 C A. 319 In ferry boats, the eaftern branch of the Delaware; for this^ town isfituated on the fork formed by the two t^ranches bf tlikt river. It is a hand-fomef though inconfi- derable town, but which will prbb^bly en- large itfelf on a peace, when the A-raeri* cans, no longer under apprehenfiohs ^froni the favages, (hall cultivate anew the fertile lands between the Sufquehannah and the De- lavt'are. Mr. Poops took us to the tavern of Mr. Smith ^ who is at once an innkeeper and 'lawyer. He has a handfome library, and his fon, whom Mr. Poops prefented to me on my arrival, appeared to be a well educated and well informed young man. I invited him to dinner, as well aS knother youth v/ho boarded with him,' a native of Dominica, who had come to compleat his fludies the nrglit. The General deftroyed their houfes and plantations, fince which they have never fhewn themfelves in a body. However ilight and infuffi- cient the idea may be that I have given of this cam- paign, it may, neverthelefs, aftonilh our European jnilitary men, to learn that General Sullivan was only a lawyer in 1775, and that in the year 1780 he quitted the army to refume his profeffion, and is novr Civil Governor of New Hamp(hire. ^20 TRAVELS IN fludles amongfl: the Americans, to whom he feemed much more attached than to the Englifh. He had made choice of Eafton as more healthy, and more peaceable than the other towns of America, and found all the neceflary inilruclion in the leflbns and the books of Mr. Smith. As they knew of my coming, we did not wait long for dinner, and at half paft three we got on horfeback, Mr. Poops being ftill fo good as to accom- pany me a mile or two, to obtain my per- miffion for which, he pretended that there was a crofs road where 1 might lofe myfelf. At length we parted, leaving me penetrated with gratitude for his numerous civilities. Before 1 loft fight of Eafton I ftoppcd upon a hill, from whence I admired, for fome time, the pi(flurefque coup Sceil prefented by the two branches of the Delaware *, and the confufed and whimfical form of the moun- tains» * In travelling over this hill, the Tranflator Hopped near an hour to view this noble and enchant- ing profpedl, with which it is impoflible to fatiatc the eye. Nothing can be more delightful than the town arvi neighbourhood of Eaflon, Translator. N (3 R T H - A M E R I C A. 321 tains, through which they purfue their courfe. When I was fatisfied with this lpe(5lacle, it was ilecelTary to puOi forward to reach Bsthlehem before night, and we tra- velled the eleven miles in two hours, but not before the day was clofed *. We had Vol. II. Y no * The firft time I vifited Bethlehem was from Philadelphia, and after travelling two days through a country alternately diverlified with favage fcenes and cultivated fpots, on iffaing out of the woods at ih& clofe of the evening, in the month of May, found myfelf on a beautiful extenlive plain, with the vail eaftern branch of the Delaware on the right, richly interfperfedwith v^ooded illands, and at the diftance of a mile in front of the town of Bethlehem, rearing its large ftone edifices out of a foreft, fituated on ^ majeftic, but gradually riling eminence, the back ground formed by thefetting fun. So novel and un* expefted a tranlition filled the mind with a thoufand lingular and fublime ideas, and made an imprelTion on me, never to be effaced. The romantic and pifturefque effect 'of this glorious difplay of natural beauties, gave way to the flill more noble and in- terefting fenfations, arifing from a reflecfion on the progrefs of the arts and fciences, and the fublima anticipation of the " populous cities," and " bufy *' hum of men," which are one day to occupy, and to civilize the vaft wildernelTes of the New World. Translator. 322 TRAVELS IN no difficulty in finding the tavern, for it is precifely at the entrance of the town. This tavern was built at the expence of the Society of Moravian Brethren, to whom it ferved formerly as a magazine, and is very handfomeand fpacious*. The perfon who keeps * This inn, for its external appearance, and its interior accommodations, is not inferior to the beft of the large inns in Englai;»d, which, indeed, it very much refcmbles in every rcfpedl. The firfl time I was at Bethlehem, in company with my friends Ma- jor Pierce Butler, Mr. Thomas, ElUct, and Mr. Charles Plnhncy, Carolina gentlemen, we remained here two or three days, and were conflantly fupplied with vcnifon, moor game, the moft delicious red and yel- low bellied Trout, the higheft flavoured wild flraw- berries, the moft luxuriant afparagus, and the beft vegetables, in fliort, I ever faw ; and notwithftand- ing the difficulty of procuring good wine and fpirits at that period, throughout the Continent, we were here regaled with rum and brandy of the beft quality, and exquilite old Port and Madeira. It was to this houfe that the Marquis de la Fayette retired, to be cured of the firft wound he received in lighting for America ; an accident, which 1 am well aftured gave this gallant young nobleman morepleafure than moft of our European pctlts mahrcs would receive from the mcft flattering proofs of the favour of a miftrcfs. Mr. Charlci Pii:k>:cy, whom I have above mentioned, is N O R T H - A M E R I C A. 323 keeps it is only the cafhier, and is obliged to render an account to the adminiftrators. As we had already dined, we only drank tea, but ordered a breakfaft for the next morning at ten o'clock. The landlord telling me there was a Groivfe, or heath bird, in the houfe, I made him bring it, for I had long had a great defire to fee one. I foon obferved that it was neither the Poule de Pharaon, nor the Heath Cock ; Y 2 it is a young gentleman at prefent in Congrefs for South Carolina, and who, from the intimate knowledge I have of his excellent edutation and llrong talents, will, I venture to predict, whenever he pleafes to exert them, Hand forth amongft the mod eminent citizens of the new confederation of Republics. It is my boaft and pride to have co-operated Vv'ith him, when he was only at the age of twenty, in the de- fence of the true principles of liberty, and to have feen produftions from his pen, which, in point of compolition, and of argument, would have done honour to the head and heart of the mofl experienced and moil virtuous politician. Should the prefent work ever fall into his hands, let him recognize in this juft tribute to his worth, an afFei^tionate friend, who, knowing his abilities, willies to excite him to exertion, in the noble, but arduous field before him. Trakslator. 3H T R A V E L S I N it was about the fize of a Pheafant, but hacl a fhort tail, and the head of a Capon, which it refemblcd alfo in the form of its body, and its feet were covered with down. This bird is remarkable for two large tranf- verfe feathers below his head ; the plumage of his belly is a mixture of black and white, the colour of his wings of a red grey, like our grey Partridges. When the Growfe is roalted, his flefh is black like that of a Heath Cock, but it is more deli- cate, and has a higher flavour ". I could not derive much information from my landlord on the origin, the opini- ons, and manners of the fociety, but he in- formed me that I lliould next day fee the minifters and adminiftrators, who would gratify my curiofity. The nth, at half pafl: eight, I walked out with a Moravian, given me by tlie landlord, but who was likewife ill informed, and only ferved me as * This bird muft be wlmt wc call the black or grey game, and not what is known by the name ot Growfe in England. Translator. NORTH-AMERICA. 325 as a guide *. He was a feaman, who ima- gines he has fome talents for drawing, and amufes hinafelf with teaching the young people, having quitted the fea fince the war, where, however, he had no fcruple in fending his fon f* He fubfifts on a fniall Y 3 eftate * Our company was much more fortunate, Ma- jor Butler having obtained letters from Philadelphia to Mr. Van Vleck, a man of property, living here, but formerly of NeMT-York. Translator. t It is remarkable enough, that the fon of this Moravian, vvhofe name is Garrlfon, fhould have ferved on board a vefTel with me, and was, without exception, the moft worthlefs profligate fellow we had in a mixt crew of Englilh, Scotch, Irifh, and Americans, to all of whom his education had been infinitely fuperior. Neither bolts nor bars could prevent, nor any challifement corred, his pilfering difpofition. In a long winter's voyage of thirteen weeks, with only provilions and water for five^ this fellow was the bane and pell of officers, pallengers, and feamen. Whilft every other man in the f hi p., even the moft licentious in profperity, fub- mitted to regulations laid down to alleviate our dreadful fufFerings, and preferve our lives, this har- dened, unrefle6ling wretch, ignorant of every feel- ing of fympathy and human nature, feemed to take a favage delight in diifufing mifery around him, and adding to the diftrelTes of his fellow fufferers. He had 3:6 TRAVELS IN eflate he has at Reading, but lives at Bcth-^ Ichem, where he and his wife board in a private family. We went firft to vifit the boufe ^oY Jingle women. This edifice is fpa-» cious, and built with flone. It is divided into fcveral large chambers, all heated wkh flovcs, in vvb.icb the girls work, fome coarfe work, fuch as fpinning cotton, hemp, and wool, other*;, work of tafle and luxury, fuch as embroidery, either in thread, or filk, and they excel particularly in working ruffles, little pocket-books, pin-cufhions, ^c. like our French nuns. The fuperin- tendant of the houfe came to receive us. She is a woman of family, born in Saxony ; her name is Madame de Gajlorff', but (he does not prefume upon her birth, and ap- peared lurprized at my giving her my hand, as often as we went up and down ftairs ■'^'- She had been well educated in the humane principles of the Moravians, but he truly verified the jull adage pf Corrupt 10 opiim'i pcjfima. Translator. * When the Tranlktor vifited Bethlehem, the fuperinlendaiit, or at leaft her deputy, was a Mrs, X^anglcy, a very mild pretty behaved Englilh wo- rnan, who had been a follower of Georg^^ Whit-* fffKU Ta-ANSLATQR, N O R T H - A M E R I C A. 327 She condu£led us to the firft floor, where fhe made us enter a large vaulted apart- ment, kept perfedly clean, in which all the women fleep, each having a heda-part, in which is plenty of feathers *. There is never any fire in this room, and though it be very high and airy ; a ventilator is fixed in the roof like thofe in our play- houfes. The kitchen is not large, but it is clean, and well arranged ; in it there are immenfe earthen pots, upon furnaces, as in our hofpitals. The inhabitants of the houfe dine in the refe£lory, and are ferved every day with meat and vegetables ; they have three fhillings and fixpence currency per week, about fourpence per day, to the common flock, but they have no fupper, and I believe the houfe furnifhes only bread for breakfaft. This exoence, and what they pay for fire and candle dedudled, the/ enjoy the produce of their labour, which is more than fufficient to maintain them. This * The Americans in general are remarkably fond of very large foft feather beds, even in the hottefl climates, and we fufFered greatly in this particular, at the inn at Bethlehem. Translator, 328 TRAVELSIN This houfe alfo has a chapel, which ferves only for evening prayer, for they go to their church on Sundays. There is an or- gan in this chapel, and I faw leveral inftru- mcnts fufpended upon nails. We quitted Madame de GaftorlF well pleafed with her reception, and went to the church, which is limple, and ditters little from that we had feen at Moravian mill. Here alfo are fcveral religious pidures. From hence we went to the houfe of i\\c jingle men, I en- tered the intendant's apartment, whom I found employed in copying mulic. He had in his room an indifferentycr/^ ^/jko, made in Germany. I talked with him on mufic, and difcovered that he was not only a per- former, but a compofer. So that on his accompanying us to the chapel, and being afked to toucli the organ, he played fome voluntaries, in which he introduced a great deal of harmony, and progreffions of bafe. This man, whofe name 1 have forgot, is ^ native of New- York, but refided it^tn years in Germany, whence he had lately firrived. I found him better informed thaa thpf? I h^d yet m^t with, yet it was with fame N O R T H . A M E R IC A. 329 fome difficulty that I got from him the fol- lowing details : 1 he Moravian brethren, in whatever quarter of the world they live, are under the difcipline of their metropoli. tans, who relide in Germany*, from whence commiflaries are fent to regulate the dif- ferent eftablifliments. The fame metro- politans advance the fums neceffary for forming them, which are paid in proportion as thefe Colonies profper ; thus the revenue of the mills I have fpoken of, as well as the farms and manufactures of Bethlehem, are employed in the firft infrance to pay the ex- penccs of the community, and afterwards to reimburfe the fums advanced in Europe. Bethlehem, for example, pofieiTes a terri- torial property, purchafed by the Moravians in Europe, which confifts of fifteen hundred acres uf land, forming a vail farm, which is managed * The Moravians maintain a conflant intercourfe •with Germany in particular, of which country thofe in America are chiefly natives, and think nothing of a voyage to Europe. Governor Jofeph I^eed, of Philadelphia, had a fon here, learning the Geriiian language, when I was at Bethlehem. Translator. 3^o T R A V E L S I N- managed by a fteward, who accounts for it to the community. If an individual wants a lot of land, he muft purchafe it of the public, but under this reftriftion, that in cafe of defedion from the fed, or emigra- tion from the place, he (hall rellore it to the community, who will rcimburfe him the original payment. As to their opinions, this fedt refembles more the Lutherans, than the Calvinifts ; differing, however, from the latter, by admitting mufic, pic- tures, &c. into their churches, and from the former, by having no Biihops, and being governed by a Synod *. Their po- lice, or difcipline, is of the monaftic kind, fince they recommend celibacy, but with- out enioying it, and keep the women fepa- rate from the men. There is a particular houfe, alfo, for the widows, which I did not vifit. The two fexes being thus habi- tually feparated, none of thofe familiar con- nexions exift between them, which lead to marriage ; * I do not fpeak with confidence, but am inclined to think that they have Bifliops, at Icaft a perfon was pointed out to us at Bethlehem, under that denomi- nation. Thanslator, I N O R T H - A M E R I C A. 331 marriage ; nay, it is even contrary to the fpirit of the fe6l, to marry from inclina- tion. If a young man finds hinifelf fuffi- ciently at his eafe to keep houfe for him-j felf, and maintain a wife and children, he prefents himfelf to the commiffary, and afks for a girl, who (after confulting with the fuperintendant of the women) [Tranf- /ator] propofes one to him, which he may, in facfl, refufe to accept ; but it is contrary to the cuilom, to choofe a wife for himfelf. Accordingly, the Moravian Colonies have not multiplied, in any proportion, to the other American Colonies. That at Beth- lehem is compofed of about fix hundred perfons, more than half of whom live in a {late of celibacy ; nor does it appear that it has encreafed for feveral years. Every pre- caution is taken to provide for the fubfiflence of their brethren, and in the houfes deflined for the unmarried of both fexes, there are mafters who teach them different trades. The houfe of the fingle men which I "aw in detail, does not differ from that of the women ; 1 {hall only take notice of a very convenient method they have of awakening 332 TRAVELS IN awakening thofe who wi(h to be called up at any given hour 5 all their beds are num- bered, and near the door is a (late, on which all the numbers are regiftered. A man who wilhes to be awakened early, at five o'clock in the morning for example, has only to write a figure of" 5 under his number, the watchman who attends the chamber, obferves this in going his rounds, and at the hour appointed, the next morn- ins; soes rtrai":ht to the number of the bed without troubling himfelf about the name of the fleeper. Before 1 left the houfe, I mounted on the roof, where there is a Belvidere, from whence you fee the little town of Bethlehem, and the neighbourhood 1 it is compofed of i'eventy or eighty houfes, and there are fome others belonging to the colony at the dif- tance of a mile or two -, they are all hand- /bme and built with fione *. Every houfe has * From this Bclvidcrc the view is beautifully ra - inantic, and ainoiigft other objefts on the caftcrn fide of the Delaware, you fee a cultivated farm form- ed out of an iinmenre wood and near the fummit of a lofty mountain, which I likcwifc vifitcd, and every NORTH-AMERICA 333 has a garden cultivated with care. In re- turning home I was curious to fee the farm, which is kept in good order, but the infide was neither fo clean, nor fo well kept as in the Englifh farm-houfes, becaufe the Moravians are flill more barbarous than their language. At length at half paft ten T returned to the inn, where I was expeded by my moor fowl, two woodhens, and many other good things, fo that I was flill better fatisfied with my breakfaft than with my walk *. At twelve we fet out to travel twenty miles farther, to Kalfs tavern, a German houfe very poor and filthy. We had pafled the eaftern branch of the Dela- ware Hep "of which gives you the idea of enchanted ground. Befides the particular gardens to each private houfe there is a large public walk belonging to the com- munity, nay, the church-yard itfelf is a gay fcene of beauty and regularity, the verdent turf being clad in fummcr with llrawberries and flowers. Translator. * Notwithftanding the good cheer at the tavern, the author, and I hope the reader, will pardon me for not crediting tills declaration. Translator. 534 TRAVELSIN ware a mile from Bethlehem *; there i9 neither town nor village on the road, but the burghs to which the fcattered houfes we faw, belonged, are called Socconock and Springfield, The 12 th I breakfafted at Montgomery, twelve miles from KalPs ta- vern, and paffing Whitemarfh and German town, we arrived towards five at Phila- delphia. Philadelphia, 24th of Dec. 1782. * The eaftern branch of the Delaware which paf- fes by Bethlehem, and forms a jundion with the weflern at Eafton, is here called the Lccha. There is an excellent ferry over this rapid flream, of which I have fpoken in the firft; volume. The Mo- ravians amongft an infinity of other ingenious in- ventions, have a large hydraulic machine in the middle of the town which is at a great height from the river for raifing the water to fupply the inhabi- tants. Translator. LET- N O R T H . A M E R I C A. 335 LETTER FROM THE MARQUIS DE CHASTELLUX, T O Mr. M a D D I S O N, * Profcflbr of Philofophy in the Unlverfity of W I L L I A M S B U R G H. Have not forgot. Sir, the promife I made you on leaving Williamiburgh ; it re- minds me of the friendfhip with which you were pleafed to honour me, and the flat- tering prejudices in my favour, which were the confequences of it. I am afraid that I have * Mr. Maddifon's fon is a member of the Aflem- bly, and has fcrvcd in Congrefs for Virginia. This young man, who at the age of 30 aftoniflies the new Republics by his eloquence, his wifdom, and his genius, has had the humanity and the courage^ (for fuch a proportion requires no fraall Ihare of courage) to propofe a general amancipation of the flaves, at the beginning of this year, 1786: Mr. Jeffcrfons ab- fence at Paris, and the fituation of Mr. IFhjthe, as one 336 TRAVELS I Nf have undertaken more than I am able to perform ; but I fliall at lead acJdrcfs you in the language of fincerity, in the fort of literary bankruptcy I am now about to make. — By putting you in full polTefiion of my feeble refources, however, 1 may per- haps obtain a ftill further portion of that indulgence, to which you have fo frequent- ly accuilomed me. The fubjrct on which I rather thought of alking information from you, than of ottering you my ideas, would require long and tranquil meditation, and fince I quitted Virginia, I have been continually travelling, fometimes from du- ty with the troops, at others to gratify my curiofity in the caftern parts of America, as far even as New Hampfhire. But even had my time been fubjecl to lefs interruption, I am one of the judges of the State, which prevented them from lending their powerful fujjport, occafioned it to mifcarry for the moment, but there is every rea- fon to fuppofc that the propolkion will be fuccels- fully renewed. As it is, the adtmbly have paifcd a law declaring that there Ihall be no more flavcs in the Republic but thole exlfting the iirlt day of the fciTion of 17^^5-6, and the dcfcendants of female flaves. Translator. N O R T H - A M E R I C A. 337 I am not fure that I lliould have been more capable of accomplifhing your wifhes. My mind, aided and excited by yours, expe- rienced an energy it has fince loft ; and if in our converfation, 1 have chanced to exprefs fome fentiments which merited your appro- bation, it is not to myfelf that they belong- ed, but to the party that fpoke with Mr. Maddifon. At prefent I muft appear in all my weaknefs, and with this further difad- vantage, that I want both time and leifure not only to redify my thoughts, but even to throw them properly on paper. No mat- ter ; I venture on the talk, perfuaded that you will eafily fupply my unavoidable omif- iions, and that the merit of this eflay, if there will be any, will be compleated by vourfelf. The mod frequent obje^b of our conver- fations was the progrefs that the arts and fciences cannot fail of making in America, and the influence they muft neceflarily have on manners and opinions. It feems as if every thing relative to government and legiflation ought to be excluded from fuch difcuffions, and undoubtedly a ftranger. Vol. II. Z fnould 338 TRAVELS IN fliould avoid as much as poffible, treating matters of which he cannot be a competent judge. But in the phyfical, as in the mo- ral world, nothing liamls ifolated, no caufe atls lingle and independent. Wiiether we confider the fine arts, and the enjoyments they produce, as a delicious ambrolia, the gods have thought proper to partake with us, or whether we regard them as a danger- ous poifon ', that liquor, whether benefi- cent or fatal, muft always be modified by the vefTel into which it is infufcd. It is necelfary therefore to fix our attention for a moment on the political confiitution of the people of Ameiica, and in doing this, may I be permitted to rccal a principle, I have efi:abli(hed, and developed elfewhere ; * which is, that the character, the genius of a people, is not folely produced by the go- vernment they have adopted, but by the circumftances under which they were ori- ginally formed. Locke, and after him, Roufifeau have obferved that the education of man fliould commence from the cradle, that * See the author's work — de /afclicitt pub/ique. N O R T H - A M E R I C A. 359 that is to fay, at the moment when he is contradling his firfl habits; it is the fame with States. Long do we difcover in the rich and powerful Romans, the fame plun-^ derers collected by Romulus to live by ra- pine ; and in our days the French docile and polidied, poffibJy to excefs, flill pre- ferve the traces of the feudal fpirit; whild: the Englifli amidft their clamours againft the royal authority, continue to manifefl a refped for the crown, which recals the epoch of the conqueft, and the Norman go- vernment. Thus every th'irg that is, par- takes of what has been j and to attain a tho" rough knowledge of any people, it is not lefs neceffary to fludy their hiftory than their legidation. If then we wi(h to form an idea of the American Republic, we muft be careful not to confound the Virginians, whom warlike as well as mercantile, an ambitious as well as fpeculative genius brought upon the continent, with the New Englanders who owe their origin to en- thufiafm ; we muft not expe6l to find pre- cifely the fame men in Penfylvania," where the firflcolonifts thought only of keeping and . Z 3 cultivat- 340 TRAVELS lis cultivating the dcferts, and in South Caro- lina where the production of fome exclu- {ive articles fixes the general attention on external commerce, and eftablifhes unavoid- able connexions with the old world. Let it be obferved, too, that agriculture which was the occupation of the firft fettlers, was not an adequate means of affimilating the one with the other, fince there are certain fpecies of culture which tend to maintain the equality of fortune, and others to def- troy it. Thefe are fufficient reafons to prove that the fame principles, the fame opinions, the fame habits do not occur in all the thirteen United States, although they are fubjed nearly to the fame force of government. For, notwithftanding that all their confti- -tutionsare not fimilar, there is through the whole a democracy, and a government of reprefentation, in which the people give their fuffrage by their delegates. But if we chufe to overlook thofe fliades which dif- tinguifh this confederated people from each other ; if we regard the thirteen States only as one nation, we fliall even then obferve that N O R T H -A M E R I C A. 341 that fhe muft long retain the impreffion of thofe ciicLimftances, which have conducted her to liberty. Every philofopher acquain- ted with mankind, and who has ftudied the fprings of human action, muft be con- vinced that, in the prefent revolution, the Americans have been guided by two prin- ciples, whiift they imagined they were fol- lowing the impulfe of only one. He will diftinguifli, a pofitive and a negative prin- ciple, in their legiflation, and in their opi- nions. I call that principle, pofitive, which in fo enlightened a moment as the prefent, Reafon alone could dictate to a people mak- ing choice of that government which fuited ahem the beft; I call that a negative prin- ciple which they oppofe to the laws and ufages of a powerful enemy for whom they had contracted a well founded averfion. Struck with the example of the inconve- niences offered by the Englifh government, they had recourfe to the oppofite extreme, convinced that it v/as impoilible to deviate from it too much. Thus a child who has met with a ferpent in his road, is not con- tented with avoiding it, but flies far from Z 3 the 34a TRAVELSIN the fpot where he would be out of danger of his bite. In England, a feptennial par-» liament invites the King to purchafe a ma- jority on which he may reckon for a long period ; the American aflbmblies therefore iiiuft be annual^ on the other fide of the water, the executive power, too uncontrol- led in its adtion, frequently efcapes the vi- gilance of the legiflative authority ; on this continent, each officer, each minifler of the people mufl be under the immediate depen- dence of the aiTemblies, fo that his firft care on attaining office, will be to court the po- pular favour for a new elciSlion. Among the EngliCh, employments confer, and procure rank and riches, and frequently elevate their poflefTors to too great a height: among the Americans, offices neither conferring wealth, iipr cpnfideration, will not, it is true, become obje«5ls of intrigue or purchafe, but they will be held in fo little eflim.ation as tp make phem avoided, rather than fought af- ter, by the moft enlightened citizens, by which means every employment will fall into the hands of new^ and untried men, the only perfons who can expe6l to hold them to advantage, In N O R T K - A M E R I C A. 343 In continuing to coiifider the thirteen United States under one general point of view, we fliall obferve flill other circum- fiances which have influenced, as well the principles of the government, as the na- tional fpirit. Thefe thirteen States were at firfl: colonies ; now the hrd neceffity felt in all riling colonies is population ; I fay in rifing colonies, for I doubt much whether that neceffity exifts at prefent, fo much as is generally imagined. Of this how- ever I am very fure, that there will iliill be a complaint of want of population, long af- ter the neceffity has ceafed ; America will lonf' continue to reafon as follows : we mud endeavour to draw foreigners amongft us^ for which purpofe it is indifpenfibly necef- fary to afford them every poflible advan- tage ; every perfon once within the State, lliall be confidered therefore as a member of that State, as a real citizen. Thus one year's refidence in the fame place (hall fuffice to ellablifh him an inhabitant, and every inhabitant fhall have the right of voting, and fliall conditute a part of the fovercign power ; from whence it will re- 4 fult 344 TRAVELS IN fult that this fovereignty will communicate and divide itfelf without requiring any pledge, any fecurity from the perlbn who is inverted with it. This has arifen from not confidering the poffibility of other emi- grants than thofe from Europe, who are fuppofed to fix themfelves in the firft fpot where they may form a fettlement j we fhall one day however, fee frequent emigra- tions from State to State ^ workmen will frequently tranfplant themfelves, many of them v/ill be obliged even to change iitu- ations from the nature of their employ- ments, in which cafe it will not be fingu- lar to fee the eleclions for a diftri^l of Con- nedicut, decided by inhabitants of Rhode ifland or New York *. Some ''*• There are various opinions in America on the lubjed of encouraging emigration. Mr. Jrfferfcn, for example, a man of profound thouglit, and great penetration, is of opinion that emigrants from Europe arc not defireable, left the emigrants bringing with them not only the vices, but the corrupt prejudices of their rcfpedlive ancient government?, may be unable to rclifli that bold uni- verfal fyftem of freedom and toleration which is a novelty to the old world ; but I venture to think, NORTH-AMERICA. 345 Some political writers, efpecially the more modern, have advanced, that property alone fhould and trufl, that fuch emigrations will be attended with no bad conlequences ; for who will be the emi- grants to a country where there are neither gold nor iilver mines, and where fubfiftence is alone to be obtained by induftry ? Men of fmall, or no fortunes, who cannot live with comfort, nor bring up a family in Europe ; labourers and artizans of every kind ; rhen of modefly and genius, who are cramped by infurmountable obflacles in countries governed by cabal and interell ; virtuous citizens compelled to groan in filence under the effefts of arbitrary power ; philofophers who pant after the liberty of thinking for themfelves, and of giving vent, without danger, to thofe generous maxims which burft from their hearts, and of contributing their mite to the gene- ral ftock of enlightened knowledge ; religious men, deprefled by the hierarchical eflablifhments of every country in Europe ; the friends to freedom ; infhort, the liberal, generous, and a£tive fpirits of the whole world. — To America, then, I fay with fervency, in the glowing words of Mr. Payne, who is himfelf an Englifh emigrant. — " O! receive the fugitives and prepare in time an afylum for mankind." The hif- tory of the late revolution too, may juflify our hopes, for it is an obfervation, for the truth of which I appeal to faft, that the Europeans fettled in America were poifeired of at kafi as much energy^ and feryed that country with as mugh zeal and en-; 346 T R A V E L S I N ihould conftitute the citizen. They are of opinion tiiat he alone whole fortune is ne- ceffarily conneded with its welfare has a right to become a member of the State. In America, a fpecious anfwer is given to this reafoning ; amongfl: us, fay they, landed property is fo eafily acquired, that every workman who can ufe his hands, may be looked upon as likely foon to become a man of property. But can America remain long in her prefent fituatlon ? And can the re- gimen of her infant ftate agree with her, now (he has aflumed the virile robe ? The following, Sir, is a delicate queflion which 1 can only propofe to a philofopher like you. In eftablifliing amongft thcm- fclves a purely democratic government, had the Americans a real affedion for a de- mocracy ? And if they have wiflied all men to be equal, is it not folcly, bccaufe, from thufiafm ii\ the cabinet, and in the field, as the na- tive Americans, and to fpeak with the late Lord Chatham, who faid many abfurd, but more wife things* than moft llatcfmen, " they infufcd a por- tion of new health into the conllitution." Xranslator, N O R T H - A M E R 1 C A. 347 from the very nature of things, they were themfelves nearly in that fituation ? For to preferve a popular government in all its integrity, it is not fufficient, not to admit either rank or nobility, riches alone never fail to produce marked differences, by fo much the greater, as there exift no others. Now fuch is the prefent happinefs of Ame- rica that flie has no poor, that every n^aa in it enjoys a certain eafe and independence, and that if fome have been able to obtain a fmaller portion of them than others, they are fo furrounded by refources, that the fu- ture is more looked to, than their prefent fituation. Such is the general tendency to a ilate of equality ; that the fame enjoy- ments which would be deemed fuperfluous in every other part of the world, are here confidered as neceflaries. Thus the falary of the workman muft not only be equal to his fubfiflence and that of his family, but fupply him with proper and commodious furniture for his houfe, tea and coffee for his wife, and the filk gown fhe wears as often as fhe goes from homcj and this is one of the principal caufes of the fcarcity of labpur fo generally attributed to the want of 348 TRAVELSIN of hands. Now, Sir, let us fuppofe that the increafe of population may one day re- duce your artizans to the fituation in which they are found in France and England. Do you in that cafe really believe that your principles are fo truly democratical, as that the landholders and the opulent, will flill continue to regard them as their equals ?— I {hall go ftill further, relying on the accu- racy of your judgment to teftify every thing you may find too fubtle or too fpeculative in my idea. I fhall afk you then, whether under the belief of pofleffing the moft per- fect democracy, you may not find that you have infenfibly attained a point more re- mote from it, than every other Republic. Recoiled:, that when the Roman fenate was compelled to renounce its principles of tyranny, the very traces of it were luppofed to be efi^aced, by granting to the people a participation of the confular honours. That numerous and opprefled clafs found themfelves exalted by the profpe6l alone which now lay open to a fmall number of their body, the greateft part of tliem remain- ed neccflitous, but they confoled them- felves by faying, we may one day become con- Juts, NORTH-AMERICA. 349 JuJs. Now obferve, Sir, that in your pre- fent form of government, you have not at- tached either fufficient grandeur, or dignity to any place, to render its pofTeiTorilhiftrious, ftill lefs the whole clafs from which he may be chofen. You have thrown far from you all hereditary honours, but have you beftow- ed fufficient perfonal diflin£lions ? Have you refledled that thefe diftindions, far from being lefs confiderable than thofe which took place among the Greeks and Romans, ought rather to furpafs them ? The reafon of this is very obvious : the efFed of honours and diftindions is by fo much the more marked, as it operates on the greater num- ber of men affembled together. When Cneius Duillius, was condu(£led home on his return from fupper to the found of in- ftruments, the whole city of Rome was witnefs to his triumph : grant the fame ho- nours to Governor Trumbull * ; three houfes at moft in Lebanon will hear the fymphony. * Mr. Trumbull, Governor of Connedicut, in- habits the town of Lebanon, which occupies a league of country, and where there are not fix houfes lefs diftant than a quarter of a rtiile from each other. 350 TRAVELS IN lymphony. Men mull: be moved by fonie fixed principle ; is it not better that this Ihould be by vanity than interell ? I have no doubt that love of country will always prove a powerful motive, but do not flat- ter yourfelf that this will long exift with the fame fpirit. The greateft efforts of the mind, like thofe of the body, are in refiftance ; and the fame may happen with refpedt to the State, as in matters of opi- nion, to which we ceafe to be attached,, when they ceafe to be contefted. Behold many objedts. Sir, which have pafled in review before us. We have only glanced at them, but to diftinguifh them more clearly, requires more penetrating eyes than mine ; you hold the telefcope ; do you apply your optics and you will make good ufe of them. My talk will be accomplifh- ed if I can only prove to you that thefe en- quiries are not foreign to my fubje6t. I fhall oblerve then that to know to what precife point, and on what principle you fhould admit the arts and fciences in your nation, it is neceffary firft to underftand its natural tendency ; for we may direct the courfc of rivers, but not repel them to their fource. NORTH-AMERICA. 351 fource. Now, to difcover the natural ten- dency of a nation, not only muft we exa- mine its adual legiflation, but the oppofi- tions which may exift between the govern, ment and prejudices, between the laws and habits; the re-adion, in fhort, which thefe different moving powers may produce, one upon the other. In the prefent in- ftance, for example, it is important to fore- fee to what degree the democracy is likely to prevail in America, and whether the fpirit of that democracy tends to the equality of fortunes, or is confined to the equality of ranks. It is melancholy to confefs, that it is to a very great inequality in the diftri- bution of wealth, that the fine arts are indebted for their mofl: brilliant sras. In the time of Pericles, immenfe trea- fures were concentred in Athens, unappro- priated to any particular purpofe 5 under the reign of Auguftus, Rome owed her ac- quifition of the fine arts to the fpoils of the world, if the fine arts were ever really na- turalized at Rome -, and under that of the Julii and Leo the Tenth. Ecclefiaftic pomp and riches, puflied to the highefl point. 352 TRAVELSIN point, gave birth to the prodigies of that famous age. But thefe epochas, fo cele- brated in the hiflory of the arts, are either thofe of their birth, or of their revival ; and fimilar circumftances are not neceflary to maintain them in the flourifhing and profperous flate they have attained. There is one circumftance, however, which we have not yet touched upon, and which feems iudifpenfible, as well for their pre- fervation, as for their ellablifhment. The arts, let us not doubt it, can never flourifh, but where there is a great number of men. They mufl have large cities, they muft have capitals. America pofielTes already five, which feem ready for their reception, which you will yourfelf name ; Bofton, New- York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Charleftown. But they are fea-ports, and commerce, it cannot be diflbmbled, has more magnificence than tafte ; it pays, ra- ther than encourages artills. There are two great queftions to refolve, whether large towns are ufeful or prejudicial to America, and whether commercial towns fliould be the capitals. Perhaps it will be imagined, that N O R T H - A M E R I C A, 353 that the firfl: queftion is anfwered by the fole refleclion, that rural life is beft fuited to mankind, contributing the moft to their happinefs, and the maintenance of virtue^ without which there can be no happinefs. But it muft be remembered, that this fame virtue, thofe happy difpofitions, thofe peace- able amufements, we enjoy in the country, are not unfrequently acquifitions made in towns. If Nature be nothing for him who has not learnt to obferve her, Retirement is flerile for the man without information; I^ow this information is to be acquired beft in towns. Let us not confound the man retired into the country, with the man edu- cated in the country. The former is the mofl perfed of his fpecies, and the latter frequently does not merit to belong to it* In a word, one muft have education ; I will fay further, one muft have lived with a cer- tain number of mankind to know how to live well in one's own family. To abridge the queftion, fliall I content myfelf with ex« preffing to you my wiflies ? I (hould defire that each flate of America, as far as it is pradicable, had a capital to be the feat of Vol. ir, A a govern* 354 'I" R A ^^ E L S IN government, but not a commercial city. I ihould delire that their capital were fituated in the centre of the repubUc, (o that every citizen, rich enough to look after the edu- cation of his children, and to tafle the pleafures of fociety, might inhabit it for fome months of tlie year, v^^ithout making it his only refidence, without renouncing his invaluable country feat. I fhould de- Hre that at a fmall diftance, but more con- liderable than that which feparates Cam- bridge from Bofton, an univerfity might be eftablilhed, where civil and public law, and all the higher fciences, fliould be taught, in a courfe of ftudy, not to be commenced before the age of fourteen, and to be of only three years duration. I ihould defire, in fhort, that in this capital and its appen- dage, the true national fpirit might be pre- ferved, like the fncred fire; that is to fay, that fpirit which pcrfcdlly afiimilates with liberty and public happinefs. For we mud never flatter ourfelves with the hopes of modifying, after our pleafure, commercial towns. Commerce is more friendly to in- dividual. N O R T H - A M E R I C A. 255 dividual, than to public liberty*, it dif- criminates not between citizens and ftrah- A a 2 gers. * I cannot here omit an anecdote which places, in a ftrong point of view, the diliinftion between individual and public liberty, made by the mere merchant. In the early part of lite Ifpentfomeyearsinthecomptinghoufe of one of the moll confiderable merchants of the city of London, a native of Switzerland, for the mode- rate premium o^ one thoufand guineas. This happen- ing to be the period of the violent unconflitutional proceedings againfl Mr. Wilkes, the foreign mer- chant differing from the Englifh apprentice, entered with zeal into all the meafures of the then adminiflra. tion, which, though a republican by birth, he main- tained with all the virulence of the tools of defpotifm. The American war followed, and this gentleman was no lefs aftive with ofFers of his life and fortune, from his compting-houfe in the city, in fupport of the ar- bitrary views of the fame fet of men, accompanied on all occalions with pofitions deftrudtive of every idea oi public charity. But mark the difference, when indlvldi'.ul liberty was in queftion. — Happening to dine with Mr. John Pringle, of Philadelphia, in 1782, the converfation fell on this merchant, who is at prcfent one of the firfl in the world, and fome queftions were alked me refpe£ling his politics ; my anfwers correfponded with what I have above faid of him ; but, judge of my afconifliment, when Mr. Pringle afTured me, fmiiing, and gave me ocular demonflration of the 556 TRAVELS IN gcrs. A trading town is a common recep- tacle, where every man tranfports his man- ners, his opinions, and his habits ; and the befl: are not always the moft prevalent. Engli(h, French, Italian, all mix together, all lofe a little of their diftlndive character, and in turn communicate a portion of it ; fo that neither defeds nor vices appear in their genuine light ; as, in the paintmgs of great artifts, the different tints of light are fo blended, as to leave no particular colour in its primitive and natural ftate. Though it feems impoflible to conclude this article without fpeaking of luxury, I have, notwithftanding, fome reluctance to employ a term, the fenfe of which is not wellafcertalned. To avoid here all ambi- guity, 1 fhall confider it only as an expence^ abiijive in its relations, 'whether with the for- tune of individuals, or with their fituation. In the faft, that America had not a better friend ; pro. ducjng, at the fame time, an invoice of a cargo ofgun- ■pcx'dcr fliippcd by liis order on joint cccciaity for the Rcbc/s of America, at L'Orient, by which this Mr. — , of London, cleared near ^.to,ooo flerling ! J Translator, N O R T H - A M E R I C A. 357 In the former cafe, the idea of luxury ap- proaches that of diflipation, and in the lat- ter, that of oftentation. Let us illuftratc this thought by an example — If a Dutch merchant fpends his property in flowers and fliells, the fort of luxury into which he has fallen is only relative to his means, lince his tafte has led him further than his faculties would admit. But if, in a republic, a very wealthy citizen expends only a part of his fortune in building a noble palace, the luxury with which he is reproached, is in that cafe proportionable to his fituation ; it fhocks the public, in the fame manner as proud and arrogant behaviour infpires eftrangement and hatred. We mufl: do juflice to commerce, it loves enjoyments more than luxury ; and if we fee the merchant fometimes pafs the limits, it is rather from imitation than natural pro- penfity. In France and England, we fee fome oftentatious merchants, but the ex- ample is given them by the nobles. There is another more ridiculous, but lefs culpable abufe, from which commerce is not free ; which is, fafhion. This muft doubtlefs A a 3 prevail 35S TRAVELSIN prevail wherever there are many foreigners; for what is ufage amongft them becomes ' Jq/I.non, when they eftabhili themfelves elfe- where. On the other hand, the numerous correfpondencies, the intereft even of the merchants, which confiits in provoking, in exciting the tafte of the confumers, tends to eftabhfh the empire of faihion. What ob- flacle mud be oppofed to this ? I propofe this queftion to myfelf witli pleafure, as it leads me back to the fine arts by an indirciSt road. I fhail aflc, what has been heretofore the remedy for thofe caprices of opinion which have begot fo many errors, fo many revolutions ? Is it not Reafon and Philofo- phy ? Well then ! the remedy againft the caprices of the fafhion is the flndy of the arts, the knowledge of abnra6t beauty, the perfedion of tafte. But, what ! Do you hope to fix the (landard of that tafte, hi- therto fo variable ? How often has it changed ? How often will it not again vary? 1 Hiall continue to anfwer in the jnanner of Socrates, by interrogating rnyfflf, and 1 ihall fay. What ridicu- lous opinions have not prevailed in the world. N O R T H - A M E R I C A. 359 world, from the time of the Grecian fo- phifts to the theologians of our days ? Has not Reafon, however, begun to refumeher rights, and do you think, that when once recovered, Hie will ever lofe them ? Why are you fo un- reafonable as to expecft that obje£ls fo frivo- lous as furniture and drefs fhould attain per- fe6lion before religion and legiflation. Let us never ceafe repeating, that Ignorance is the fource of evil, and Science that of good. — Alas ! do you not fee that the Greeks, who had fome how acquired very early, fuch juft notions of the arts and tafle ; do y'ou not fee, I fay, that they never varied in their modes ? Witnefs the ftatues modelled at Rome by Grecian artlfts ; witnefs the no- ble and elegant mode of drefs ftill retained by that people, though living amongft the Turks. Ere6l altars, then, to the fine arts, if you would deftroy thofe of fafliion and caprice. Tafle, and learn to reli{h nedar and ambrofia, if you are afraid of becoming intoxicated with common liquors. Perhaps, Sir, Vv^hat 1 am about to fay fhould only be whifpered in your ear. I am going to handle a delicate fubjeci:, I am venturing 560 T R A V E L S I N venturing to touch the ark. But be af" fured, that during a three years refidence in America, the progrcls of the women's drefs has not efcaped me. If I haveepjoyed this as a fethng man, if the refults of this pro- grefs have not been viewed by me with an indifferent eye, my time of life and char ia6ler are a pledge to you that 1 have ob- ferved them as a philofopher. Well, Sir, it is in this capacity I undertake their defence, but fo long only as things are not carried to an excefs. The virtue of the women, which is more produ61:ive of happinefs, even for the men, than all the enjoyments of vice, if there be only real pleafures arifing from that fource ; the virtue of the women, 1 fay, has two bucklers of defence j one is retirement, and diflance from all danger : this is the hidden treafure mentioned by Ivochefoucault, which is untouched, be- caufe it is undifcovered. The other is lof- tinefs, a fcntimenf always noble in its re- lation to ourfelves. Let them learn to ap- preciate themfeives ; let them rife in their own eflimation, and rely on that eflimabje pri4e for the preferyation of their viitue as N O R T H - A M E R I C A. 361 as well as of their fame. They who love onlypleafure, corrupt the fex, whom they convert only into an inftrument of their vo- luptuoufnefs ; they who love women, ren- der them better by rendering them more amiable. But, you will fay, is it by drefs, and by exterior charms, that they muft eftablifh their empire ? Yes, Sir, every wo- man ought to feek to pleafe ; this is the weapon conferred on her by Nature to corn- pen fate the weaknefs of her fex. With- out this (he is a flave, and can a flave have virtues ? Remember the word decus, of which we have formed decency ; its original import IS ornament, A filthy and negligent woman is not decent, flie cannot infpire refpe£l. I have already allowed myfelf to exprefs my opinion by my wifhes: I defire, then, that all the American women may be well drelTed ; but I have no objedioa to feeing that drefs fimple. They are not formed to reprefent the fe verity of the le^- giflation; neither ought they to contrafl: with it, and convey a tacit infult on that feverity. Gold, filver, and diamonds, thenj {hall be banilhed from American drefs 3 362 TRAVELS IN drcfs ; what excufe can there be for a lux- ury which is not becoming ? But this in- dulgence, Sir, which I have expreflcd for the toilet of the women, I am far from allow- ing to the men. I am not afraid to fay, that I fhould have a very bad opinion of them, if in a country where there are neither eti- quette nor titles, nor particular diftindlions, they fhould ever give into the luxury of drefs ; a luxury, which even the French have laid afide, except on maniages and entertainments, and which no longer exifts any where but in Germiiny and Italy, where certainly you will not go in fearch of mo- dels. Obferve, Sir, that we have imperceptibly prepared the way for the tine arts, by re- moving the principal obftacles which might be oppofed to them ; for, if far from ren- dering nations vain and frivolous, they ra- ther tend to preferve them from the excefles of luxury, and the caprices offafhion, they can certainly be confidercd neither as dan- gerous nor prejudicial. Still, perhaps, you will retain fome fcruple on the article of luxury ; but recollcv5l, Sir, if you pleafe, the N O R T H - A M E R I C A. 363 the definition I have given of it, and if you refled; that every fortune which exceeds thje neceflhry demands, infenfibly produces fome fort of perfonal riches, fuch as valuable fur- niture, gold and fiiver trinkets, fumptuous fervices of plate, 6cc. you muft perceive that this conflant furplus of annual inconae would be infinitely better beftowed on painting, fculpture, and other produ6lions of the arts. Luxury, we have faid, is often an abufive employ of riches, relatively to the condition of him who pofTefles them. Now, what oftentation is there in poiTeffing a fine painting, or a handfome ftatue ? Surely the parade of a magnificent fide-board will be more ofFenfive to the fight of an un- wealthy neighbour, than an elegant cabinet adorned with paintings. I doubt, even, whether the man who keeps a mufician in his pay, be fo much an objed of envy as him who maintains race-horfes and a pack of hounds. But let us go farther ; it is not only the produdions of the fine arts of which I wilh to procure the pofiefiion to America ; the fine arts themfelves muft be placed within 364 TRAVELSIN within her bofom. If I am defirous of her purchafing pidures, it is that (he may have painters ;* if I encourage her to fend for muficians^ it is that flie may become mu- fical in her turn. Let her not apprehend the fate of the Romans, to whom (he has the apparent pride, but the real humility to compare herfelf. The Romans, fero- cious, unjuft, grafping from charadter, and oftentatious * America, in her infant flate, has already burft forth into the full fplendour of maturity in the im- mortal paintings of a Copley and a /^I/?. Further glory flill attends her early progrcfs, even in the pre- fent day, in a Stcivart, a Trumbull and a Brown ; nor is Peak unworthy of ranking with many mo- dern painters of no inconfidcrable fame ; ages maypoffibly not elapfe before pofterity may apply to America^ what Mr. Tickell has faid, fo happily, heretofore of the mother country, Sec on her T'lt'mns and her Guldo\ urns, Her fallen arts forlorn Hf/peria mourns ; While Britain wins each garland from her brow, Her wit ^ndi freedom firft, \\q\ painting now. For wit, let me refer the reader of tafle to the poem o^ Mac Fitigal, written by another Trumbull of Conncdicut, who is juftly filled the American Hiidlbras. ^alis ab incepto procejjcrit, ac Jibi cot\j}cU Translator, N O RT H.AMERICA. 365 oftentatious from vanity, were able to put- chafe the mafter-pieces, but not the tafte of the arts. The Americans proceeding in general from the moft polifiied countries of Europe, have not to ftrip themfelves of any barbarous prejudices. They ought ra- ther to compare themfelves with the Greek colonies -, and certainly, Syracufe, Marfeilles, Crotona, and i^grigentum had no reafbn to envy the mother country. There is one bafe on which, all they who like you are equally attached to good tafte and to your country, may fafely reft their hopes. Your fellow citizens live, and will long continue to live, in the vicinity of Nature ; fhe is continually under their hands j (he is al- ways great and beautiful. Let them ftudy; let them confult her, and they can never go aftray. Caution them only, not to build too much on the pedantic legiflations of Cambridge, of Oxford, and Edinburgh, which have long aflumed a fort of tyranny in the empire of opinion, and feem only to have compofed a vaft c/aj^c code for no other purpofe than to keep all mankind in clafs, as if they were ftill children. Thus 366 TRAVELS IN Thus, Sir, you will have the complete enjoyment of the fine arts ; fince you will yourfelves be artifts : but is it not to be feared, that the powerful attradion with which they operate on fcnfible minds, may- divert a rifing people from feveral more ufe- ful, though lefs agreeable occupations ? I am far from being of that opinion ; I think, on the contrary, that the moH: diilinflive, and mofl: peculiar advantage of America is that the rapid advances (he is making are not laborious, that they are not due to the excefs of labour. Every American ha3 twice as much leifure in the day as an Eu- ropean. Neceffity alone compels our pain- ful efforts, and you are flrangers to ne- ceffity. Belides that, your winters are long jind rigorous, and many hours may be well fpared to domeftic fociety j this reflexion too is applicable only to the lower claffes of the people. You, who live in Virginia, know what time is facriiiccd to play, to hunting, and the table ; much more than is neceffary to form a Fh'idias or a Polycktes, You will infift, perhaps, and you will afk, whether a tafle for the arts and letters will not tend to render your fellow citizens effe- I minate ? NORTH-AMERICA 367 mlnate ? Whether it will not render them frivolous and vain ? Whether the national character and manners v^ill not necelTa- farily be impaired, and admitting even their utility, you will defire to have their early progrefs, at leall:, conducted with a certain meafure ? I think, that you will find an anfwer to our prefent enquiry in many of the preceding obfervations. But it is time for me to eftablifli a general principle, the extenfive confequences of which you will develop better than I can ; as long as a tajie for the arts canajjimilate itf elf with rural and domejl'ic life, it will always be advantageous to your country^ and vice verfa. Public fpedacles, gaudy affemblies, horfe-races, &c» drag both men and women from the coun- try, and infpire them with a difgufl: for it. Mufic, drawing, painting, architedure, attach all perfons to their homes. A harp- fichord is a neighbour always at command, who anfwers all your queftions, and never calumniates. Three or four perfons in the neighbourhood join to pafs the evening to- gether ; here is a concert ready formed. A young lady, in her irkfome moments, amufes herfeif in drawing; when become a wife and mother 368 TRAVELS IN mother, fiie ftlU draws, that fhe may tnftrud her children ; and here is another impor- tant article, of which I had hitherto taken no notice. — Do you wi(h your children to remain long attached to you ? Be your- felves their teachers. Education augments and prolongs the relation that fubfifts be- tween you ; it adds to the confideration, the refpeft they entertain for you. They mufl long be perfuaded, that we know more than them, and that he who teaches always knows more than the perfon to be taught. In America, as in England, parents fpoil their children when they are young, and they abandon them to themfelves when they grow up ; for, in thefe two nations, education is neither enough attended to, nor fufficiently prolonged. Indulgent to children in their tender age, the people there form them into petty domeflic tyrants; negligent of them when they attain to ado- lefcency, they convert them into ftrangers. At prefcnt, Sir, it fecms to me, that there remains no good reafon to hinder us from attracting the fine arts to America. Unfor- tunately it is not the fame with artlfts. I do not think 1 can better exprefs my good opinion N O R T H - A M E R I C A. s^S> Opinion of the Americans, than by declar- ing, that they will always incur fome riilc in receiving a foreigner amongft them. The Europeans, it muflbe confefled, have vices from which you are exempt, and they are not in general, the beft amongft them who quit their country, efpecially who pafs the feas. Let us however, dothisjuftice to painters, and fculptors, that the affiduity of their labours, and above all that the f^n- timent of the beautiful, that delicacy of tafte which they have acquired, render them, generally fpeaklng, better than other men.— It is different with refpedt to mufic and dancing. Cuftom has thought pro- per to place the latter among the line arts, nur do I oppofe it, iince it feems to im- Drove our exterior, and to g-ive us that de- coram, the fource of which is the refpeit ' of others, and of ourfelves. But this apo- logy for the art, does not conftitute that of its profeilbrs. Diftruft in general the maf- ters who come to you from Europe j be diffident even of thofe you may yourfelves fend for. It will always be much fafer not to truft to chance, but to make fubfcrip- VoL, 11. B b ti n3 370 TRAVELS IN tions in each (late, in each town, to en- gage artifts to fix thcmfelves amongft you ; but in tills cafe apply only to correfpon- dents in Europe on whom you may rely. The commilTion with which you entruffc them, ought to be fiicred in their eyes, and the fmalleft negligence on their parts, would be highly criminal j yet even they are liable to be deceived ; and as it is much better to defer, even for a long time, the progrefs of the arts, than to make the fligluefl: flep towards the corruption of your manners, it is my principal recommenda- tion to the Americans to naturalize as much as poffible, all foreign artifts ; to afiimilate and identify them with the inhabitants of the country ; to efFe£l which, I fee no better method than by fending them huf- bands and proprietors ; adl fo as to induce them to marry, enable them to acquire lands, and to become citizens. It is thus that by fecuring the empire of morals, you will ftill further guard againfl the effedl of thofe national prejudices, of that difdain which render foreigners fo ridiculous and odious. N O R T H -A M E R I C A. ^1i odious, and which reflect upon the art it- felf, the difguft infpired by the artift. Henceforward, Sir, let us enlarge our views ; the fine arts are adapted to Ame- rica : they have already made fome progrefs there, they will eventually make much greater ; no obflacle, no reafonable objec- tion can ftop them in their career; thefc are points at leafl on which we are apreed. Let us now fee to what purpofes they may be converted by the public, the ftate, and the government. Here, a vaft field opens to our fpeculation, but as it is expofed to every eye, I (hall fix mine on the object with which it has moft forcibly been flruck. RecoUedl, Sir, what I have faid above, re- lative to officers and public dignities ; I have remarked that a jealoufy, poflibly w^ell founded in itfelf, but pushed to the extreme, had made honours too rare, and rewards too moderate amongft you.- Call in the fine arts to the aid of a timid legiflation ; the latter confers neither rank, nor perma- nent difllnclion 5 let her beftow flatues monuments and medals. Afloniflied Eu- rope, in admiring a WaJImigtont a PFarren, B b 2 a 372 TRAVELS IN a Green, and a Motiigomery, demands what recompcnce can repay their fcrvlces ; be- hold that rccompence, worthy of them and of you. Let all the great towns in Ame- rica prcfent flatues of Waihington, with this infcription : Pater, liberator, de- fensor PATRi.'E ; let us fee alfo thole of Hancock and o{ ^dumsy with only two words, PRiMi PRoscRiPTi ; that oi Franklin, with the Latin verfe infcribed in France below his portrait — (eripuit c^.lo fulmen, SCEPTRUMQUE TYRANNi, Tranjlator) Sec. 6cc. * what glory would not this refle^l upon America! It would be found that fhe has already more heroes, than (he could procure marble and artifts. — -f and your public * This verfc is of that virtuous politician and good man, Mr. Turgot. The Tranllator has inlert- ed it, as it feems by the author's omitting it, to be of too high a flavour for the French ccnfure. Translator. t Although it be highly proper to infill upon this fort of rccompence, it may not be amifs that the world fliould know that Congrcfs, as far as oppor- tunity would admit, have not been rcmifs in bellowing fuch honourable rewards, which they have decreed in different fonils on every fuitable occafion to the NORTH-AMERICA. 373 public ballj;, your curies, why fhould not they ofter in reliefs and paintings, the bat- B b 3 lies Baron de Kaalb, &;c. he. and a marble monument was voted by that body to the memory of my inef- timable friend Montgomery, foon after his glorious fall, in the following words : Extrad from the ^Journals of Congrcfs. Thurfday, January 25, 1776. *' The Committee appointed to confidcrof a pro- *' per method of paying a jufi: tribute of gratitude to *' the memory of General Montgomery, brought *' in their report, which was as follows : *' It being not only a tribute of gratitude juilly " due to the memory of thofe who have peculiarly *' diflinguifhed themfelves in the glorious caufe of *' liberty, to perpetuate their names by tlie raofl *^ durable monuments eredled to their honour, but <' alfo greatly condufive to infpire poflerity with " emulation of their illuflrious adions . " Refohcd, That to exprefs the veneration of the *' United Colonies for their late General, Richard " Montgomery, and the deep fenfe they enter- *' tain of the many fignal and important fervices of *' that gallant officer, who, after a feries of fuccef- *' fes, amidft the m.oft difcouraging difficulties, fell *^ at length in a gallant attack upon Quebec ths " capital of Canada; and to tranfmit to future ages, *' as examples truly worthy of imitation, his patrio- *' tifm, conduft, boldnefs of enterprize, infuper- <* abl? perfeverance, and contempt of danger audi 374 TRAVELS IN ties of Bunker S'hill, of Saratoga y of ^^en' ton, of P/ ince-iowrii of Monmouth , of Cow- pens *' death ; a monument be procured from Paris, or *' other part of France, with an infcripiion facred «' to liis memory, and expieffive of his amiable ♦' character, and heroic atchievements, and that the *' continental treafurers be diieded to advance a " fum not exceeding ;^'300 llerling to Dr. Benja- '* min Franklin, who is defired to fee this refolu- *' tion properly executed, for defraying the expencc *' thereof." This refolve was carried into execution at Paris by that ingenious artill, Mr. Capers, fcuptor to the King of France, under the dired^ion of Dr. Frank- lin. The monument is of white marble, of the moft beautiful fimplicity, and inexpreffible elegance with emblematical devices, and the following truly clafiical infcription, worthy of the modefl, but great mind of a Franklin. To THE GLORY of Richard Montgomery, Major General of the Armies of the United States of America, Slain at the Siege of Quebec the 31(1 of December, 1775, aged 38 years. The academy of infcriptions and Belles lettres, have compofed medals for the Generals, Wafliing- ton, Green, Gates, Morgan, &c. The State of Virginia alfo fent for Monfieur Houdsn the flatuary from Paris to America fince the war exprefsly to X^t a model, in order to form the fiatue of General NORTH-AMERICA. 375 pens, of Eutaw Springs ? Thus would you perpetuate the memory of thefe glorious deeds; Wafliington — an example however which Congrefs do not think proper to follow, during the lifetime of the General, for reafons which may poffibly not be difapproved of, by the Marquis de Chcllellux, even in fo unexceptionable an inftance. Over this monument, the Tranllator who was the intimate friend of this excellent young man, fhed an afFe£lionate, tributary tear, when at Paris in the year 1777. He had long known and looked \ip to him with admiration, for he was deep in the fecrets of his head and heart. His attachment to liberty was innate, and matured by a fine education, and a glorious underflanding. The Tranflator whilfl he indulged his private forrow at the fight of this fad, though noble teftimonial of his friend's tranfcendent's virtues, felt his mind awed and over- whelmed with the magnitude of the event which led to this cataftrophe, and with reflexions on the wonderful revolutions, and extraordinary difpenfa- tions, of human affairs. But a few months, and he had feen the deceafed hero, an ofhcer in the ler- vice of England, an officer too of the mofl diflin- guifhed merit, who had fought her battles fuccefs- fully with the immortal Wolfe at Quebec, the very fpot on which lighting under the flandard of free- dom, he was doomed to fall in arms againfl her ; but a few months, and he fees his dead friend the fubjed of a monument, confecrated to his memory 3V6 T R A V E L S I N deeds; thus would you maintain, even through a long peace, that national pride, by tlie united voice of a free people, and his monu- ment, and his fame, as a vidim to tyranny, and a champion of freedom, conligncd to be celebrated by an enflaved people, againft whom he had often fought in defence of the fame caufe, in which he facrificed his life. There is a remarkable circum- Hancc conne(fted with his fall, which merits to be recorded. One of General Montgomery's Aides de Camp, was Mr. Afacphcrfo)i, a moft promifmg young man, whofe father refided at Philadelphia and was greatly diflinguilhed in privateering in the war of 1756. This gentleman had a brother in the 16th regiment in the Britilh fervice, at the time of Montgomery's expedition into Canada, and who was as violent in favour of the Engliih government, as this Ge- jieral's Aide de Camp was cnthufiaftic in the caufe of America ; the latter had accompanied his Gcrrrnl a day or tvro previous to the attack, in which they both loft their lives, to view and medi- tate on the fpot where Wolfe had fallen ; on his return, he found a letter from his brother the En- glifli cilicer full of the bittcrcft reproaches againft Iiim for having entered into the American fervice, and containing a pretty dircft wilh, that if he would not abandon it, he might meet with the deferved fate of a rebel. 'J^he Aide de Camp immediately re- turned him an anfwcr full of ftrong reafoning in de- fence of his conduift, but by no means aUemp.tiug N O R T H - A M E R I C A. 377 ib necellary to the prefervation of liberty ; and you might, without alarming even that liberty, laviili rewards equal to the facrihces fhe has received. ''^ It would be injurious, Sir, to you and to your country, to infift longer on thefe refiedions : my attention is excited by a frefli to fhake the oppofite principles of his brother, and not only free from acrimony, but full of expreffions of tendernefs and affcdlion ; this letter he dated, ♦* from the fpot where Wolfe loft his life, in fight- ipg the caufe of England, in fr'iendjhip vj'ith Amc' rifa.'^ This letter had fcarcely reached the officer at New York, before it was followed by the news of his brother's death. The efFeft was inftantaneous, jiature, and perhaps reafon prevailed ; a thoufand, not unworthy fentiments rufhed upon his diftref- fed mind ; he quitted the Engliih fervice, entered into that of America, and fought every occalion of diftingiiilhing himfelf in her fervice I Translator. * Mr. 7'rumhull fon to Governor Trumbull of Connedicut, who was imprifoned in England as a traitor, whilft he was ilpdying painting under Mr. Weft, is now at Paris reliding with Mr. Jefrerfon, and has finifhed two capital piftures of the death of IFarren and Montgomery . They are efteemed chef d'-cenvrcs by all the connoifleurs ,in this fublime art». Translator, 378 TRAVELSIN fredi object, but I fliould regard it alfo as an offence, to entertain an idea that it is necefTary to call the attention of America to this object, you are defirous that the pro- grefs of the fciences alfo fhould enter into your deliberations. It is poffible not to forefee their progrefs in a country already fo celebrated for its academies, and univer- fities, which rival thofe of the old world ; for its learned men ; I will go further, for its men of diftinguilhed genius, whofe names alone will mark famous epochas in the hiftcry of the human mind *. Doubt not, * Mr. JefFerfon In anfwer to a prejudiced remark of the Abbe Raynal, who fays, " on doit etre ctone *' que r Amcriquc nolt pas encore produit un bon ** poete, un habile mathematicien, un homme de *' genie dans un feul art, ou une fcule fcience." Mr. JefFerfon, amidft abundance of good reafoning, fays in anfwer, " In war we have a TVaJlnngton^ *' whofe memory will be adored while liberty Ihall ** have votaries, whofe name will triumph over time *' and will in future ages afTume its juft ftation ** among the moft celebrated worthies of the world «• when that wretched phllofophy fhall be forgotten ** which would have arranged him among the dc- ** gcMeracics of mankind, (fee Buffons fyftcm rc- »' fpcding animals in America.) In phyfics wc havo N O R T H . A M E R I C A. 379 not, Sir, that America will render herfelf illuftrious by the fciences, as well as by her arms, and government ; and if the at- tention of the philofopher be ftill neceffary to watch over them, it is lefs to accelerate than to remove the obftacles which might poffibly retard their progrefs. Let the uni- verfities, always too dogmatical, always too exclufive, " produced a Franklin, than whom no one of the ** prcfent age has made more important difcoveries» *' nor has enriched philofophy with more, or more *' ingenious folutions of the phoenomena of Nature. *' We have fuppofed Mr. Rittenhoufe fecond to no *' aftronomer living: that in ^^azW he mull be the *' firft, becanfe he is felf taught. As an artill he has *' exhibited as great a proof of mechanical genius as " the world has ever produced. He has not, indeed» " made a world ; but he has by imitation approached ** nearer its Maker than any man who has lived fromi *' the creation to this day, &c. &c." There are va- ious ways, Mr. Jefferfon adds, of keeping truth out of fight. Mr. Rittenhoufe's model of the pla- netary fyftem has the plagiary appellation of an or- rery ; and the quadrant, invented by Godfrey, znj^me* ricanzl^o, and with the aid of which the European nations traverfe the globe, is called Hadlefs, qua- drant. — Thus too, the Tranflator adds, is the great Columbus robbed of the honour of giving his name to 4mpriccf ! Jranslatoi;, 380 ' T R A V E L S I N exclufive, be charged only to form good fcholars, and leave to an unreftrained phi- lolbphy the care of forming good men. In England, the univerfities have laboured to deftroy fcepticifm, and from that period philofophy has been vifibly on the decline, it feems as if the Englirti, in every thing, wifh only for a half liberty. Leave ovi'ls and bats to flutter in the doubtful perfpi- cuity of a feeble twilight; the American eagle fhould fix her eyes upon the fun. No- thing proves to me that it is not good to l^now the truth, and what has error hither- to produced ? — the mifery of the world. As for academies, they will always be ufeful, vvhilft they are very numer- ous. An academican is a fenator of the republic of letters ; he takes an oath to ad- vance nothing he cannot prove ; he confe- crates his life to truth, with a promife to facrifice to it, even his felf-love. Such men cannot be numerous -, fuch men ought not to be thrown into diicredit, by ailociates ■ unworthy of them. But if academical principles tend to make fcience aullere and jfcrupulous, the encouragements propofed to NORTH-AMERICA. 381 to the public ought to excite every mind, and furnifh a free channel for opinion. Of this nature are prizes propofed by the aca- demies ; it is by their means that the ac- tivity of men's minds is dire£led towards the moft ufeful objeds ; it is to them that firft efforts are indebted for celebrity -, it is by them alfo the young man thirfting for glory is difpenfed with fighing long after her firft favours. The more the fciences approach perfedion, the more rare do dif- coveries become; but America has the fame advantage in the learned world, as in. that which conftitutes our refidence. The extent of her empire fubmits to her obfer« vation a large portion of heaven and earth. What obfervations may not be made be- tween Penobfcot and Savannah ? between the lakes and the ocean ? Natural hiilory and aflronomy are her peculiar appendages, and the firft of thefe fciences at leaft, is fufceptible of great improvement. Morals are a branch of philofophy lately^ in great repute. As for myfelf, it appears that wherever the legiflation is good, mo- rals are already formed j and where the le- giflation L 3S2 TRAVELS IN giilation is defedive, I know net the ufe of morals. It is in this cafe in general, as with health ; little attention is paid to it until it be loft. Moralifts too, are like phyficians and apothecaries, whom a good regimen would render ufeleis, and who not unfre- quently ferve but to amufe our anxiety, and to treat our imagination. Prcferve a good government, render the people mild and lenfible, and they will make morals for themfelves. With refpe^l to religion, its objecl, and end, conceal it from our obfervations : as it confiders not the relations of men with each other, but their connection with God alone, its influence ought to be internal and perfonal ; and whenever it extends further, it Is invariably at the expence of public order. I cannot, therefore, but congratu- late America on being the only country pof- fefling true toleration, which has not only triumphed over fuperftition, but which makes even the enemies of fuperftition blulh at the ignominious compromifes they have made with her. But that none of thofe ob- jects which intereft you, Sir, may pafs be- fore N O R T H - A M E R I C A. 383 fore our eyes without inducing fome re- fleflions, I (hall allow myfelf to make one, which, I truft, will meet with indulgence from a philofopher. All the religions eftablifhed in America, agree in one very important point ; they profcribe all fuperftition, ail dependence on any external power j but they agree alfo in a practice which feems to me to have no ne- cefiary connexion with the Proteftant tenets. I mean the extreme feverity with which they obferve the Sunday. This day is con- fecrated to divine worfhip : be it fo ; but it is alfo confecrated to refl, and what is this repofe without gaiety, without relaxation ? I venture to fay, that in America, you nei- ther know the pain of labour, nor the plea- fure of repofe, what a gloomy filence reigns in all your towns on Sunday ! a flrangCf would imagine that fome epidemic, or plague, had obliged every one to confine himfelf at home *. — Tranfport yourfelf to Europe, * Whilft I was at Bofton, in 1782, there were violent debates in the aflembly, and the fenate, re- fpeding the duration of the Sabbath — one party were 3^4 T R A V E L S I N Europe, and efpecially to a Catholic coun* try; behold, on the lame day, when divine fervice is over, the people deluging the fquares, for having it confid ox Jtx and thirty tiours, com- mencing at fix o'clock en the Saturday evening, whilft the others infiftcd on abridging it to eight ccn, reckon- ing from the midnight of Saturday, and fini(hing at fix on the Sunday evening ; the former piopofition pafTed the affcmbly where the country intercfl pre- vailed, but was thrown out in the fcnate by the pre- dominant intcreft of the merchants, aided by good fenfc, and the palpable abfurdity of fuch a regulation in a commercial country abounding with flrangers. Mr. Cobbct, a very fenfible man, and a rich mer- chant of Bcverlev, diftinguilhed himfelfon this oc- caflon by a fpeech full of eloquence and wit. As far as my memory fer\cs nic, the fabbath is at length -wifely limited to eighteen hours, I fay wifely, for not even travelling is permitted on a Sunday in the New England States, infomuch that you are at every inftant liable to be Hopped by force, and carried by the deacons before a magiftrate, who infliels a fine, «nd puts an end to your journey for the day. This ridiculous and unmeaning auflcrity will probably be fomq day put an end to, by the fatal exit of one of thefe bigottcd officers of the church tribunal, who may poffibly be miflakcn by fome fiurdy traveller, orftranger, by feizing his horfe by the bridle, for a kn'ght of the pad \ for, pleafantry apart, this is by no means an improbable prediction. Translator,. N O R T H - A M E R I C A. 385 fquares, and public walks, and hurrying in crouds towards the fuburbs, towards the neighbouring villages, where a thoufand taverns are open to receive them ; every where your ear is fainted with fongs, and inftrumental mufic ; every where your eyes are entertained with gay and animated dances. It is a truly affecting fpe(Slacle to fee the artizan preffing towards the Guin- guettes, or houfes of entertainment ; under one arm he holds his wife, dreftin her beft array, the other ferves him to carry the youngefl of his children, whilft the re- maining one, who is able to walk, faftens on his mother's hand, and ftrives to follow her ; this whole family are going to rejoice together. If the wine gives rife to fome quarrels, they are appeafed by the women, who prevent that excefs of drinking to which men are but too fubje£l ; the family- drink and dance amongft themfelve?, and this happy day frequently encroaches on the night, and always terminates too foon. In America, it is the reverfe ; as there is no- thing but idlenefs without the refource of either fport or dance, the fexes feparate, the Vol. 11, Cc women 386 TRAVELS IN women at a lofs what to do with their fine drcfs, which has ihone only aj tlie church or meeting, fall into a itate of wretched liftleflhels, which is only to be diverted by frivolous difcourfe, and fcandal ; whilfl the men, wearied with reading the bible to their children, affemble round a bowl, not prepared by joy, and at the bottom of which they find nothing but llupid intoxica- tion. I know" not, Sir, whether the following principle be that of a philofopher, or only of a Frenchman ; but I am of opinion that every amufement which feparates the wo- men from the men, is contrary to the wel- fare of fociety, is calculated to render one of the fexes clowni(h, and the other llo- venly, and to deftroy, in fhort, that fenfi- bility, the fource of which Nature has placed in the intercourfe between the fexes. Weigh thefe refledlions. Sir, which are not fo frivolous, perhaps, as they appear. Happinefs is only compofed of enjoyments ; now, Sundays make the feventh part of our lives, and if you deduct from the people their days of extraordinary labour, you will fee NORTH. AMERICA. 387 fee that they conftitute the half of our beft time. Make happy days, then, of Sun- days, give them to America, and you will have conferred on them an ineftimahle pre- fent. Thefe obfervatlons on the fabbath, on the day of repofe which fucceeds to labour feem to apprize me that mine is at an end. May it not appear longer to you, than it has to myfelf, and may you, after beftow- ing on me fome moments of attention, not feel too fenfibly the want of that diffipation I have juft been extollini^. Recognize at leaft. Sir, in this feeble effay, my devotion to your will, and the fincere attachment with which I have the honour to be. Sec, &c. On board the frigate L'Emeraude, in the Bay of Chefapeak, the 12th of January, 1783. C c 2 Defcription 388 ' T R A V E L S I N Defcription of ihc Natural Bridge ^ called in Virginia^ Rocky Bridge. ON my return from my journey in Upper Virginia, I regretted not hav- ing been able to take the dimenfions of the Natural Bridge. I Wiis anxious that fome perfon, who was at once a defigner and geometrician, fliould undertake an expedi- tion to the Apalachiansfor that fole object, and that he Ihould be provided with the in- ftruments ncceH'iry for accomphfhing it with accuracy. No man was more capable of this than the Baron de Turpin, Captain in the royal corps of Genie, for in him were united all thofe branches of knowledge, which are carried to fo great a height in the corps to which he belongs, with the talent of dellgning with as much facility as pre- cifion ; befides which, he was well enough acquainted with the Englifh language to tlifpenfe with an interpreter. I propofed, therefore, to the Comte de Rochambeau, to charge him with this commiffion, which T was confident he would acquit with plea- fure. NORTH-AMERICA. 389 fure. The General thought that it would be rendering a frefh fervice to the Ameri- cans, to make them acquainted with one of the wonders which render their country ce- lebrated, and that it would be pleafant enough for Frenchmen to be the iirfl to give them a precife idea and a correal plan of it''\ The Baron de Turpin fet out, therefore, in C c ^ the * So interefling an obje£l could not efcape the cu- riofity and oblervatlons of Mr. Jcffcrfon f. He had meafured the heighth and breadth of the natural bridge, of which he fpeaks in an excellent memoir corapofed in 178 1^ a few copies of which he printed iaft year under the modell title of Notes upon Firginia, or rather without any title, for this work has never been made pubhc. We hope, however, the preci- ous documents on natural philofophy, as well as po- litics, contained in that work, will not be loft to the t The following is Mr. Jefferson's account of the Natural Bridge alluded to in this note, which I am happy in being able to lay before the reader. *' The Natural Bridge, the moll fublime of Nature's works, is " on the afcent of a hill, which fetms to have been eloven thro. " its length by fome great convulfion. The fifTure, juft at the " bridge, is by fome adineafurements 270 feet deep, by others only *' 205. It is about 45 feet wide at the bottom, and 90 feet at the ** top ; this of courfe determines the length of the bridge, and its " height from the water. Its breadth in the middle is about 60 " feet, but more at the ends, and the thicknefs of the mafs at the " furamit of the arch, about 40 feet. A part of this thicknefs is. *' conftitu.ted by a, coat of earth,, which gives growth to many larg«. 39© TRAVELS IN the beginning of May, and in three weeks brought me back five plans, three of which are public. A well known man of letters | has made ufe of them, and we recommend the pcrufal of a work, which will fpeedily make its appearance under the title of Obfervatlcns on Vlyginia. " trees. The rcfidue, with the hill on both fides, is one folid rock «• of limeftone. The arch approaches the femi-clliptical form » *' but the larger axis of the elipfes, which would be the cord of *' the arch, is many times longer than the tranfvcrfe. Though tlie ** fide? of the bridge are provided in fome parts with a parapet of " fixed rocks, yet few men have refolution to walk to them, and *' look over into the abyfs. You involuntarily fall on your hands •* and feet, creep to the parapet, and look over it. Looking down *' from thib height about a minute, gave me a violent head-ach« " If the view fiom the top be painful and intolerable, that from '< below is delightful in the extreme. It is impoflible for the *' emotions arifing from the fublime to be felt beyond what they " are here : on the fight of fo beautiful an arch, fo elevated, fo " light, and fpringing as it were up to heaven, the rapture of the " fpefiator is really indtfcribable I The filluje continuing nar- " row, deep, and ftreight for a confiderable diftancc above and be- " low the bridge, opens a fliort but very pleafinj view of the *' North Mountain on one fide, and Blue Ridge on the other, at «' the distance each of them of about five miles. This bridge is in *' the county of Rcckbiidge, to which it has given name, and affords ** a public and commodious paflTage over a valley, which cannot *' be crofled elfewhere for a confiderabie diftance. The ftream ♦' pafiing under it is called Cedar Creek. It is a water of James *' river, and fufficient, in the drieft fcafons, to turn a grift mill, •' though its fountain is not more than two miles above." Translator. * MonfiiHl?'!?^ Meunter, in his new article of Etats Vnls m the laft Livraifin of La Ko'celle Emyilopcdie, and the Abbe dc MorJ^ix, v.ho is tranilating them into French. Tran s lator. N O R T H . A M E R I C A. 391 are engraved and annexed to this work. Two of them prefentperfpe6lives, taken from the two fides of the Natural Bridge, and from the bottom of the valley from whence itfprings. The third is a bird*s-eye view, and reprefents a part of the country in which it is. The two others being only fuppofed fed:ions of this bridge where it holds by the bank, and which may be confidered as its abutment, I have not thought proper to have engraved, to avoid multiplying the plates neceffary to be given with this work. As to the dimenfions, they are as follows, as given me by M. de Turpin : *' The Natural Bridge forms an arch of fifteen toifes (fix feet Englifh) in length, of that fpecies we denominate the Cow\ Horn : the chord of this arch is feventeen toifes at the head of AmoJit, and nine at that of Aval^ and the right arch is the fegment of an ellipfe, 10 flat that the fmall axis is only a twelfth of the large one. The mafs of rock and Hone which loads this arch is forty-nine feet folid on the key of the great centre, and thlrty-feven on that of the fmall one 3 and as we find about the fame 39- TRAVELSIN fame difference in taking the level of the hill, it may befnppofed that the roof is on a level, the whole length of the key. It is proper to obferve, that the live rock con- tinues alfo the whole thicknefs of the arch, and that on the oppofite iidc it is only 25 feet wide, in its greateft breadth, and be- comes gradually narrower, '* The whole arch feems to be formed of one and the fame flone, for the joints which one remarks at the head of Amo?it, are the effed of lightning, which llruck this part in 1 779 ; the other head has not the fmalleft vein, and the i?2trado5 is fo fmooth, that the martins, which fly round it in great numbers, cannot faften on it *. The abutments, which have a gentle flope, arc entire j and, without being abfolute planes, have all the polifli which a current of water would give to unhewn flone in a certain time. The four rocks adjacent to the abutments feem to be perfe£lly homo- geneous, and to have a very trifling flope. The two rocks on the right bank of the ri- vulet * Sec at the end of this article a note, which wa^ too long to be inferted under the text, NORTH-AMERICA. 393 Vulet are 200 feet high above the furface of the water, the intrados of the arch 150, and the two rocks on the left bank 180. " If we ccnfider this bridge fimpiy as a pi61:urefque object, we are Aruck with the majefty with which it towers in the val- ley. The white oaks, which grow upon it, feem to rear their lofty fummits to the clonds ; whilft the fame trees, which border on the rivulet, appear like fhrubs. As for the naturalift, he mufl content himfelf with fuch obfervations as may guide a more hardy philofopher to form fome probable conjec- ture on the origin of this extraordinary mais. " From every part of the arch, and of its fupporters, cubic pieces of three or four lines dimenfion were tdken, and placed fuc- ceilively in the fame aqua fortis ; the former were diffolved in lefs than half an hour ; the others required more time, but this muft be attributed to the diminution of ftrength of the aqua fortis, which loft its adtivity in proportion as it became fatu- rated. •« We fee that thefe rocks being of a cal- careous 394 TRAVELS IN careous nature, exclude every idea of a vol- cano, v^'hich befides cannot be reconciled with the form of the bridge and its adja- cent parts. If it be fuppofed that this afto- nifliing arch is the effect of a current of water, we muft fuppofe likewife that this current has had the force to break down, and carry to a great diftance, a mafs of 5000 cubic fathoms, for there remains not the flighted tiace of fuch an operation. The blocks found under the arch, and a little be- low it, have their interior portions marked on the collateral pendants on the fide of A'val, and are occafioned by no other demo- lition than that of the bridge itfelf, which is faid to have been one third wider. '* The excavation of eight or ten inches^ formed in the pisd droit, or fupporter, on the left bank of the ftream, under the fpring of the arch, lengthens it into the form of a crow's beak. This decay, and fome other parts which are blown up, give reafon to prefurac that this furprizing edifice will one day become a vi6lim of that time which has dcftroyed fo many others." Such I N O R T H - A M E R I C A. 395 Such are the obfervations, the Baron de Turpin brought back with him, and with which he was pleafcd to fiwour me. As their accuracy may be relied on, perhaps it would be fufficient to tranfcribe them here, and leave the reader to exercife his thoughts on the caufes which could produce this fort of prodigy. This was in fa£l the refolution I had taken, when, abandoned to my own powers, of which I was juftly diffident, I was writing at Williamfburgh, and for myfelf alone, the Journal of my late expedition. A Spanifh work, however, which fell into my hands, confirmed me in the opinion I at firft had entertained, that it was to the labour only of the Creator that we owe the magnificent confl:ru£l:ion of the Natural Bridge. The opinion of the Count de BuiFon, whom 1 have fince confulted, has left me no doubt upon the fubjedl. His fublime conceptions of the different epochs of nature fhould have been fufficient to put me in the way ; but the difciple, who knows how to do juftice to himfelf, is timid, even in the application of his mailer's principles. But, whoever has travelled in America, 396 T R A V E I. S I N America, becomes a wltnefs entitled to depofe in favour of that genius vvhofe ora- cles frequently meet with too many op- pofers. If it be neceflliry to juftify what the Montefquieus, the Humes, the Vol- taires have faid on the fatal etfe(5ls hereto- fore produced by fuperftition, by ignorance, and prejudice, we might ftill, in furveying Europe, find whole nations which would prefent to us the pi6i:ure of what we were 300 years ago. Nations, which are, fo to fpeak, the cotemporaries of pad ages, and the truth of hiftorical fadls would be de- monftrated by thofe to which we ourfelves are witnefTes. It is the fame in America with refpecl to the epoch of Nature, and all the documents of natural hiftory. In vi- fiting this part of the world, you think yourfelf rem.oved back a whole epoch -, the lower grounds, the plains are watered by fuch large rivers, and interfered by fo many- creeks ; the coafts are fo frequently divided by gulphs, and arms of the fea, which feem to condudl the waves to the very heart of the country, and to the very foot of the mountains, that it is impoffible not to be pcrfuaded NORTH-AMERICA 397 peiluaded that all this part of the Conti- nent is not of new creation, and produced entirely by fucceffive ebbings of the water. On the other hand, if we obferve that all the high mountains form long chains pa- rallel with each other, and almofl: in a di- redion North and South ; that the greateft part of the rivers, which fall into the ocean take their origin in the narrow vallies which feparate thefe mountains, and that after fol- lowing their diredion for a confiderable fpace, they turn fuddenly towards the Eaft, pierce the mountains, and at length reach the fea, acquiring magnitude as they pro- ceed ; we (hall be apt to think ourfelves, if not contemporaries, at leaft not far removed from that epoch of Nature, when the waters coUeded to an extraordinary height in hol- low vallies, were ftriving to break down their dykes, ftill uncertain of the means to be adopted for making their efcape ; we fliall be led to think that the motion of the earth on its axis, or the weilerly winds, which in North America correfpond with the trade winds of the Tropics, and of which they are poflibly the eifed, have at length 398 T R A V E L S I N length determined the motion of the waters towards the Eail. In which cafe, one of thefe two circumftances might happen ; ei- ther that the waters havino; exceeded the heights of the leall: lofty fummits which oppofed their paffage, formed a fort of gutters, by which the fuperfliiity efcaped ; or that unable to attain the height of thefe mountains, they met with fome fofter parts of the greater mafs itfelf, which they fir ft fapped, and then entirely penetrated. In the firft cafe, if the declivity was very fteep, and the rock which ferved by way of apron was very hard, they would form a catarad:, but where the declivity was lefs rapid, and the foil lefs compad, the waters not only will have formed the gutter which ferved them as a paflage, but have overthrown and hurried along with them the lands, forming them into long glacisy which would lofe themfelves finally in the plains. Thus Hudfon's River, the Delaware, the Potow- mack, James R-iver, and many others, have opened ways for themfelves to the fea, by piercing the mountains at angles, more or lefs approaching to right angles, and form- ing, N OR T H - A M E R I C A. 399 ing, more or lefs, fpacious vallies. In the lecond cafe, the waters unable to pafs the mountains, unlefs below their fummits, mud have left above them a fort of cdoite^ or arch, fimilar to that of the Natural Bridge. Bat how many chances are there, both that thefe arches muft fall down after a certain time, efpecially when the beds of the rivers becoming deeper and deeper, the burthen becomes too weighty, and they have loil their bafes!* * Mr. Jeffcrfon, in his excellent Notes on Virginia, feems to lean to the fyflem of Buffon^ in the fol- lowing fublime and animated defcription : " The courfes of the (following) great rivers of " Virginia, fays he, are at right angles with the •' long chain of mountains, known in the European " maps by the name of the Apalachian Mountains, " James and Potama penetrate through all the ** ridges of mountains eaftward of tlie Alleghanev. " That is, broken by no watercourfe, it is in faft ** the fpine of the coimtry between the Atlantic on " one fide, and the Miliiiippi and St, Laurence " on the other. The paffiges of the Patowmac *' through the Blue Ridge is perhaps one of the *' moft llupendous fcenes in nature ; you fcand on " a very high point of land. On your right comes *' up the Shenandoah, havir.g ranged along the foot *' of the mountains an hundred miles to feek a " vent. 4dd travels in Do we flill doubt of the probability of this hypoihefis ? Do we wifh for more ilriking *' vent. On your left approaches the Patoivmjc, " in qiieft of a paflage alfo. In the moment of *' their junftion they rufli together againft the *' mountain, rend it afundcr, and pafs off to the *' fea. The firft glance of this fccne hurries our *' fenfes into the opinion that this earth had been •' created in time, that the mountains were formed " firfl, that tlie rivers began to flow afterwards, that *' in this place particularly they have been dammed ** up by the Blue Ridge of mountains, and have *' formed an ocean which filled the whole valley ; " that continuing to rife, they have at length broken " over at this fpot, and have torn the mountain " down from its fummit to its bafc. The piles of *' rock on each hand, but particularly on the Shc- *' nandcah, the evident marks of their difrupture *' evuliion from their beds, by the mofl: powerful *' agents of Nature, corroborate the impreflion, *' But the diftant iinifhing which Nature has given " to the pidlure, is of a very different character. It " is a true contrail to the fore ground. It is as placid *' and delightful as that is wild and tremendous. *' For the mountain being cloven afunder, flie pre- *' fcnts to your eye, through the cleft, a fmall catch ♦' of imoothblue horizon, at an infinite diftancc in ♦* the plain country, inviting you, as it were, from ♦' the riot and tumult roaring around, to pafs through *' the breach, and partake of the calm below. Here " the NORTH-AMERICA. 401 ftriking tokens, more evident traces of the operation of the waters, let us continue to *' the eye ultimately corapofes itfelf ; and that way ** too the road happens aftually to lead. Youcrofs *' the Patowmac above the juiiftion, pafs along its *' fide through the bafe of the mountain for three *' miles, its terrible precipices hanging in fragments *' over you, and within about twenty miles reach Fre- *' deric Town, and the fine country round it. This *' fcene is worth a voyage acrofs the Atlantic. "Yet *' here, as in the neighbourhood of the Natural " Bridge, are people who have paffed their lives " within half a dozen miles, and have never been to ** furvey thefe monuments of a war between rivers *' and mountains, which mull have Ihaken the earth »' itfelf to its centre." Mr. Charles Thompfon^ Secretary to Congrefs, in an Appendix to Mr. JefFerfon's work, adds the fol- lowing remarks on the fame fubjed. The reader will pardon, I am confident, the length of thefe ex- trads from a work fo highly interefting, and which is not yet given to the public. " Therefledions," fays Mr. Thompfon, " I was . " led into on viewing this palTage of the Patowmac *' through the Blue Ridge were, that this country ** muft have fufFered fome violent convulfion, and *' that the face of it muft have been changed from *' what it was probably fome centuries ago ; that the *' broken and ragged faces of the mountain on each «"' fide the river, the tremendous rocks which are left " with one end fixed in the precipice, and the others Vol. II. D d travel 4o2 TRAVELS IN travel in America ; let us go into the vici- nity of the Ohio, on the banks of the ri- ver ** jutting out, and feemingly ready to fall for want *' of fupport ; the bed of the river for fevcral miles *' below obilruftcd and filled with the loofe Hones *' carried from this mound ; in fhort, everything on *' which you cail your eye, evidently demonflrates a *' difrupture and breach in the mountain, and that, *' before this happened, what is now a fruitful vale *' was formerly a great lake or coUcftion of water, •« which polfibly might have here formed a mighty *' cafcade, or had its vent to the ocean by the Suf- *' quehanna, where the Blue Ridge feems to termi- *' nate. Befides this, there arc other parts of this *' country which bear evidei\t traces of aiikeconvul- *' fion. From the beft accounts I have been able to *' obtain, the place where the Delaware now flows " through the Kittatinny mountain, which is a con- *' tinuation of what is called tlie North Ridge or *' Mountain, was not its original courfe, but that it ** paflTed through what is now called, '* The Wind *' Gap," a place feveral miles to the Weftward, and •♦ above an hundred feet higher than the prefent bed *' of the river. This Wind Gap is about a mile •' broad, and the ftones in it fuch as fccm to have •' been wafhed for ages by water running over them. •* Should this have been the cafe, there mufl have *' been a large lake behind that mountain, and by *' fome uncommon fwell of the waters, or by fomc *' convulfion of Nature, the liver muft have opened N O R T H - A M E R t C A. 403 vep Kentucke ; we may there obferve what follows, or rather what the recent hiftorian D d 2 of *' its way through a different part of the njountain *' and u-jeeting there with lefs obllruftion, carried *' away with it the oppofing mounds of earth, and •' deluged the country below with the immenfe col- ** leftion of waters to which this palTage gave vent. *' There are fcill remaining, and daily diicovered* " innumerable inftances of fuch a deluge on both *' fides of the river, after it paffed the hills above the *' falls of Trenton, and reached the Champaign. *' Onthe New Jerfey iide, which is flatter than the *' Pcnfylvania fide, all the country below CrefTwick *' hills feems to have been overflowed to the difl:ance *' of from ten to fifteen miles back from the river, *' and to have acquired a new foil by the earth and '* clay brought down and mixed with the native fand. *' The fpot on which Philadelphia flands evident- " ly appears to be made ground. The difl!*erent *' ftrata through which they pafs in digging to wa- *' ter, the acorns, leaves, and fometimes branches *' which are found above twenty feet below the fur- *' face, all feem to demonfl:rate this 1. I am jn- X From an accurate topographical obfervation cf the moun- tainous parts of England, and other countries, on thefe princi- ples, might we not be able to folve various phcenomena which prefent themfelves in the plains bordering upon rivers, that is to fay, within reach of I'uch a fuppofed overflew of waters ; the quantity of large folid oak timber, for example, found in U'alke,- Cc//!>7 near Newcaftle, on the banks of the river' Tyne, at the prodigious depth of no fathoms ? Tr.aK31.ator, 404 TRAVELS IN of that country * has written. " x'^mcnfrn: *' the natural curiofities of this territory, " the ' formed that at York-Town in Virginia, in the * bank of Yoik river, there are different ftrata of ' Ihells and earth, one above another, which feem ' to point out that the country there has under- * gone fcveral changes, that the fea has for a fuc- ' cellion of ages occupied the place where dry land ' now appears, and that the ground has been fud- ' denly raifed at various periods. What a change ' would it make in the country below, fliould the ' mountains at Niagara, by any accident, be cleft ' afunder, and a pafiage fuddcnly opened to drain ' off the waters of lake Erie and the tipper lakes ! ' While ruminating on thefe fubjefts, I have often ' been hurried away by Fancy, and led to imagine ' that vvhat is now the bay of Mexico was once a ' champaign country, and that from the point or ' cape of Florida, there was a continued range of ' mountains through Cuba, Hifpaniola, Porto Ri- ' CO, Martinique, Guadaloupc, Barbadocs and Tri- ' nidad, till it reached the coaft of America, and ' formed the fliores which bounded tbe ocean and ' guarded the country behind: that by fome con- ' vulfion or fhock of Nature the fea had broken ' through thcfc mounds and deluged that vaft plain * till it reached the foot of the Andes ; that being ' there heaped up by the trade winds, always blow- * Mr. Filfou, whofc work is lately tranflated into French. Translator; NORTH-AMERICA. 405 *' the winding banks, or rather the preci- " piceof Kentucke, and of the river Diek, ** merit the firfl rank.* The aftoniflied " eye beholds, almofl on every fide, 3 or *' 400 feet of a calcareous rock, perpendi- ** cularly cut ; in feme places a beautiful ** white marble, curioufly fhaped in arches ** or in columns, or piled upon a fine ** flone for building. Thefe precipices, " as 1 have already obferved, refemble the *' fides of a deep trench, or a canal, the *' earth around being level, except in the " courfe of the rivulets, and covered with " groves of red cedar 5 you can only crofs '* this river at certain places, one of which " is worthy of admiration : It is a high- " way formed by the buffaloes, and wide D d 3 " enough " ing from one quarter, it had found its way back, " as it continues to do, through the gulph between ** Florida and Cuba, carrying with it the loom and " fand it may have fcooped from the country it " had occupied, part of which it may have depo" " fited on the fhores of North America, and with " part formed the banks of the Newfoundland.——. ** But thefc are only the vilions of Fancy." The Translator adds, but they are the fublime vifions ©f a great ?,nd enlightened mind. Translator. 4o6 TRAVELS IN *' enough for wnggons, in a gentle flope, ** from the fummit of the foot of a very '* fleep eminence, clok to the river above '* Lees-Town." But let us confuk Don Jofcph d'UlIoLiy already fo celebrated by his V^oyages ; he is the author of the above-mentioned Spa- iiidi book, entitled, Notkias jlmericanasy in which he gives very curious and minute defcriptions of all Spanifh America. Iii the article I am going to tranflate, he be- gins by remarking a very fenfiblc difference between the mountainb in America, fituat" ed under the toriid zone, and thofe we ob- ferve in other parts cf the globe ; for al- though the height of the latter be often very ccnfiderable, as the ground rifes gra- dually, and their combined fummits form immenfe countries, they who inhabit them may be ignorant of their elevation above the level of the fea; whereas thole of Ame- rica being feparated, and, fo to fpcak, cloven their whole height, give inceffantly the idea, and even the meafure of their prodi- gious altitude. " In this part of the world, " adds hcj the earth is interfered by pro- ** found N O R T H -A M E R I C A. 407 ** found trenches (^qiiebradas) of a very " confiderable width, fmce they form the *' feparation of the mountains from each ** other, and form frequently an opening, '* of more than two leagues, at the upper " part of them. This fpace becomes con- '* tradted in proportion as they are more ** or lefs profound -, and it is in the bottom *' of this kind of vallies that the rivers '* flow, which almoft regularly occupy the '* middle, leaving an equal extent of level " ground on each fide of them. But what ** is mod remarkable, is, that the angles " or iinuofities formed by thefe rivers^ cor- " refpond perfectly with thofe we obferve " to the right and left in the fegments of '* thefe mountains j fo that if we could at <* once bring together the two fides of thefe " vallies, we fliould have a folid mafs, ** without any interruption. The rivers ** purfue their courfe in thefe embank- ** ments, until they reach the plain, and *' from thence the ocean. In this latter " part of their career, their bed is not deep, *' and their bottom is nearly on a level " with the fea. Thus it m^y in general « be 4oS TRAVELS IN " be remarked, that the more lofty th*- '• mountains of the Cordclliers, the more ** profound is the bed of the rivers which *' flow through their vallies.'* " In the province of Angaras^ amongtl ^' the lufus Nature? y with which thefe coun- ** tries abound, there is one which me- *' rits particular attention. This province, ** which is a dependency of Guancavclica, *' is divided into feveral departments ; in *' one of thefe. departments, called Conaica^ *' is the fmall village of Vinas^ fituated at ** nine leagues diflance from Conaica, ** About midway between them, is a moun- ** tain known by the name of Corofunta : *' on arriving at the foot of this moun- *' tain, you enter into a cleft, or if you •» will, an opening, through which flows ** the rivulet of CkaplLj)2cas'j this rivulet ** enters an embankment the breadth of *' which is from twenty to five-and-twenty *' feet, and its height upwards of forty ; *' without being perceptibly wider at the *' fuperior than the inferior part. This ** gap, which is occupied in its whole *' width by tjie fl:rei;m, forms the only commu- NORTH-AMERICA. 409 ^' communication that exifts between Vinas *' and Conaica, You can only crofs the ri« ^' ver in thoie places where, as 1 j^ave already *' faid, the opening is twenty feet broad, *' and you me obliged to crofs it nine times, *^ takiijg advantage of thoie places where ** it departs a little from the rock, which ^ only happens where it has formed fome *' fmuofities ; for when its courfe is drre£t, ^' it exadlly fi'ls the opening through which ?* it pafles. This trench is formed out of ^' the live rock, and with fo much regula- ** rity, that all the prominent parts of *' one fide, correfpond perfedly with the ** recipient parts or indentures of the other ^' in its whole height ; infomuch that it ^' might be taken for a canal cut exprefs- ^' ly for the pafiage of the water, and ^' which had been executed with fo com- ^' plete a fymmetry, as that the two lides *' might exadlly fit each other, without f leaving the fmalleft interiljce between ^* them. There is no danger in travelling ^* this road, for the rock is too folid to ^' give any apprehenfion of its crumbling, ff and the fmail river is not rapid enough " t€> 4IO TRAVELS IN " to endanger boats ; yet it is difficult to ** fupprefs a fentiment of terror, on find- " ing yourfelf eng:\ged in this narrow gap, ** the two fides of which, from their per- ** fc£t coirefpondence, prefent the idea of *' a box half opened for a moment, and " always ready to clofc upon you." " The cavity I have been defcribing '' is fo much the more worthy our obfer- ** vation, as it may be looked upon as a '* model, or example of what the vallies of ** the Cordilleras have been, when in their *« origin they did not 'exceed the depth of ** this; for their fides, which now form a *' gentle flope, were then doubtlefs per- *' pendicularly cut, and it was not until *' the waters undermined them to a great *' depth, that the upper parts being over- ** loaded, have fucceliively crumbled down. *' This analogy is even confirmed by the «* decay to be obfcrved in the embank- ** ment formed by the C/japI/anciis ; a wafte " occafioned by the flow and fucceflive «' cfiTed: of the rains and froil, and the *' crevices produced by the fun, but which <* arelefs fenfible there tlian elfewhere, be- ** caufe N O R T H - A M E R I C A. 4^11 «^ caufe the rock is harder, more folid, ** and more continuous, not being inter-* ** rupted by any bed of earth, or other *' matter eaiily to be dilfolved or crumbled, *' Every thing therefore leads to a con- ** clufion, that the waters alone have form- " ed this canal in the form we now fee it, ^' and that they will continue to augment ^' its depth, iince we know that time alone *' is fufficient to reduce the hardefl flone ^' to a fine and almoft imperceptible fand, " and that this progrefs is already difcover- " able from the little fragments of flone *' vifible at the bottom of the river, as well '* as from thofe it carries to the plain; ** when, finding a more extenfive range, it *' begins to enlarge its furface." " Whether we attribute the origin of ^* this canal to the fridion of the waters ** which have gradually deepened it, or ** whether we fuppofe the mountain to have " been rent affunder by an earthquake, fo " as to open a new pafi'age for this river <* which flowed antecedently in another di- <* re^liop ; it is ftill certain that fuch an tl apertare can not have exiited at the epo* " cha 414 TRAVELS IN *< cha immediately fubfequent to the de- ** luge. It is the fame with refped to the " larger embankments of this kind, known *' by the name oi^ebradas, and which are <* frequently to be met with in the upper *« part of South America. It is evident that ** they have been formed equally by the la- ** bour of the waters ; for on the one hand, " we know that the rapidity of their cur- *' rent is capable of wrenching off ftones *' of an extraodinary lize; and on the <' other, we have manifefl proofs of the *« continual effort made by them to deepen *« their bed, an effort the traces of which <* are difcovered in the huge blocks they «' have formed into the fhape of dice, or ** cubes, as often as the rocks oppofe too ** muchexiftance to them to admit of their *« dividing and clearing away the whole ex- ** tent of the bottom on which they exercife *' their activity. In the river of Jjuchaco-y *' near the village of that name, is a large *' mafs of flone, of a regular fquare form, *' and each fide of which may be above five ** and thirty or forty feet. When the wa- «' ters are low, it rifes five-and- twenty " feet N O R T H - A M E R I C A. 41^ feet above their level. But to account for the form of thefe large cubic maffes, as well as of other fmaller ones, which are often to be found in the bed of ri- vers, and which are all regularly fhaped, we mufl fuppofe that the waters have fuc- ceffively torn and wrenched oft the rocks by which they were furrounded, thus leaving them iingle, and ifolated, in their prefent form ; but this only until the beds of the rivers becoming deeper and deeper, the waters meet at their bafes with fome veins of earth or other mat- ter eafy of diffolution ; for in that cafe they will undermine and unfet them, (fo to fpeak) fo as one day to difplace them entirely and hurry them along. Thefe maffes, once in motion, will fhock either thofe on the banks, thofe they meet with in the bed even of the ri- ver, which breaking and being reduced to various maffes of lefs demenfion, will be the more eaiily drifted. Such is wi*"h- out doubt the origin of all thofe flones we fee under the w^ater, or on the banks, fome of which are very fmall, and others «* fo 4 TRAVELSIN fo enormous, that no human effort is able to remove them. As to the extra- ordinary profundity of thofe vaih'es or ^cbradaSy one example will be fuffi- cient to give an idea of it. The town of Gua?ivelka is built in a valley form- ed by different chains of mountains ; the barometer there flands at eighteen inches, one line and an half (this mean term is taken between eighteen inches and a quarter, and eighteen inches one third, which form the greatefl variatioa of the barometer at that place) ; accord- ing to this height of the mercury, the elevation above the level of the fea fhould be 1949 toiics. On the fum- mit of the mountain in which is the mine of j^/oguc's, a fpct flill habitable, and which is itfelf as much lower than other adjacent heights, as it is higher than the town of Guanvelica, the mer- cury only ftands at fixteen inches juflj which gives 2337 toifes above the level of the fca, and about 500 toifes for the depth of the ^ebrada, or valley of Guari' velica, which feems to be no other than " the N O R T H - A M E R I C A. 415 " the deepened bed "of the river we novf " fee flowing through the middle of it." After fo many obfervations on the extra- ordinary eifeds of the waters, have we not fome foundation for fuppoiing that the Na- tural Bridge is alfo their produdlon, and ought we not to regard it as a fort of ^f- 5rada ? When the vallies of the Apala- chians were only vail lakes, in which the waters were retained prifoners, this little valley, whofe depth they traverfe, may have ferved as a partial refervoir, wherein they have remained even after thofe of the large vallies made their efcape. The mafs of the rock out of which the Natural Bridge is excavated, may have ferved them as a bar- rier, but v/hether it be that they have not rifen to the fummit of the rock, or whe- ther they fucceeded more eafily in fapping the lower part of it, they will in dther cafe have left fubfifting that immenfe gap which form the arch fuch as we now fee it. It would be ufelefs, and perhaps rafh, to en- deavour minutely to explain the manner in which the bending of this vault has been fo regularly traced out -, but the caufe once underflood. 4!^ TRAVELS IN jl^nderflood, all the effedis, however varied^ and however aftonilhing they may appear, muft have the fame origin. We may ob- ferve befides, that the greatcfl bend of this vault correfponds with the angle formed by the valley in this place, infomuch that the rock feems to have been the more worked upon, as the effort of the waters have been. more confiderable. However this may be, I leave every one at liberty to form fuch conjecStures as he pleafes *, and as I have faid * Mr. Jeffcrfon, after fpeaking of the above pafTage of the Spanifli author, differs from him and from the Marquis de Chaftellux, in their reafonlng on the probable caufcs of its produclion, as follows : *' Don Ulloa inclines to the opinion, that this *' channel has been effefted by the wearing of the *' water which runs through it, rather than that the *' mountain fliould have been broken open by any *' convuhlon of Nature. But if it had been worn " by the running of the water, would not the rocks, *' which form the fides, have been worn plane ? or *' if, meeting in fome parts with veins of harder " {lone, the water had left prominences on one «' fide, would not the fame caufe have fometimes, • or perhaps general 1}% occafioncd prominences on *' the other fide alio ? Yet Don Ulloa tells us, *.' that on the other fide there are always correfpond- NORTH-Ax\IERICA. 417 faid above, my defign has been !efs to ex- plain this prodigy of Nature, than to de- fcribe it with fuch accuracy as to enable the learned to form a judgment on the fub- jea •*. " ing cavities, and that thefe tally with the ptoml- *' nences fo pefedlly, that were the two fides to " come together, they would fit in all their iiiden- ** tures, without leaving any void. I think that " this does not refemble the eiFe6l of running wa- *' ter, but looks rather as if the two fides had part- *' ed afunder. The fides of the break, over which *' is the Natural Bridge of Virginia, confift of a veiny *' rock which yields to time, the correfpondencc •' between the fatlent and re-entering inequalities, •' ifitexifted at all, has now difappeared. This *' break has the advantage of the one defcribed by *' Don Ulloa in its fineft circumflance, no portion •' in that inftance having held together, during the *' feparation of the other parts, fo as to form a bridge " over the abyfs." Translator. * They who wifh to form an exaft idea of the Natural Bridge, mull not judge of the ground plan of it, from the afpe£l prefented by its fegments in the two landfcapes which are engraved. The ground over which travellers pafs is alraoft level ; but the parapets formed by the rocks are not fo ; befides that their declivity is exaggerated by an op- tical effe£l, the views having been taken from the banks of the rivulet, and very near the bridge. Vol. II. E c NOTE, 4i8 T R A V E L S I N N O T E. Though the fpiuig was far advanced when I vifitcd the Natural Bridge, and it was then the 20th of April, I do not recolleortIiig their effcfts, on our departure from Europe, did not allow me to carry any more books than f/ere neceffary for the political and military know- ledge of the continent, where I was going to make war, and it was beyond my powers to v/ork from, memory, and after my own ideas ; beiides that I had conceived an erroneous notion that every thing vvas already known and written on a country fo well underflood and fo much frequented as North Ame- rica. I found, too late however, that I was de- ceived ; the little faccefs attending my efforts to de- rive fomc advantage, either from my own curiofity, or from the information of fome perfons I em- ployed, have convinced me, that it would evea now be of great ufe to fend a little caravan, com- pofed of naturalifts, geographers and deligners, to America. But whilft this projeft, v/hich has al- ready been propofed, is carrying into execution,. I fhall here fubmit a few obfervations I have made on the martin of America. This bird differs from our European martin in its form, its colour and its manners ; in its form, as its body is pretty large, and fimilar to that of many other birds of different fpecies, fuch as the blackbird and the ftarling : in its colour, becaufe if the male be quite black like other martins, the fe- male is of a cindery grey, a little clearer than that of our female blackbird, whilft its breaft is of a dirty and mixed white; in its manners, for that in- Head of being wild like our martin, it is flill more 'famihar, and more domeftic, if pofiible, than our chimney fwallow. The Americans have an almoft E c 2 fuperftitious 420 T R A V E L S I N fuperllitlous refpcft for thelc birds ; not only do they prepare for them, at the commencement of tire fpring, earthen pots like thofe we affix to our walls to attract the fparrows, liut they fufpend, beneath the projcftion of the roof, little cages for them to buifd in. The more credulous of the Americans fay that thcfe birds bring good luck to the houfes that they vifit ; the mofb fenfiblc imagine they are ufcful, not only in deflroying the flics which are very trouble- fomc in fummcr, but bccaufe by their boldncfs and their cries they drive away the birds of prey, when they come to attack the poultry. Thefe animals are fo familiar, that with a little adroitnefs, one mav take them with the hand ; their fong is far removed from the difagreeable cry of our martin; It refembles rather that of the chimney fwallow, but is much more melodious. I never faw them but at liberty, for I confefs that having a hundred times refolved to kill at leaft one or two of them, that I might infpcft them more narrowly, I never had the courage ; fo much did I rcfpeft the kind hofpitalitv afforded them, and which they accept with the fame confidence. I do not know why Catefby calls this bird the furple martin, for I have never obferved the flighteli fhade of that colour in their wings ; thofe of th; male are of the moft beautiful black, and as I have already faid, thofe of the female are of a cindery grey upon the back, and the belly is white, mixed Avlth grey. If this bird was not a bird of paiTagc, and a bird, which like all thofe of the fame fpccic?, muft travel very rapidly, it would appear probaHc, th«,; N O R T H - A M E R I C A. 421 that in approaching the tropics it afTumes a purple colour. For we remark a fenlible difference in the manner in which different birds, of the fame fpecies, are coloured as they approach nearer the tropics, or the cquinodial line. The humming-birds we fee in Virginia, and which proceed even into Penlyl- vania and the Jerfeys, are of a grey colour, and their neck alone difplays the colours of the ruby, whilft thofe of Guiana and Brazil difpiay, in their whole plumage, that brilliancy which Nature has bellowed only partially upon the others. No fpe- cies would furnifh more examples of this progref- lion in brilliancy and integrity of colours than that of the ftarling, were not thefe birds emigrants, and could we but know with accuracy from what coun- try thofe fwarms arrive which we fee in the fpring. The mofl beautiful variety of thefe fpecies is the black ftarling, called the blackbird in America : when perched he appears quite black, but in the folds of his wings he has fevcral feathers of a very hvely red, but fhaded withal, fo as to be compared only to the carbuncle; and, in his flight, his brilliant co- lours produce an eftcd fo much the more agree- able as it is unexpected. Another variety imme- diately follows, in the grey ftarling, which has alfo feveral red feathers, but fewer in number, and of a lefs lively red ; a third is of a brown colour inclin- ing to red, fomething like the hen pheafant : it has alfo in the fold of the wings three feathers abfolutelv red, but of a gloomy red, and without eclat; a fourth fpecies, in Ihort, would be abfolutely fimilar to our European ftarling, had it not, at the fold of E e 3 thf 422 TRAVELS I N the wing, three cr four reddifh feathers, which fecn> to attcft its American origin, and mav be regarded as the facings of an incomplete uniform, but which is fufficicnt to indicate to what army this legion be^ longs. 7iicre is every reafon to believe, that ifwc could afcertain from whence thefe birds come, which appear only at the commencement of the fpring, throughout North An-icrica, and even in Virgi- nia and Carolina, we fhould be able to determine that the greater or lefs brilliancy of their feathers is owing to the greater or lefs height of latitude they inhabit during tlie v,'inter. We read in natural hiftory that the ftarling is not a bird of paffage ; this may be true of European ftarlings, but 1 cau affirm, that from Bofton to the bay of Chefapeak, I have never feen one arrive but at the end of vtintcr. 1 have not fpokcn of a fort of flarling not men- tioned in the natural hiilory of BufFon, but which. is to be feen in the King of France's cabinet, and is defcribed by Catefby ; it is with this however I fliould have begun, as being the bird which has led me to this long digreffion. It is called in America the_/?ar/- ing crow. This bird is a great deal larger than other ilarlings, and on confidering its beak, one is tempt- ed to rank it with the jackdaw ; but there is no doubt of its being a real ftarling, of which it has the cry and the manners ; it dwells in marfhes, and mixes with all the fpecics offtarlings I have men- tioned. Its colour is of a mixed and changeable red, which affords, according to the manner in which it is enlightened, bluilh and purple fhades : now it is probable enough that thefe birds, whofe colour is N O R T H . A M E R I C A. 423 is origliially black, may acquire, from the vicinity of the fun, thefe purple or blue fhades which we re- mark in the ftarling crow ; and in this cafe it is pofTible that the purple martin of Catefby may ex- ift in South Carolina, though I have never feen it in Virginia : but it would {till be difficult to ex- plain why this martin, whole origin muft be more foutherly, fiiould not extend his emigration as far as Virginia and Penfylvania ; for though we have obferved that ftarlings are birds of paffage in America, their emigrations mud be diftinguifh- ed from thofe of the fwallows and the mar- tins. There is a great appeara.'ice that the flarlings content themfclves with retiring in winter to the neighbourhood of the lakes and rivers which abound between the Pacific ocean and Atlantic, from 35 to 33 degrees of latitude. It is enough for them, in faft, to avoid the froft which would hinder them from finding fubfiftence in the marfnes ; whereas the fv.-allows muH return to countries where volatile infeds do not ceafe to flutter in the air during the winter. The following obferva- tion however was made by Mr. Fleming, Chief Juflice of Virginia, a man v/orthy of credit, and refpeftable in every point of view ; he alTured Mr. JeiFerfon, that on a winter's day, as he was occu- pied in fuperintending the felling of fome trees on a fpot he was about to fow, he was fur- priced to fee fall, with a large cleft oak, a great num- ber of martins, which had taken refuge and were benumbed in the crevices of the tree, as bats are found in holes of rocks, and caverns. Does this E e 4 faft. 424 TRAVELSIN fa£\, which it is difficult to contefl, prove that mar* tins do not emigrate like quails and florks ; or only that a lazy troop of" thefe birds, having delayed their dcpartuie too long, were furprized by the frofl, and cornpelled to feek an afylum for the winter ? Since have fufFcred myfelf to be led into the dif- CufTion of fubje^ls relative to natural hiftory, I Ihall not terniinatc this long note without adding another article, on which however 1 can throw no new li^ht, as it has been treated by the Count de BufFon ; but where I fhall have the fatisfaclion at leaft of confirming, by irrefragable proofs, what •was revealed to him by mere dint of genius alone ; happy to find at once the opportunity of render- ing a particular homage to the mofl illuflrious man of the age, and of boafting of that friendfliip which has fo long connefted us ; a friendfhip already of an- cient date, fincc it is coeval with my admiration of his immortal works. We know that one of the mofl interefling articles of the hlflory of quadrupeds, is that of the cpojjum. Obfervatlon difgovered that the female of this animal has under its belly a fort of pouch in which it carries its young ones j that they are never feen out of this pouch, before they are able to run about and feck their food, and that they remain, until that period, always attached to their mother's teat : but ignorance and credulity had adopted all forts of ridiculous tales refpefting the manner in which generation is performed be- tween thefe animals. I found the opinion eflablifh- ed in Virginia, even amongft phyficians, that the young of the opofTum came out of their mother's belly N O R T H - A M E R I C A. 425 belly by the teats. Their extreme fmalhiefs, at the moment of their birth, alone could give fandlion to this opinion, which anatomy would fo eafiily have belied, on the llighteft attention. My fiift occupation in the winter of 1781 to 1782 w^as to procure fonie of thefe animals, and have tliem dif- fered. Mr. Robillard, firft furgeon to our army, and one of the moll expert in France, was pleafed to undertake it. Having dilTefted a male and female, he found the organs of generation fimilar to thofe of other quadrupeds, with this only difference, that he obferved a bifurcation in the glans penis of the male and the clitoris of the female, and that he dif- covered in the matrice of the latter a fort of par- tition or mcdialline, which divided it into two de- partments, but without being continuous enough for the two cavities not to be feparate from each other. This was fufficient to confirm and to ex- plain the moll eliential articles of a defcription, which Mr. D'Aubenton had an opportunity of taking only from one which was preferved in fpirits of wine. But Mr. de Buffbn, who with admirable fagacity con- cluded, that Nature, in forming this animal, had proceeded in a peculiar manner, and given it fire faculty of reproducing itfelf, intermediately, fo to fpeak, between that of quadrupeds and that of birds^ in order that the brevity of gellation might cor- refpond with their long incubation in the pouch they are preferved in j Mr. de Buffbn added : " No- " body has obferved the length of the gellation of *' thefe animals, which we prefume to be much ♦* Shorter than in others ; and as this premature *' exclulion 4=6 T R A V E L S IN ♦• excluiion is an ex:imnle ilngu'ar in Nature, w? *' exhort Inch as have the opportunity of feeing *' opolTunis alive in their native country, to cndca- «* vour to difcovcr how long the females bear thcni, ** and how long alfo, after their birth, the young *' remain attached to the teat before they quit it. *' This obfervajion, curious in itfelf, may become ♦' ufeful, by pointing out to us pofTibly fomc means *• ofpreferving the Jives of children born before *' their time." Here the interpreter cf Nature, as it often happens to Afiatic drogomans, was under the ncccfiity of diving into his mafter's thoughts before he attempted to exprefs them in intelligible language ; but when the interpreter is both minifter and con- fidant, it matters little whether he tranflates or pro- nounces of himfelf ; accordingly, the only appre- hcnlion I had was of not being able to procure the means neceffary to prove to the Americans a truth of which I was myfclf thoroughly pcrfuadcd. For to attain this object, it was ncccffary that tame opof- « fums fhould be brought to copulate in this domcf- tic ftate, or rather llatc of flavery ; it was necclTary that this union fiiould be produflivc, and that v.'c llipuld have an opportunity of obfcrving the refult. Now, nobody in this country had ever thought of rearing one, and wc could only obtain thofe caught bv the foldiers in the woods. I had poflcflcd one, which was become veiy familiar, but I had ftnt it ^o tlie Comtc de Buffon, in the frigate, V Hcrmohtc ; the Comte de la Touche, who commanded it, hav- ing been fo kind as to charge himfelf with fcveral animals and other obje6\s of natural hiftory I wifh- cd NORTH-AMERICA. 42^ ed to fend to Europe. But chance fortunately fupplied mc better than I could have been by all jny endeavours : The Chevalier d'Aboville, Briga^ d'ler dcs /lymecs du Roi, and commander of our ar- tillery, availing himfelf of our prefent flate of re- pofe, employed, in augmenting his knowledge in phyfics and natural hiflory, the fame talents, and the fame a£iivity which had been of fuch emi- nent fervice during the campaign. He reared at his houfe feveral animals, and amongll others a female opoifum, which he had the good fortune to fee conceive, become a mother, and bring up her young in his own houfe, nay even in his own cham- ber. I cannot do better than tranfcribe the obferva- tion he made, and with which he has been pleafed to favour me. *' The opoffimi, fays he, is more timid than un- traflable, and very readily becomes tame. I had a Ihe one fometime before I could get a male. At * firft file appeared to be afraid of him ; and, to avoid a quarrel, I tied up the new comer in a box near my chimney. The female enjoyed the full liberty of the chamber, where flie had likewife a box from whence Ihe came out only at night to eat, and drink and void herfelf. The evening of the fecond day, after the arrival of the male, whilft I was writing before my fire, I law the female advance flowly towards the box in which was the male, run under my bed, come towards the box, and return, advancing each time a little nearer, and at length become hardy enough to enter the box of the male, who, inftantly, threw himfelf upon 42? TRAVELS IN ■upon her with fuch precipitation, that having hi- therto cbferveJ him very indifferent, I concluded ]t arofe from anger. I drew her out, and beat him. A few minutes after flie returned to the charge, and the male hearing her approach, came out of his box, and the length of the cord allow- ing him to join her on the middle of the hearth, he fell upon her with the- fame impetuoCty, and I ibon perceived, that as the female was -.lOt afraid, I ought not to meddle with their affairs. She was fquatted, and the male upon her, with all bis feet reiling on the ground, and both of them in a flatc of pcrfe£l immobility. I regarded them in this po- fition near half an liour ; I paffed my finger betweea them, and could perceive that there was no intro- rniffion. My pretence did not feem to embarrafs them, in the leaft, but that nothing might interrupt them, I went to bed. 1 he fire before which I left them, gave light enough for me to obferve them, which I continued to do for above half an hour in bed, and faw them ftill remain immoveablct T clofed my eyes for a few moments, and the female had mounted on my bed j I carreficd her, and paff- ing my hand towards her poileriors, found them wet, from whence 1 concluded, that notwiihftand-. ing appearances, the aft of copulation had been fully compleatcd, and the next day I found fome fpots upon the floor, which were a fccond proof of it. But I was foon confirmed in my opinion, by the change I perceived in the pouch of the female. They cou- pled on the yth of February, and ten days after I remarked that the edge of the orifice of the pouch was N O R T Fl - A M £ R I C A 429 Was rather thicker ; this appeared more fenfibly the following days, and I obrerved that the pouch alio became larger, and its aperture more widened than before. The niglit of the 20th, that is to fay, thir- teen days after the copulation, (be did not leave the box till the night was far advanced, and then only to eat, and drink, and void herfeif, after which flic returned immediately to her box, fo that I had not time that day to continue to obferve the progrefs of the alteration in her pouch. The fourteenth day towards the evening, feeing that Ihe did not come out of her box, I put ray hand into it, which flic greatly carrelTed, licking it, and gnawing it very gently ; flie embraced my lingers with her little hands, and endeavouring to retain mine when I attempted to withdraw it ; 1 gave her fome pieces of meat, vvhich fhe ate, continuing to carefs my hand, and feeing that fhe could not retain it, flie determined to follow it, and came out of her box Hill keeping hold of my finger. I was anxious to examine the pouch, and the change I perceived in it, convinced me that I had loft much in having milled obfervino: it one day, and that 1 had fuffered the mofl interefting mo- anent to efcape. This pouch which had been gra- dually widening the preceding days, was then al- mofl clofed, prefenting only a fmall round aper- ture, in the middle of a cavity limilar to a navel. The orifice of it was rather moifl, and the hair round the orifice was wetted with a glairy humour common to the anus and the vagina. It feemed to me as if I could flill have been able to introduce ei}£. of my jfingers into the pouch ; but I thought that 430 TRAVELS IN that this could not be efFefted without forcing tht paffage, and hurting it, perhaps too, without de-^ ftroying the dehcate embryos it contained. The fifteenth day, whether it was that my impatience ■got the better of my fears, or whether the oritice of the pouch was really more open than the day before, I introduced my finger, and found, at the bottom of the pouch, a little round body, which ap- peared to be of about the fize of a pea. The mo- ther, who had before allowed me without much difficulty to put my fingers in her pouch, now be- came very unquiet, and endeavoured to efcapc, which prevented me from examining with fufficient accu- racy to afcertain u'hether the body was fpherical» whether it was adherent, and if there were feveral of them ; but it appeared to me adherent, and fituat- cd on one fide of the pouch, from v.hence I con- cluded that there was a fecond upon the other fidci The fixteenth night Ihc only came out to eat, and returned immediately. The feventeenth day in the evening, Ihe came out, and on examining her pouch, I found two bodies fituated at the bottom, the one befidc the other, and adherent to the body of the mother; their volume did not exceed that c^f a pea, and as far as I could judge of their form, by the touch, it appeared to mc to refcmblc that of a fig ; with the fmall end implanted in a bafe of the form of a fegment of a fpherc, and exhibited to the finger, inequalities upon its furface. Al- though I had felt only two bodies, I had no doubt of this pouch containing a greater number. The twenty-fifth day after the copulation, confequently the N O R T H - A M E R I C A. 431 the twelfth of the rclidence of the young in the pouch, I began to feel them move under the finger, and a month after the fecond epocha, I could plainly difcover them on half opening the pouch. Fifteen days later, it remained naturally open enough to fee them freely : and at the end of two months, the female lying down, and the opening of the pouch being in a more Jax fituation than when flic walked, the young ones were partly out of the pouch, and might eafily be reckoned : they were to the number of lix, all holding to the mother bv a canal which enters the maw of the young one, and which cannot be withdrawn, but by fuch vio- lence as might deflroy it, if this fhould happen at an early period; for the young one is then unable to take hold again of the teat. But when fix weeks old, it can refume it by ilrong fuftion, the aperture at the end of the muzzle being barely large enough to re- ceive the pap, whicii is about two lines in length, and the fize of the fecond or third cord of a violin. The opoffum notwithilanding has a very wide maw, but as it remains attached to the mother, Nature has joined the two jaws by a membrane, which dries up and difappears as foon as the young one is three months old, at w^hich term it begins to eat and to walk. '* The number of the young varies greatly ; I have feen females with ten or eleven, others which had only five or fix. There are never more paps than young ones, and v/hen they are weaned, thefe paps ^ry up, and detach themfelves, as in other animals ; the «mbilicaIHring detaches itfelf from the young; with 432 T R A V E L S, kc, M'itli ihiii dilTcicncc, ihra ihc latter prefervc the mark or the Ipot where the llrhig was, whereas the female ojiofliun reta'm-3 no trace of the points where tht teats have been, and which are not, as in other ani- mals, placed ill two parallel lines, but irregularly, and as if by accident. It appears as if they formed thcmfelvcs in thole places where the embryos hap- pen to touch the mother's belly when flie has con- veyed them into her pouch, fucceffively, as flic Jays them ; for that is the mofl proper exprellion, unde- veloped embryos being comparable only to eggs.'* THE £ N D. 1% J \ ^ ^WEL'NIVERS/^ %, ^lOSANCflfx^ ^.0FCAIIF0% %. ecOF-l 5J University of California SOUTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARY FACILITY 405 Hilgard Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90024-1388 Return tfiis material to the library from which it was borrowed. AUQ 291998 \m ^.!/0JnV3J0^ ^«!/0JnV3JO^ "^XilJONVSOl^ o ?3 ^OFCAllF0/?/(A ^WEUNIVER% ^. o ca "^TJIJONV SOl^ ^^•IIBRARY^A, ■V/(^?ll,MNni\\V ^l•llBRARYQ>^ %0JiW0JO^ so -^OJIWDJO^ 3 1158 01037 1226 000 993 553 li^ \,OFCAIIFO% ^^Abvaan^- ^MMJNIVER5/A