volume iii of our series, note 70.--ED.

{38} 25th. We travelled, a hilly country, to Trap town, a very small place, mostly of log-houses. From near Trap town, to the Potomac river, it still continued rocky. We passed 2 or 3 miles, up the side of the river, along a very sandy road, the river to our left, and some very high rocks on our right; many of which had, at different times, rolled down into the river. On the south side of the river, was a high ridge of rocky hills, and the sun shining on them; and, as we were passing through a deep sandy road, the heat was more intense than I had ever felt it before. The Potomac river is upwards of 250 yards wide, but shallow at the time we passed it, and full of large rocks. We saw some people fishing, in canoes, but what kind of fish they were fishing for, we did not learn. Many papaw trees on the banks of the river: as we approached near to Harper's Ferry, the rocks on our right rose to an immense height; we passed close under one, much larger and higher than St. Paul's church, London. {39} We were told it was a quarter of a mile high; but this, I think, was an exaggeration. Some small pines and cedars grew on these rocks; the cedars, on the highest points of them. We crossed the Potomac at Harper's Ferry,[78] in a ferry-boat; one waggon and its horses passed over at a time, the river was so full of rocks, it was difficult for the ferryman to find a passage for their boat. The river, at the ferry, was about 200 yards wide; we passed it just above its junction with the Shadanoak.[79] We had now entered the State of Virginia; hitherto we had been travelling in Maryland. We saw many large birds on the river, but of what sort we did not learn, but supposed them to be fish-eagles. At Harper's Ferry, there is a manufactory of fire-arms, at which many of our countrymen were employed. I saw eight or ten of them, and they informed me there were about sixty men, women, and children; but as it was Sunday, they were most of them walking out. Four miles from this place, we stopped {40} for the night, at Brick Mill tavern; here was a mill of five stories high, but short of water in a dry season, and this was the case when we were there. We passed a mill two days before, seven stories high, with more than fifty sash windows, the water-wheels more than twenty feet high, said to be well supplied with water at all seasons of the year. This day we travelled 19 miles.

[78] For a brief account of Harper's Ferry, consult A. Michaux's _Travels_, note 69.--ED.

[79] The Shenandoah River.--ED.

26th. We proceeded 4 miles, through a hilly country, to Charles town,[80] Virginia, a long place of eighty or a hundred houses, mostly of wood, but some good brick ones. A small creek, at the end of the town, then nearly dry; the land tolerably good. Here I saw a small piece of flax; it was the first I saw; but we had passed three or four small pieces of tobacco, very well cultivated, being planted in squares, at eighteen or twenty inches apart. At noon, we stopped at Cook's tavern, during a storm of thunder and rain, and afterwards proceeded up a rocky hill, of good limestone land, {41} on which there were the best farmhouses and out-buildings, and the most manure we had hitherto seen. Dung, in this country, is but little attended to in general; indeed, they seem to try who shall get rid of it with the least trouble. At Brick Mill, the stable was placed over the mill stream, the horses standing on a plank floor; indeed, where there are stables, the horses stand on plank floors, without litter; but generally, through the country we passed, they tied them up in the open air in a road, or any other place. As this hill lies high, the corn on it was rather backward; the wheat and rye were cut, but not harvested; the former, as fine as any I ever saw. The road from Harper's Ferry is situated high, and we were now on what is called the South, or Blue Mountains.[81] Leaving the hill, we passed some woods down a road more rocky, if possible, than ever, to a small clear river, about twenty yards wide, and eighteen inches deep. There were some fine springs where we passed the river; {42} then, for two miles, through a country uncommonly sterile, covered with scrubby pines, to a new tavern, where we intended to sleep. But some words arising between one of our drivers and the mistress of the tavern, we went forward half a mile to another; this tavern miserably dirty, and the accommodations uncommonly bad. On some of our party complaining, the landlord told us, he was sorry we came to his house, as he liked people to be satisfied or stay away. This was, by far, the most filthy tavern we ever met with; in fact, it was but little preferable to an English pig-sty. This day we only travelled 15 or 16 miles.

[80] See A. Michaux's _Travels_, note 68, for the early history of Charlestown.--ED.

[81] The Blue Ridge Mountains.--ED.

27th. We provided the greater part of our breakfast, not much wishing to partake of the landlord's accommodations. We then went forward, through a poor country, till we passed some woods, and then into some good limestone land, but much encumbered with large rocks; some of them upwards of 100 yards long, many yards wide, and {43} some feet above the surface of the earth. What with these rocks, and the stumps of trees, full one-fourth part of the land could not be cultivated. A great deal of very stout wheat and rye cut, but remaining on the ground; it was cut very high from the ground, in a very slovenly manner, and set up in large heaps, almost without form. We had seen but few oats, and no barley, since we left Baltimore; the oats not good. Indian corn in general slight, owing to the drought. The after-crop of clover short, but well set, the first cut had been mostly stout and very ripe; the meadow grass now cutting, and also very ripe. The hay ricks, we had passed, extremely small, with little or no covering. Small ricks are most convenient to the Americans, as they do not cut their hay, but begin at the top, and so continue taking off till the rick is gone, a little waste not being much regarded. We passed a little fallow land, but it is not common to make fallows for wheat, as by keeping the Indian corn {44} ploughed between, it is left in a good state for wheat or rye. A negro was ploughing for turnips, on some land, where a slight crop of flax had grown this summer; the land very kind for once ploughing. This negro said, some very _elegant_ potatoes grew on this land last year. They plough with a light swing-plough, and use two horses, except when ploughing between their Indian corn, and then they only use one. They do not generally use harrows, but when they do, they are made with wooden teeth; nor have I any where in America seen iron tined ones, except in the English Prairie. They use a large hoe to cover in their corn: I have not seen a roller in this country.

Near this, we saw some mulberry and plum-trees. We then passed a creek, and afterwards some hilly pine woods; soil very barren till near Pew's town, a small place, mostly log houses. Here we saw some buck wheat just come up; we had seen some before equally backward, and {45} we were told, it was common to sow it after a crop of wheat or rye was taken off the ground. The gardens here better kept than most we had seen, but these were far from neat. In the afternoon, we met two droves of fat beasts, from the south branch of the Potomac river, going to Baltimore. The first, a drove of handsome fat oxen and heifers; the other, a larger one, all oxen, young and handsome, but not so fat as the first, some of which were too fat for the hot weather. These beasts only travel mornings and evenings, often stopping to graze, and going but a short distance in a day; they do not lose so much flesh as might be expected in so long a journey. Just as we had passed the last drove, we had a heavy storm of thunder and rain, so that we got wet through, but our clothes were nearly dry by the evening, when we stopped at Mr. Dent's tavern, at a place called, "the Pine Hills." Here our accommodations were excellent; our progress {46} this day was 16 miles; the weather warm in the morning, but colder after the rain.

28. Early in the morning I looked over Mr. Dent's garden. It was pretty good land, though most that lay round it was very barren. This garden was kept in tolerable good order, and had a little manure bestowed on it. There was some fine water-melons, nearly ripe, a few small horse-beans; I had not seen any before, and these were very weak; but there were some turnips, just come up, that looked well.

The evening before, a poor old man begged for a lodging. Mr. Dent ordered him into the house, and gave him a hot supper, and provided a bed for him; and on his going off early in the morning, Mr. Dent seemed to blame himself for not giving him a dram before he started. This was the second beggar we saw in America. After breakfast, we paid 3 dollars 31¼ cents, and left the tavern well pleased with our accommodations and our landlord; {47} and then proceeded through a sterile mountainous country. There were pines and cedars on the hills, and large oaks and chesnuts in the valleys. We afterwards went down a long rocky valley, with a small stream of water running in it, which we crossed ten or twelve times in our progress down. We then came to a more open country, and the stream was lost in a larger one, thirty or forty yards wide; very shallow at that time, and the bed of it full of rocks. In the afternoon, we met a drove of 120 oxen, from the State of Kentucky, for the Baltimore and Philadelphia markets. They were large kind beasts, mostly young, not over fat, except two or three, which were very fat indeed; one was equal to any beast I ever saw, and might weigh upwards of 1200 lbs. weight. But most of them would weigh from 600 to 800 lbs.; they were chiefly red and white, but not all of one breed.

We saw a partridge fly from a tree, the first game we saw, though we had now advanced {48} 120 miles into the country. We were told pheasants, turkeys, and deer, were plentiful in many places, but we had not seen any. We saw many huckleberries, and some fern; this was the first fern we saw, but we afterwards saw much of it on the mountains: some of this fern had stalks of a bright mahogany colour. The fern on the east of the mountains, grew like the English, on poor land; but in the State of Illinois, at least, where I have been, it generally denotes a good soil; and the same may be said of beech trees, on the banks of the Ohio, the richer spots are often covered with a heavy growth of them; and in the western country, beech land is called excellent. In the evening, we reached Mr. Vannosdeln's tavern, in a poor high country; his garden was in a much better state than any we had seen before. He gave us a fine water-melon, but none of us relished it much, as it was the first we had ever tasted, nor was it quite ripe.

29th. We paid at Mr. Vannosdeln's {49} excellent tavern, 3 dollars 33 cents.; and went on to Springfield town,[82] through a barren country, called the South Branch Mountain. We passed the south branch of the Potomac river, forty yards wide, shallow when we crossed it, but sometimes it rises to a great height. After passing the river, we went up its bank close under a ridge of hills, and many fragments of the rocks had rolled down into the river, and large masses hung over our heads that threatened to bury us as we passed. Some large sycamore-trees lined the banks of the river; these trees always grow on land liable to be overflowed, and are the same that are called plane-trees in England. The red or water-maple most resembles the sycamore of England, but scarcely any tree or plant is exactly the same. Cedars and pines grow mostly on the tops of rocky hills; the latter are of several sorts, pitch, spruce, and white; the first a little like the Scotch fir; the last, much resembles the Weymouth pine; but the spruce bore but little {50} similarity to any I had ever seen. There was a large sort of berry that our drivers called gooseberries, but totally unlike the fruit of that name I had been accustomed to; but as they were not ripe, we did not taste them. Leaving the banks of the river, we passed a small mill, and followed the course of its stream up a valley till we reached Springfield town, a place of forty log-houses, and stopped at Mr. Piper's tavern. The weather being extremely hot, the country hilly, and the roads bad, we only travelled 16 or 17 miles.

[82] Springfield, in Hampshire County, West Virginia, about sixty miles west of Harper's Ferry was established by law (1790), and named after Springfield, Massachusetts.--ED.

30th. Early in the morning I walked round the town, and went into a tan-yard; the owner was an old man, 48 years since from Ireland. He told me he was not troubled with excisemen. He bought his bark mostly by the cord, but sometimes by the hundred pounds weight, price half a dollar. Only the body and the large limbs are barked. The bark is shaved, but not chopped, before it is sold to the tanners; it is ground in a kind of coffee-mill.

{51} At this place, I saw a few sheep of the Leicestershire breed, very poor. Mr. Piper's tavern was a neat log-house, lined with pine boards, and ceiled with the same. We left this place for Frankfort, a small place of near forty log-houses. We then passed Patterson's Creek,[83] thirty yards wide, but not deep. The land near it much overrun with pennyroyal, of which we had seen much during our journey, and also a great deal of mint; in many of the small streams which we passed, it grew in a very luxuriant manner; we frequently gathered some of the latter, and put it into the water we drank, to take off its rawness, and found it far more palatable for so doing. Most of the briers we had passed were of the scented kind, and they continued from Baltimore to the Allegany Mountains, a distance of more than 150 miles; but on the mountains, and on the west side of them to Wheeling, and from thence to the Prairies, a distance of 1100 miles, I did not see one scented one, but {52} many that were not. From Patterson's Creek, a short distance, to Crisepsburg's town, a very small place of log-houses;[84] and soon afterwards reached the north branch of the Potomac river, 200 yards wide, rocky, and not deep. The land, on the banks of the river, much better than any we had seen of late. Having crossed the river, we were again in the State of Maryland. The country between this place and Harper's Ferry, which we passed on the 25th, all in the State of Virginia. From the north branch of the Potomac river, we passed a very hilly country, to a new road, called the National Turnpike.[85] This road is to extend from Cumberland on the Potomac, to Wheeling on the Ohio, a distance of more than 120 miles; the first 62 miles, from Cumberland to Union town, on the west side of the Allegany Mountains, was just finished, and is a good road, though hilly. The road west from Union town to Wheeling, was begun in many places, and many men were employed on {53} it when we passed along it. This grand national road is intended to connect all the western country with the seat of government, as there is water communication from Cumberland to the city of Washington, on the east by the Potomac, and from Wheeling on the Ohio, with the States of Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and all the western country, by the means of the Ohio, Mississippi, Missouri, Cumberland, Tennessee, and other rivers. This national road is free, as there are no gates on it; for as it was made by the nation, so it is to be kept in repair by it. We entered this road, five miles west of Cumberland, and soon after stopped at Mr. Carter's tavern, called "the Travellers' Rest," at the foot of the Allegany Mountains.

[83] Patterson's Creek rises in Grant County, West Virginia, and flowing parallel to the south branch of the Potomac, empties into the north branch a few miles west of Cresapburg.--ED.

[84] Cresapburg is the oldest town in Allegany County, Maryland, a frontier post having been established there by Colonel Thomas Cresap in 1741, and named Skipton, after his native town in Yorkshire. For further details concerning the life of Cresap, see Croghan's _Journals_, volume i of our series, note 56.--ED.

[85] For the early history of the National Road, see Harris's _Journal_, volume iii of our series, note 45.--ED.

We had lately seen fewer fruit-trees, and much less fruit on them, except on the apple-trees, these being generally well hung. Blackberries had been very plentiful all the way, and so they continued over the mountains. {54} I ate large quantities of them, liking them much better than I did the cherries, of which we often had plenty given us: these blackberries were much better than any I had before tasted.

We saw but few birds on our journey; woodpeckers of several sorts, a handsome yellow bird, something like a goldfinch, a few crows, and some small birds, much like tom-tits. As my youngest daughter was carrying some flowers in her hand, a humming bird settled on them, it made her start, thinking it was a large insect; it was not larger than a chafer, but a beautiful bird.

The country, from Harper's Ferry, mostly rocky to the mountains, generally of slate, but some limestone, free stone, and coarse marble. Most of the valleys had streams of water and good springs. The soil, chiefly poor, but well watered. But little cultivated land, and much of that only partly cleared of trees. They grub up the underwood, and most of the small {55} trees; they then either cut down the large ones, within three feet of the ground, and leave the stumps standing, or else chop them round the stems, and take off a small strip of bark, which kills them, leaving them to decay, and fall down of themselves. It is common to see eight or ten acres of land, in cultivation, with some hundreds of dead trees standing in it. They collect the small trees, underwood, and roots, into heaps, and then burn them; and thus the fire often communicates itself to the standing trees, running up to the top of the highest of them, leaving them half burnt. These trees have a very dismal appearance at first, but people get reconciled to it in time. It is much the quickest method of clearing land for corn, as it enables a man to begin with very little strength of money, men, and horses. The hogs, on the mountains, were not so handsome as those nearer Baltimore, being in general badly kept.

In our journey thus far, we had seen but {56} few gardens, and those indifferently kept; they contained a few peas, parsnips, carrots, onions, shalots, sweet, and other potatoes, lettuce, and a large flat sort of cabbage, with a few sorts of herbs. Our landlord, Mr. Carter, had a farm of 700 acres; 100 cleared, the rest in a state of nature.

31st. We proceeded, by the turnpike road, up a valley of the mountains; the road good. As we ascended, we found vegetation much later; the blackberries not ripe, a little rye not cut, oats quite green, no wheat or Indian corn to be seen. A few gooseberry-bushes, no fruit on them; some strawberry-plants; I had noticed a few raspberry-bushes, the fruit small and hard, of a dark red colour. A great variety of wild flowers, almost all new to me. Much timber in the hollows of the mountains, oak, chesnut, and pine; the pines of an immense height. I measured one that was cut in making the turnpike; it was 102 feet to the broken top, and there it was seven inches in diameter. {57} Some that were standing appeared much longer; I thought the highest, at least, 140 feet high. The oaks and chesnuts were also very high, but they grew too close together to be very large, but many of them might contain from 50 to 150 feet of solid timber. Many thousands of trees, that were cut for making the turnpike, lay rotting by the sides of it, besides the vast quantities of dead trees in the woods. This day only, we passed some thousand loads of timber, thus decaying. I believe I have seen more timber in this wasting state, than all the growing timber I ever saw in my life in England. We saw no heath on the mountains, nor have I ever seen or heard of any in America.

In the forenoon, we passed a village of good houses, most part of them lately built: a flour and saw mill, and a noble tavern, the Globe; it equalled many English inns in outward appearance. We stopped to dinner at a poor log-tavern, but the landlord was building a new log one, on a large scale. Here we saw a poor little negro {58} boy, he was a cripple; the landlord had bought him some months before, out of a _drove_ of negroes going westward for sale. The landlord treated him with great humanity, and the child seemed as much attached to him, as he could have been to his own relations. I was much pleased to see a poor negro child so well treated, but as to buying or selling human beings, I utterly abhor it. In the evening, we arrived at Mr. Kimberley's tavern; here we took our supper, our provisions being now exhausted. In the forenoon, it was extremely hot; in the afternoon, a little thunder and rain, and afterwards much colder: we travelled seventeen miles, mostly up hill, the road good, but rough, the stones being laid on rather large.

August 1st. Having breakfasted, and paid five dollars, we set out and crossed the little Yougany or Cressing river,[86] by a new stone bridge of one arch of 76 feet span, and very high. We passed many ridges and small valleys; but little cultivated land, a small quantity of rye cut; only one piece {59} of wheat, nearly ripe. Oats here form the chief crop, some nearly ripe, others just coming out in haw. A little Indian corn, but we were told the summers on the mountains were too short for it to ripen; and, therefore, they only planted a little to cut green. Some healthy-looking apple trees in the valleys, but with little fruit on them, owing to the spring frosts being later than usual. Some new land bringing into cultivation, potatoes or fallows first. The oats and potatoes, much better on the mountains, than those seen between them and Baltimore; indeed, the land in the hollows of the mountains was much better than a great deal of that we had passed before we arrived at the foot of them, but backward, the winters being severe, and the springs late.

[86] Little Crossing was the name given to the place where the road crossed Castleman's Creek, a small branch of the Youghiogheny, and at this point about fifteen miles distant from the crossing of the latter, or Big Crossing.--ED.

We called at a cabin, to get some bread, where we found a woman with six small children; she said her husband worked 40 miles off, and only came home once in two or three weeks; they lived in this place {60} before the turnpike was begun, four years since; no stores nearer than six or seven miles. They procured most of their tea, coffee, whiskey, and other necessaries from the waggons, that traded to, and from Baltimore, to the westward. She said, she had never been molested in this lonely situation. She was born in the state of Jersey, but near Philadelphia. Her great grandfather of the name of Wood, emigrated from England, being oppressed with tithes, he being a Quaker; he founded a small town in the state of Jersey, and called it Woodbury, after his own name, and the place he left in England, which was Bury. But whether it was a town, village, or farm, she did not know, only, that it was in Gloucestershire.

Sixteen miles from the Little Cressing or Yougany, we came to the Big Cressing, and the small town of Smithfield, placed in a very romantic situation.[87] It had three taverns, viz. a stone house, the Globe; a frame one, the Rising Sun; and a good {61} log one, the Yougany; and about twenty other houses, mostly of logs. A noble stone bridge over the river, the centre arch ninety feet span, said to be the largest in the United States. The Yougany is one of the head streams of the Monongahela. Leaving the river, we followed the course of a small stream, to the Elephant tavern, kept by Major Paul, (late in the American service), where we slept. This town is noted as a waggon house; there were eight stopped there at the time we were there, mostly drawn by six horses each, and none less than five.

[87] This crossing-place of the Youghiogheny River is the present Smithfield, Fayette County, Pennsylvania. The old name was "Big Crossings," and from this account, might have been contracted to Cressing. Applying the name to the river was probably a tourist's error.--ED.

At noon this day, we passed the line between the states of Pennsylvania and Maryland,[88] and found ourselves in a state where slavery is not admitted; but still negroes were treated with much contempt, as we witnessed at Major Paul's. A negro drove one of the waggons, that stopped for the night; he was not allowed to sit at table with any one, but had a table to himself: I believe he was a free negro, but of this I am not certain. We had come seventeen {62} miles, weather very hot, with much thunder at a distance, but no rain. Mr. Paul's house was surrounded by some of the best meadows we had then seen in America;[89] the hills inclosed them on both sides, and the valleys were narrow.

[88] On the boundary between Maryland and Pennsylvania, consult A. Michaux's _Travels_, note 73.--ED.

[89] Great Meadows was near Farmington, Fayette County, Pennsylvania, and was the site of Washington's Fort Necessity, raised in the campaign of 1754 against Fort Duquesne. These rich meadows became one of Washington's first land possessions in the West.--ED.

2d. We advanced up a valley for a great distance, and passed a mine of coal; it lay twelve or fifteen feet below the surface of the earth; the veins about three feet thick; several hundred bushels lay dug; it had a strong sulphureous smell. We afterwards passed over a large flat, of thin, weak, black, wettish soil, covered with dwarf alders and large weeds; a little of this land cleared and planted with potatoes, they looked well. What little timber there was, was short and scrubby.

We now again ascended, and at length reached the top of Laurel Hill, the last ridge of the mountains. Much laurel on this eminence, resembling the Portugal laurel. Here we had the first, and a most extensive view of the west side of the mountains. {63} As the air was clear, we could see objects distinctly; much cleared land in sight, and many fine springs; indeed, they were numerous all over the mountains, but there were but few houses. This day we descended gently down the hill; the road was steep and winding. As we advanced, the timber increased in size, mostly oak, and towards the bottom it was immensely large. From the summit to the town of Monroe,[90] at the foot of the hill, is full three miles, most of the way very steep. Monroe was two years old, named in honour of the president of the United States. It contains two large stone taverns, and about twenty log houses, and a saw mill on a small stream near it. Much land cleared of timber and laid down to grass, of a better sward than any I saw east of the mountains. From Monroe to Union town, two miles; here we stopped for the night.[91] I passed a meadow between these towns, it was of timothy grass, and higher than any I ever saw before; it was not so thick on the ground as {64} I have seen English meadow grass, but a most productive crop. This day our waggons were separated a considerable distance, the first reached Union at sunset, the other not till two hours after. We came twenty-one miles.

[90] John Hopwood, having purchased a patent of land from Richard Penn, laid out a town which he called Woodstock, at the foot of Laurel Hill on the old Braddock Road. A son, Moses Hopwood, was planning to enlarge it (1816), when James Monroe passed along the road on a campaign tour and was entertained as his guest. In accordance with Monroe's suggestion, when the addition was platted the name was changed to Monroe. It was a bustling place during the prosperous days of the National Road, its taverns being crowded with travellers who remained over night to get an early start over the mountains the following morning.--ED.

[91] For the early history of Uniontown, see Harris's _Journal_, volume iii of our series, note 47.--ED.

3d. We had now entered the western country, but we were still in the old settled part of it, Union town having been built more than thirty years. It is a large place, mostly of brick buildings; it has a bank, twelve or fourteen taverns, a flour, a saw, and a carding mill, on a small stream near the town. On this stream there were some good meadows, but in a bad state, there being many docks and other weeds in them. The Indian corn luxuriant; a great many orchards, with a good show of apples in them. Paid charges for supper, beds, and breakfast, 4 dollars 75 cents, (1_l._ 1_s._ 4½_d._ sterling.)

From Union town, the turnpike was only begun at different places, but many men were employed on it. Near the town, the {65} land was of good quality. We afterwards passed a rocky ridge of hills, perhaps a spur of the mountains. Here the land was rather poor, a clay on a slate-rock; but many fine orchards well stored with good apples, and some morello-cherries still on the trees. A woman, at a small cabin, offered us some, if we would take the trouble to gather them; we took two or three pounds; they were small but palatable, being very ripe. But cherries, in general, are not so good as in England, as the Americans seldom bud or graft any fruit-trees, only planting the stone. Land better as we approached Brownsville, on the Monongahela.[92] Brownsville is a thriving place, with some iron-works: at high water many people embark here for Pittsburg. As the national road crosses the Monongahela at this place, there is a bridge to be built over the river; it was about 300 yards when we forded it, but it is much wider when the water is high.

[92] Consult F. A. Michaux's _Travels_, in volume iii of our series, note 23, for the founding of Brownsville.--ED.

From the river we went six miles, mostly through woods, to the Golden Lion Tavern. {66} A woman milking her cow, on the side of the road, gave us some milk, and offered us some apples, of which there were large quantities in their orchard. She said they purchased their farm for 2700 dollars, 900 of which they paid down at the time, and the remainder by instalments, most of which were now paid; and when the whole were paid, she would not give a cent to call King George her uncle. A large wooden building, by the side of the road, in ruins, and a new stone-chapel, belonging to the Methodists, built to supply the place of the old one. Here the Methodists are numerous: we passed a wood on the east side of the mountains, where a camp-meeting had recently been held; these meetings often continue four or five days, during which they have prayers four times a day.

4th. I proceeded on foot to Pittsburg, having some business to transact there, the rest went on towards Wheeling; I should have left the national road at Brownsville, as I was there at an equal distance from {67} Pittsburg. I went five or six miles through a poor country, to Bentleyville;[93] a place with several taverns, a large public school, a grist and a saw mill on a very large creek, then low, but much subject to floods in wet weather. I then went two miles up a valley, full of sugar-maple trees, most of them had been tapped for procuring the sweet liquor to make sugar. February, in general, is the month for making it; they catch the sap in wooden troughs, and most of them are left under the trees from one season to another. After leaving this valley, at a little distance, I entered the road from Brownsville to Pittsburg; here I first saw some water-meadows, although I had passed many pieces of land that might easily have been irrigated. The water was taken along the side of the hill for some distance; it was not done in a good manner, yet still it was a great improvement: I have seen but few water-meadows since. I slept at a tavern, five or six miles from Pittsburg. This day I travelled twenty-five miles.

[93] Bentleyville, on Pigeon Creek, was laid out (March, 1816) by Shesbazzer Bentley. It was of little importance, not being incorporated until 1868.--ED.

{68} 5th. I reached Pittsburg at nine o'clock in the morning, after having crossed the Monongahela in a ferry-boat, for which I paid three cents. Having concluded my business at the bank, I took a walk round the town: it is a large place with upwards 7000 inhabitants. It is well situated for trade on the Ohio, at the junction of the Monongahela and Allegany rivers. A large bridge is nearly finished over the Monongahela, and another partly built over the Allegany; both these bridges have stone-piers above high water-mark, but the remainder of them is of wood. The bridge, that was nearly finished, was divided into four passages; two for carriages and horses, the other two for foot passengers. Contrary to the English practice, each takes the right-hand side; so there is no meeting on the bridge, as there are two passages for coming out, and two for going into Pittsburg. These passages are covered over, with holes in the sides to admit air and light. As the whole is covered, the bridge is kept dry in {69} all weathers, and the timber is prevented from rotting. They are longer and higher than London-bridge, at least at the ends, being quite level. The streets are laid out in straight lines, from the Monongahela to the Allegany rivers, and crossed by others mostly at right angles. There are many handsome brick-buildings, but there are also a great number of log and frame-houses. There are several places of public worship, a large market house, several banks, numerous taverns, and large stores; yards for building steam and other boats. Several steam ones were building, and others laid up, the water being too low for them or large flat-bottom boats to get down the river, when I was there. Trade of all kinds extremely dull. Owing to the quantity of iron-works, it has a black and dismal appearance; and from the account I had heard of it, I was, on the whole, rather disappointed in Pittsburg. It was a desert until about the year 1756, when the French, from Canada, built a fort near it.[94] But a few {70} years after it was taken by the British, and the name of Du Quesne changed to Pittsburg. From that time till the revolutionary war it was held by them, and during that war it increased much, being made a place for the manufactory of arms. Yet as the Indians remained near it for some years, they were very troublesome; but now they are removed to a greater distance, except a few, who are settled near, and have adopted the manners of the Americans. It will always be a place of considerable consequence from its situation. It is 1100 miles from the mouth of the Ohio, and more than 2000 from New Orleans. Steam-boats, in high water, come from New Orleans to Pittsburg, in seventy or eighty days; but from the latter to the former place in much less time.

[94] Fort Duquesne was built in 1754. For a brief historical account, see F. A. Michaux's _Travels_, note 20.--ED.

Having purchased a new rifle for 18 dollars, and taken a place in the Wheeling stage for Washington, for which I paid 2 dollars 50 cents; I supped and slept at {71} the Pittsburg Hotel; charge for supper and bed 50 cents.

August 6th. I left Pittsburg, in the stage, before day-light, and crossed the Monongahela, by the new bridge. Then up a very steep hill, the passengers all walking; we passed a very rough country, for nine or ten miles, to a tavern, kept by the driver of the stage, where we breakfasted; they charged us 2_s._ 3_d._ each, instead of the usual charge of 1_s._ 1½_d._, yet our fare was very indifferent. From this tavern to Cannonsburg,[95] eight miles; the country still rough, but better as we approached this town. Here is a college, a large brick-building, where most of the principal people of Pittsburg send their sons to finish their education. This town was begun twenty years since by a Mr. Cannon. It is pleasantly situated on the side of a steep hill. From this town, seven miles, to Washington (Pennsylvania), along a rough road with many log-bridges; but some of my fellow passengers, from the state of Kentucky, called them corderoy. The {72} stage-coach was very different from an English one, it was much more like a light waggon; it was covered at the top, but open on the sides, with leather curtains to let down in case of rain or cold. The road being rough, we could not keep these curtains down, as there was no sort of fastenings to them; and as it rained very hard several times, we got wet. We were much crowded with luggage; the seats were placed across the carriage, and the luggage under them. At Washington we dined, and I drank some spruce-beer (for the first time in my life), and I found myself very unwell from it. I left the room, and went into the air; in a few minutes I was better; but as the stage still stood at the door, I did not return for about twenty minutes, when I found they had changed coaches, and were gone. I endeavoured to recover my money, but there was no bookkeeper to be found.

[95] For brief notes on the early history of Canonsburg and Washington, see Harris's _Journal_, notes 31, 32.--ED.

Wishing to rejoin my family at Wheeling, I set off on foot; the afternoon was excessively hot. The road was good for {73} the first ten miles, to Claysville, a new town.[96] Then six miles of hilly country to Alexandria;[97] here I took some refreshment, and again set forward: near this place I left the state of Pennsylvania, and again entered the state of Virginia. Then six miles farther to a tavern, where I intended to sleep; but the house being full, they recommended me to go two miles farther on. It was very dark, and thundered much; when I arrived at this tavern I could not make any of the family hear, but I roused two or three great dogs, and I was again forced to proceed. My road lay up a long valley, part of the national road to Wheeling. I passed over several large stone-bridges, but partly finished; at length it began to rain, and I put up at the first building I could find; it proved to be a stable. This day I travelled twenty-five miles by the stage, and about the same distance on foot.

[96] John Purviance opened up a tavern, soon after 1800, on the present site of this town on the old Wheeling Road. When the preliminary surveys made it certain that the National Road would pass that way, he laid out a town (1817), and advertised lots for sale. Claysville was incorporated in 1832.--ED.

[97] For further information concerning Alexandria, consult Harris's _Journal_, note 33.--ED.

7th. From my lodgings, in the stable, I proceeded up a valley to some houses, and enquired the way to Wheeling. I found I {74} was in the right road, and that it was only seven miles distant. I found much excellent land on the sides of a creek; the meadows were particularly so: I saw twelve small hay-ricks in one large meadow. The Indian corn was much larger than any I had before seen.

I met the two men who had driven our waggons; from them I learnt where my family were, and that they had settled with them for the carriage of our luggage. It is but justice to them to say, we had every reason to be satisfied with their conduct during our journey; Marchant, in particular, was in his manners much above his station in life. At seven o'clock I reached Wheeling.[98]

[98] For the history of Wheeling, see A. Michaux's _Travels_, in our