Part 7

“After wandering about till it was near 11 o’clock, a plantation at last appeared, and having got fresh information respecting the road from the negroes in the quarter, who generally sit up half the night, and over a fire in all seasons, I again set out for the Green Springs. With some difficulty I at last found the way, and arrived there about midnight. The hour was so unseasonable that the people at the tavern were very unwilling to open their doors. Besides the tavern and the quarters of the slaves, there is but one more building at this place. This is a large farmhouse, where people that resort to the springs are accommodated with lodgings about as good as those at the tavern. The springs are just on the margin of the wood at the bottom of a slope which begins at the houses, and are covered with a few boards merely to keep the leaves from falling in. The waters are chalybeate, and are drank chiefly by persons from the low country, whose constitutions have been relaxed by the heats of summer.

“Having breakfasted in the morning at this place, I proceeded on my journey up the Southwest Mountain. In the course of the day’s ride I observed a great number of snakes, which were now beginning to come forth from their holes. I killed a black one that I found sleeping, stretched across the road; it was five feet in length. The black snake is more commonly met with than any other in this part of America. It is wonderfully fond of milk, and is frequently found in the dairies, which in Virginia are for the most part in low situations like cellars.

“The Southwest Mountains run nearly parallel to the Blue Ridge, and are the first which you come to on going up the country from the sea coast in Virginia. The soil here changes to a deep argilaceous earth, particularly well suited to the culture of small grain and clover, and produces abundant crops. As this earth, however, does not absorb the water very quickly the farmer is exposed to great losses from heavy falls of rain. On the sides of the mountain, where the ground has been worn out with the culture of tobacco, and the water has been suffered to run in the same channel for a length of time, it is surprising to see the depth of the ravines, or gullies, as they are called. However, the country in the neighborhood of these mountains is far more populous than that which lies towards Richmond; and there are many persons that even consider it to be the garden of the United States. The salubrity of the climate is equal also to that of any part of the United States; and the inhabitants have in consequence a healthy, ruddy appearance. The people appeared to me to be of a more frank and open disposition, more inclined to hospitality, and to live more contentedly on what they possessed than the people of the same class in any other part of the United States I passed through.

“Along these mountains live several gentlemen of large landed property, who farm their own estates, as in the lower parts of Virginia; among the number is Mr. Jefferson. His house is at present in an unfinished state, but if carried on according to the plan laid down, it will be one of the most elegant private habitations on the United States. Several attempts have been made in this neighborhood to bring the manufacture of wine to perfection; none of them, however, have succeeded to the wish of the parties. A set of gentlemen once went to the expense even of getting six Italians over for the purpose. We must not, however, conclude that good wine can never be manufactured upon these mountains. It will require some time, and different experiments, to ascertain the particular kind of wine, and the mode of cultivating it best adapted to the soil of these mountains.

“Having crossed the Southwest Mountains I passed along to Lynchburgh, a town situated on the south side of Fluvanna River. This town contains about 100 houses, and a warehouse for the inspection of tobacco, where about 2,000 hogsheads are annually inspected. It has been built entirely within the last fifteen years, and is rapidly increasing, from its advantageous situation for carrying on trade with the adjacent country. The boats, in which the produce is conveyed down the river, are from forty-eight to fifty-four feet long, but very narrow in proportion to their length. Three men are sufficient to navigate one of these boats, and they can go to Richmond and back again in ten days. They fall down with the stream, but work their way back again with poles. The cargo carried in these boats is always proportioned to the depth of water in the river, which varies very much. Along the banks I observed great quantities of weeds hanging upon the trees considerably above my head, though on horseback. A few miles from Lynchburgh, towards the Blue Mountains, is a small town called New London, in which there is a magazine and also an armory, erected during the war. About fifteen men were here employed, as I passed through, repairing old arms and furbishing up others. At one end of the room lay the musquets, to the amount of about 5,000, all together in a large heap, and at the opposite end lay a pile of leathern accoutrements, absolutely rotting for want of common attention. All the armories throughout the United States are kept much in the same style.

“Between this place and the Blue Mountains the country is rough and hilly, and but very thinly inhabited. The few inhabitants, however, met with here are uncommonly robust and tall; it is rare to see a man amongst them who is not six feet high. These people entertain a high opinion of their own superiority in point of bodily strength over the inhabitants of the low country. A similar race of men is found all along the Blue Mountains.

“Beyond the Blue Ridge, after crossing by this route near the Peaks of Otter, I met with but very few settlements till I drew near to Fincastle, in Bottetourt County. This town was only begun about the year 1790, yet it already contains sixty houses, and is most rapidly increasing. The improvement of the adjacent country has likewise been very rapid, and land now bears nearly the same price that it does in the neighborhood of York and Lancaster, in Pennsylvania. The inhabitants consist principally of Germans, who have extended their settlements from Pennsylvania along the whole of that rich tract of land which runs through the upper part of Maryland, and from thence behind the Blue Mountains to the most southern part of Virginia. They have many times, I am told, crossed the Blue Ridge to examine the land, but the red soil which they found there was different from what they had been accustomed to.

“The difference indeed between the country on the eastern and on the western side of the Blue Ridge, in Bottetourt County, is astonishing, when it is considered that both are under the same latitude, and that this difference is perceptible within the short distance of thirty miles. On the eastern side of the Ridge, cotton grows extremely well; and in winter snow scarcely ever remains upon the ground more than a day or two at a time. On the other side cotton never comes to perfection, and in every farmyard you see sleighs or sledges. On the eastern side of the Blue Ridge, in Virginia, not one of these carriages is to be met with.

“Another circumstance may also be mentioned (besides the contrast in the soils) as making a material difference between the country on one side of the Blue Ridge and that on the other, namely, that behind the mountains the weevil is unknown. In the lower parts of Virginia, and the other states where the weevil is common, they always thresh out the grain as soon as the crops are brought in, and leave it in the chaff, which creates a degree of heat sufficient to destroy the insect. According to the general opinion, the weevil originated on the eastern shore of Maryland, where a person, in expectation of a great rise in the price of wheat, kept over all his crops for the space of six years, when they were found full of these insects. For a considerable time the Potowmac River formed a barrier to their progress. The Blue Mountains at present serve as a barrier, and secure the country to the westward from their depredations.

“Bottetourt County is entirely surrounded by mountains. The climate is particularly agreeable. It appears to me that there is no part of America where the climate would be more congenial to the constitution of a native of Great Britain or Ireland. In the western part of the county are several medicinal springs, whereto numbers of people resort towards the latter end of summer. Those most frequented are called the Sweet Springs. A set of gentlemen from South Carolina have, I understand, since I was there, purchased the place and are going to erect several commodious dwellings in the neighborhood.

“The country immediately behind the Blue Mountains, between Bottetourt County and the Potowmack River, is agreeably diversified with hill and dale, and abounds with extensive tracts of rich land. The natural herbage is not so fine here as in Bottetourt County, but when clover is once sown it grows most luxuriously; wheat also is produced in as plentiful crops as in any part of the United States. Tobacco is not raised excepting for private use, and but little Indian corn is sown, as it is liable to be injured by the nightly frosts, which are common in the spring. The whole of this country to the west of the mountains is increasing most rapidly in population. In the neighborhood of Winchester it is so thickly settled that wood is now beginning to be thought valuable.

“As I passed along the road from Fincastle to the Potowmack, which is the high road from the Northern States to Kentucky, I met with great numbers of people from Kentucky and the new State of Tennessee going towards Philadelphia and Baltimore, and with many others going in a contrary direction ‘to explore,’ as they call it, that is to search for lands conveniently situated for new settlements in the western country. These people all travel on horseback, with pistols or swords, and a large blanket folded up under their saddle. There are now houses scattered along nearly the whole way from Fincastle to Lexington, in Kentucky. It would be still dangerous for any person to venture singly; but if five or six travel together they are perfectly secure. Formerly travelers were always obliged to go forty or fifty in a party.

“The first town you come to, going northward from Bottetourt County, is Lexington, a neat little place that did contain about 100 houses, a courthouse and gaol, but the greater part of it was destroyed by fire just before I got there. Thirty miles farther on stands Staunton. This town carries on a considerable trade with the back country, and contains nearly 200 dwellings, mostly built of stone, together with a church. Winchester stands 100 miles to the northward of Staunton, and is the largest town in the United States on the western side of the Blue Mountains. The houses are estimated at 350.”

_X._

_THE DUKE OF LA ROCHEFOUCAULD-LIANCOURT._

_1796._

_The Duke of La Rochefoucauld-Liancourt--The Status of Norfolk--From Yorktown to Richmond--The Business of Richmond--Tobacco Inspection--Administration of Virginia--The Dover Mines--Goochland Court House--Monticello--Staunton--Winchester--Alexandria--Roads and Inns._

The Duke of La Rochefoucauld-Liancourt was born January 11, 1747, and died in 1827. He was in this country, of which he made a thorough investigation, during the years 1795, 1796 and 1797, having been obliged to quit France in 1792 by reason of the insanities of the Revolution. It is stated that his education was neglected. He was early in the army, and was in England in 1769. On his return from England he made a practical application of the methods of agriculture he had studied in that country. He set up a model farm on his estate, and established a school of arts and trades for the sons of soldiers, which, in 1788, numbered 130 students. It was he who made the answer to Louis XVI, “No, sire, it is Revolution,” when the King observed, “This seems to be a revolt.” He turned over a part of his fortune to the King. From 1792 to 1795, and after his return from America, he was in England, being much with Arthur Young, the famous agriculturist. Returning to France in 1799, he continued his scientific and philanthropic works, and (as much as was possible) was active in public affairs. He was the organizer of the first savings bank.

The two large volumes of travels in this country by the Duke of La Rochefoucauld-Liancourt were translated, and published at London in 1799. These volumes are a record, and a summary of statistics for that period of the history of this country such as are not to be found elsewhere, the work of a man who had an eye for both the intimate and the exterior concerns of the State. France was a volcano in those years, and the observer was glad to give an undivided attention to the facts of the new country across the seas. Below are a few statements bearing on Virginia, taken from the second volume of this remarkable book. The traveler came by ship, three days from Charleston to Norfolk, landing May 29th [1796].

“Norfolk is built on Elizabeth River, at nine miles from the spot where it discharges its waters into the bay. In the intervening space there are few houses. An almost uninterrupted succession of pines are the only object which meets the traveler’s eye. Erancy Island lies nearly in the middle of the river at a short distance above its mouth. Two points of land, which approach within a quarter of a mile of each other in front of Norfolk, are strengthened with forts which are capable of successfully defending the entrance. Portsmouth, a small assemblage of houses on the opposite side of the river, did not share in the conflagration of Norfolk. From its situation it seemed entitled to expect all the commerce of Elizabeth River; at its quays the greatest depth of water is found. But at the conclusion of the peace, the inhabitants, being incensed against the English, refused to admit any merchant of that nation, or any newcomer whose political principles were liable to suspicion. The consequence has been that the inhabitants have removed to the opposite side; that Norfolk has been rebuilt, and that its trade is twenty times more considerable than that of Portsmouth.

“At the close of the year eighty-three there were not yet twelve houses rebuilt at Norfolk. At present the number is between 700 and 800. Last year the yellow fever is said to have carried off 500 persons from a population of 4,000. The inhabitants of Norfolk, even those among them who are the most opulent, fancy that the use of wine and strong liquors furnishes them with a preservative. Previous to the war the town is said to have contained 8,000 inhabitants. Norfolk carries on a considerable trade with Europe, the Antilles, and the Northern States. Her exports are wheat, flour, Indian corn, timber of every kind, particularly planks, staves and shingles; salt meat and fish, iron, lead, flaxseed, tobacco, tar, turpentine, hemp. All these articles are the produce of Virginia, or of North Carolina, which latter State, having no seaports, or none that are good, makes her exportations principally through those of Virginia. This port almost singly carries on all the commerce of that part of Virginia which lies south of the Rappahannoc, and of North Carolina far beyond the Roanoke. They are at present forming a canal which, passing through the Dismal Swamp, is to unite the waters of the south branch of Elizabeth River, or rather of Deep Creek, with Albemarle Sound. What must appear very surprising is that for this canal, which already seems in such a state of forwardness, no levels have been taken. It is thus almost all the public works are carried on in America, where there is a total want of men of talents in the arts, and where so many able men, who are perhaps at this moment unemployed in Europe, might to a certainty make their fortunes at the same time that they were rendering essential service to the country.

“The European demand has within four years more than doubled the value of the exports from Norfolk. A barrel of flour, whose medium value in 1791 was $5.55, rose in 1795 to $9.35; and Indian corn was at 37 cents the bushel in 1791, at 54 in 1792, and at 66 in 1795. Exclusive of the flour exported from Norfolk, there is drawn from the State, through that and other ports, a great quantity of wheat, which is taken by the merchants of Philadelphia and New York, or the millers of Brandywine, who manufacture it into flour, which they export to Europe. Good mills are not very common in Virginia. The exportation of tobacco from Norfolk has by the diminution of the culture of that article in Virginia, been reduced above one-third within the last five years. The medium rate of house rent at Norfolk is $230. Many English commercial houses are established at Norfolk. This year England procured from Virginia a number of horses to mount the cavalry, which she proposes to send to the French islands. Of 400 horses already shipped off, only 150 lived to reach the place of their destination.

“Agriculture can hardly be said to exist in Norfolk County or in that of Princess Ann. The landed property is much divided, and the inhabitants devote themselves rather to the selling of timber than to the cultivation of the soil. In all these parts land is sold at from $6 to $7 per acre; and often the value of the timber, which it offers for the axe, amounts to four or five times the price of the original purchase. From eighty to ninety vessels of different dimensions are annually built at Norfolk. The price of building is, for the hull on coming from the hands of the carpenter, $24 per ton for those above 120 tons. Ready for sea, they cost from $47 to $50 per ton. It was intended that Norfolk should build one of the six frigates of which the United States had determined to compose their marine. That which was to have been built at Norfolk was among the number countermanded: it was begun at Gosport, where there are dock yards for the construction of the largest vessels. The communication between Norfolk and Portsmouth is continual: it is carried on by six rowboats belonging to a company, and by three scows, in which horses and carriages are conveniently ferried over. The fare for each passenger is one-sixteenth of a dollar; but on paying $6 a person may become free of the passage for twelve months. To the port of Norfolk, above any other in the United States, came the greatest number of colonists escaped from Saint Domingo. Private subscriptions raised in all the towns of Virginia, together with further sums voted by the State Legislature and by Congress, afforded the unfortunate French incontestable proofs of the benevolence and generosity of the Americans. Major William Lindsey, commissioner of the Custom House, is, of all the inhabitants of Norfolk, the individual with whom I have the most particular reason to be satisfied. He is a man recommended by simplicity of manners and goodness of heart, and is held in universal esteem. I am profoundly indebted to him for information on a variety of subjects.

“A wherry, employed in transporting the mail from Norfolk to Hampton, whence it is forwarded by land to Richmond, is the usual conveyance for passengers who intend to pursue that route. In good weather the passage is performed in two hours: we were ten hours in crossing for want of wind. The Richmond mail arrives at Hampton, an inconsiderable village, three times a week. Formerly there was a custom house established here. In 1795 this was united with that of Norfolk. The monument voted by Congress for erection at York Town is not even yet begun. Such negligence is inconceivable, shameful and unaccountable. On the opposite side of the river from York Town, in Gloucester County, are annually built a considerable number of vessels. The highest rents at York Town are from $80 to $100. Flour, an article which it is difficult to procure, costs at present $15. From York Town to Williamsburg land is sold at $4 or $5 the acre. The students at the college in Williamsburg pay $14 to each professor whose course of lessons they attend. Their board and lodging cost them from $100 to $120. The lands about Williamsburg yield from eight to twelve bushels of wheat per acre, or from twelve to fourteen of Indian corn. Those few spots that are manured with dung produce double that quantity. Crowded in the stage by ten passengers and their baggage, we did not arrive at Richmond before 11 o’clock at night, though we had set out from Williamsburg at 8 in the morning; the rain, which has been abundant during the last two days, having rendered the roads very bad.

“The position of Richmond is truly agreeable. On the opposite side of the river the country rises in a gentle aclivity; and the little, but well-built town of Manchester, environed by cultivated fields, which are ornamented by an infinite number of trees and dotted with scattered houses, embellishes the sweet, variegated, agreeable and romantic perspective. This town has prodigiously increased, but within the last two or three years it has remained stationary. A few years back a conflagration consumed almost all the lower part of the town. At present there are few wooden houses at Richmond. The trade of this town consists in the purchase of the country productions, and in selling at second-hand the articles of domestic consumption, which are generally procured from England. The number of merchants who carry on a direct commerce with Europe is inconsiderable. They keep their ships at Norfolk, and send down the produce of the country in smaller vessels. The commission trade may be considered as the real business of the place. It is from the merchants of Richmond or Petersburg that those of Norfolk most commonly purchase the grain, flour and tobacco which the latter export. The country produce is paid for by the merchants in ready money or at short credit; they even frequently obtain it on cheaper terms by furnishing the planters with an advance of money on their crop. The Richmond merchants supply all the stores through an extensive tract of back country. As they have a very long credit from England, they can allow a similar indulgence of six, nine or twelve months to the shop-keepers whom they supply. All the merchants deal in bills of exchange on Europe.