Part 12

The disorder has been treated very differently by different physicians, and as some few have survived under each system that has been tried, no general one has yet been adopted. I was told, however, by several people in Norfolk, who resided in the most sickly part of the town during the whole time the fever lasted, that as a preventative medicine, a strong mercurial purge was very generally administered, and afterwards Peruvian bark; and that few of those who had taken this medicine were attacked by the fever. All however that can be done by medicine to stop the progress of the disorder, when it has broke out in a town, seems to be of no very great effect; for as long as the excessive hot weather lasts the fever rages, but it regularly disappears on the approach of cold weather. With regard to its origin there have been also various opinions; some have contended that it was imported into every place where it appeared from the West Indies; others, that it was generated in the country. These opinions have been ably supported on either side of the question by medical men, who resided at the different places where the fever has appeared. There are a few notorious circumstances, however, which lead me, as an individual, to think that the fever has been generated on the American continent. In the first place, the fever has always broken out in those parts of towns which were most closely built, and where the streets have been suffered through negligence to remain foul and nasty; in the second place, it has regularly broken out during the hottest time of the year, in the months of July and August, when the air on the American coast is for the most part stagnant and sultry, and when vegetable and animal matter becomes putrid in an incredible short space of time; thirdly, numbers of people died of the disorder in New York, in the year 1796, notwithstanding that every West Indian vessel which entered the port that season was examined by the health officer, a regular bred physician, and that every one suspected was obliged to perform quarantine. The people in New York are so fully persuaded that the fever originates in America from putrid matter, that they have stopped up one or two docks, which were receptacles for the filth of the neighbourhood, and which contaminated the air when the tide was out.

[Sidenote: YELLOW FEVER.]

Amongst the inhabitants are great numbers of Scotch and French. The latter are almost entirely from the West Indies, and principally from St. Domingo. In such prodigious numbers did they flock over after the British forces had got footing in the French islands, that between two and three thousand were in Norfolk at one time; most of them, however, afterwards dispersed themselves throughout different parts of the country; those who staid in the town opened little shops of different kinds, and amongst them I found many who had been in affluent circumstances before they were driven from their homes.

[Sidenote: GRAVE YARDS.]

A strong party spirit has always been prevalent amongst the American inhabitants of this town; so much so that a few years ago, when some English and French vessels of war were lying in Hampton roads, and the sailors, from each, on shore, the whole people were up and ready to join them, on the one side or the other, in open contest; but the mayor drew out the militia, and sent them to their respective homes.

Here are two churches, one for episcopalians, the other for methodists. In the former, service is not performed more than once in two or three weeks, and very little regard is paid by the people in general to Sunday. Indeed, throughout the lower parts of Virginia, that is, between the mountains and the sea, the people have scarcely any sense of religion, and in the country parts the churches are all falling into decay. As I rode along, I scarcely observed one that was not in a ruinous condition, with the windows broken, and doors dropping off the hinges, and lying open to the pigs and cattle wandering about the woods; yet many of these were not past repair. The churches in Virginia, excepting such as are in towns, stand for the most part in the woods, retired from any houses, and it does not appear that any persons are appointed to pay the smallest attention to them.

A custom prevails in Norfolk, of private individuals holding grave yards, which are looked upon as a very lucrative kind of property, the owners receiving considerable fees annually for giving permission to people to bury their dead in them. It is very common also to see, in the large plantations in Virginia, and not far from the dwelling house, cemeteries walled in, where the people of the family are all buried. These cemeteries are generally built adjoining the garden.

+LETTER + XIV.

_Description of Dismal Swamp.—Wild Men found in it.—Bears, Wolves, &c.—Country between Swamp and Richmond.—Mode of making Tar and Pitch.—Poor Soil.—Wretched Taverns.—Corn Bread.—Difficulty of getting Food for Horses.—Petersburgh.—Horse Races there.—Description of Virginian Horses.—Stile of Riding in America.—Description of Richmond, Capital of Virginia.—Singular Bridge across James River.—State House.—Falls of James River.—Gambling common in Richmond.—Lower Classes of People very quarrelsome.—Their Mode of Fighting.—Gouging._

Richmond, May.

[Sidenote: GREAT SWAMP.]

FROM Norfolk I went to look at the great Dismal Swamp, which commences at the distance of nine miles from the town, and extends into North Carolina, occupying in the whole, about one hundred and fifty thousand acres. This great tract is entirely covered with trees; juniper and cypress trees grow where there is most moisture, and on the dry parts, white and red oaks and a variety of pines.

These trees grow to a most enormous size, and between them the brushwood springs up so thick that the swamp in many parts is absolutely impervious. In this respect it differs totally from the common woods in the country. It abounds also with cane reeds, and with long rich grass, upon which cattle feed with great avidity, and become fat in a very short space of time; the canes, indeed, are considered to be the very best green food that can be given to them. The people who live on the borders of the swamp drive all their cattle into it to feed; care however is taken to train them to come back regularly to the farms every night by themselves, otherwise it would be impossible to find them. This is effected by turning into the swamp with them, for the first few weeks they are sent thither to feed, two or three old milch cows accustomed to the place, round whose necks are fastened small bells. The cows come back every evening to be milked; the rest of the cattle herd with these, following the noise of the bells, and when they return to the farm a handful of salt, or something of which they are equally fond, is given to each as an inducement for them to return again. In a short time the cattle become familiar with the place, and having been accustomed from the first day to return, they regularly walk to the farms every evening.

In the interior parts of the swamp large herds of wild cattle are found, most probably originally lost on being turned in to feed. Bears, wolves, deer, and other wild indigenous animals are also met with there. Stories are common in the neighbourhood of wild men having been found in it, who were lost, it is supposed, in the swamp when children.

[Sidenote: CANAL.]

The swamp varies very much in different parts; in some the surface of it is quite dry, and firm enough to bear a horse; in others it is overflowed with water; and elsewhere so miry that a man would sink up to his neck if he attempted to walk upon it; in the driest part, if a trench is cut only a few feet deep, the water gushes in, and it is filled immediately. Where the canal to connect the water of Albemarle Sound with Norfolk is cut, the water in many places flows in from the sides, at the depth of three feet from the surface, in large streams, without intermission; in its colour it exactly resembles brandy, which is supposed to be occasioned by the roots of the juniper trees; it is perfectly clear however, and by no means unpalatable; it is said to possess a diuretic quality, and the people in the neighbourhood, who think it very wholesome, prefer it to any other. Certainly there is something very uncommon in the nature of this swamp, for the people living upon the borders of it do not suffer by fever and ague, or bilious complaints, as is generally the case with those resident in the neighbourhood of other swamps and marshes. Whether it is the medicinal quality of the water, however, which keeps them in better health or not, I do not pretend to determine.

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

[Sidenote: ACCOMMODATION.]

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

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

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

[Sidenote: HORSE RACING.]

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

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

[Sidenote: RICHMOND.]

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

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

Richmond, the capital of Virginia, is situated immediately below the falls of James River, on the north side. The river opposite to the town is about four hundred yards wide, and is crossed by means of two bridges, which are separated by an island that lies nearly in the middle of the river. The bridge, leading from the south shore to the island, is built upon fifteen large flat bottomed boats, kept stationary in the river by strong chains and anchors. The bows of them, which are very sharp, are put against the stream, and fore and aft there is a strong beam, upon which the piers of the bridge rest. Between the island and the town, the water being shallower, the bridge is built upon piers formed of square casements of logs filled with stones. To this there is no railing, and the boards with which it is covered are so loose, that it is dangerous to ride a horse across it that is not accustomed to it. The bridges thrown across this river, opposite the town, have repeatedly been carried away; it is thought idle, therefore, to go to the expence of a better one than what exists at present. The strongest stone bridge could hardly resist the bodies of ice that are hurried down the falls by the floods on the breaking up of a severe winter.

[Sidenote: STATEHOUSE.]

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

The falls in the river, or the rapids, as they should be called, extend six miles above the city, in the course of which there is a descent of about eighty feet. The river is here full of large rocks, and the water rushes over them in some places with great impetuosity. A canal is completed at the north side of these falls, which renders the navigation complete from Richmond to the Blue Mountains, and at particular times of the year, boats with light burthens can proceed still higher up. In the river, opposite the town, are no more than seven feet water, but ten miles lower down about twelve feet. Most of the vessels trading to Richmond unlade the greater part of their cargoes at this place into river craft, and then proceed up to the town. Trade is carried on here chiefly by foreigners, as the Virginians have but little inclination for it, and are too fond of amusement to pursue it with much success.

[Sidenote: GAMBLING.]

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

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