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Show J34- TRAVELS THROUGH NORTH AMERICA: ing to the quality of thc timber. They never throw upfuckcrs,as flumps of trees ould do in England if left in that manner. The cultivated lands in this ountry arc mofily parcelled out in fmaU portion ; there ar no pcrfons h re, as on the other fide_ of the m_m~ntains, po!ldiing large :fiums ; nor are there any emmently di!hnguifll d by their education or knowledge from the rcfi of their fellow citizens. I overty alfo is as much unl nown in this country as great wealth. Each man owns the houfc he lives in and the land which he culti\'atcs, and every one appear to be i 1 a happy fiate of mediocrity, and unambitiou of a more elevated fituation than what he himfclf enjoys. The fre , inhabitants confi{l: for the moO: part of Germans, who here maintain the [,une chara8:er as in Pennfylvania and the other fl:ates where they have fcttled. About one fixth of the people, on an average, ·are flave s, but in fame of the counties the proportion is much lefs; in Rockbridge the flavcs do not amount to more than an eleventh, and in Shenandoah County not to more than a twentieth part of the whole. Between Fincafile and the Patowmac there are feveral towns, a~ Lexington, Staunton, Newmarket, Woodfl:ock, Winchdler, Stralburgh, and fome others. Thefc towns all fiand on the great road, running north and fouth behind the Blue Mountains, and which is the high road from the northern Hates to Kentucky. As I pafied along it, I m t with great numbers of pcopl from Kentucky and the ne v O:atc of Tcnail"ee going toward Philadelphia and Rtltimorc, and with many others going in a contrary diretl:ion, " to c. plore," a they call it, that i , to fearch for lands conveni ntly fitnated for new fettle ments in the w ilern country. Thefe pvoplc all travcj on horfl back, with piO:ols or fwor is, and a large blanket folded up under thc:ir f<lddlc, which lafl: they ufe for fleeping in when obliged to pafc; the n;ght in the woods. There is but little o cafi9n for arms now that peace h,ts been mad wid1 the Indians ; but formerly it ufed to be a very ferious undertaking to go by this route to Kentucky, and travellers were always oblig~d to go forty or fifty in a party, and w~ll pn.:pared for defence. It would be fiill dangerous for any perfon to venture ilngly; but if five or fix tnwcl together, ~ ilicy STAUNTO T • J J' )• they arc perfetl:ly .(;>cure. There are houies now fcattercd along nearly the whole way from Fin aft! to Lexington in Kentllcky, fo that it is not nece!lary to Deep more than two or three nights in the woods in 'r-".- oinbrr there. Of all the un outh hn :nan bein2..... ,s I met with in Ame rica , t1 cfe people from the wetlern country were the mofl fo; their curiofity was boundlefs. I• requently have I been flopped abruptly by one of t 1em in a folita ry part of the road, ami in fuch a manner, that had it been in another country, I f110nld have imagi11cd it was a hi6 m: yman that was going to dema nd my pur(;, and without any furth r p·eface, an.e 1 where I came from? if I was acqnaintcd with :.ny news? where bound to? and finally, my name?-'' Stop, 1\IWlcr! why I gucC<> now you b(: " coming fi-om the new fbtc." " No, Sir,"-" \v 1y then I gucfs :ti " how you be coming from Kcntuc *." " No, Sir,"-" Oh! whv " then, pt .ty now where might you be com in f)" frum ?" " From the low " country."-" Why you mufi have heard all t1 e ucws then; pray now, " Mifl:er, what might the price of bacon be in thofe parts?" " Uj on " my word, my friend, I can't inform you."-'' Aye, aye; I fee~ Mif" ficr, you be'n't one of us; pray now, Mificr, what might your name " be ?"-A !hanger going the fime way is furc of havinrr the company of thefe worthy people, fo defi rous of information, as f.'1r as the next ~vern, where he is fddom fuffered to remain for five minutes, till he is again ailitiled by a fr ih {et with the .fitme q ucO:ions. The firfi town you come to, going northward from Bottetou rt County, is Le.\.ington, a neat little place, that did contain about one hundred hou(es, a conrt-houfc, and gaol; but the greater part of it was . defiroy d by fire juil: before I got there. Great numbers of Irifh are fettled in this place. Thirty miles farther on fi:ands Staunton. This town carries on a confiderablc trade with the back country, ~L11d contains nearly two hundred dwellings, mofily built of :flone, together with a church. Thi was the firfl: place on the entire road from Lynchburgh, one hundred and fifty miles difl:ant, and which I was about ten days in travellinO', v.here I was able to g t a bit of frefl1 meat, excepting indeed on palling the Blue Mountains, where they brought me fome ve- • Kentucky. nifon |