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Show 106 TRAVELS THROUGH NORTH AMERICA: people had been tempted to difpofc of a great deal more than they could well [pare. Each perfon was eager to fell his own corn to fuch advantage, and depended upon getting fupplied by his neighbour, [o that they were all reduced to want. Pcter:fburgh fiands at the head of the navigable part of Appamatox 0 River, and is the only place of confequence fouth of James River, between Norfolk and Richmond. The reO: of the towns, which arc but very fmall, [cern to be fafl:: on the decline, and prcfent a mifcrablc and melancholy appearance. The houfes in Petcdburgh amount to about three hundred; they arc built without any regularity. The people who inhabit them arc moO::ly foreigners; ten families arc not to be found in the town that have been born in it. A very flouriD1ing trade is carried on in this place. About two thoufand four hundred hogD1cads of tobacco arc infpeCtcd annually at the warehoufes; and at the falls of the Appamatox River, at the upper end of the town, are fome of the bcfi flour mills in the fl:ate. Gt:eat crowds were affembled at this phce, as I paffed through, attraCted to it by the horfc races, which take place four or five times in the year. Horfe racing is a favourite amufcment in Virginia; and it is carried on with fpirit in different parts of the fiatc. The bcfl: bred horfes which they have are imported from England; but frill fomc of thofe raifed at home are very good. They ufually run for purfes made up by fubfcription. The only particular circumfiance in th ir mode of carrying on their races in Virginia is, that they always run to the left ; the horfes arc commonly rode by negro boys, fomc of whom are really good jockies. The horfes in common ufe in Virginia arc all of a light dcfcription, chiefly adapted for the faddle; fomc of them are handfomc, but they arc for the mofi part fpoiled by the falfc gaits which they are taugh,t. The Virginians are wretched horfemen, as indeed arc all the Ameticans I ever met with, excepting fome few in the neighbourhood of New York. They fit with their toes jufi under the horfe's nofe, their ftirrups being left extremely long, and the faddlc put about three or four inches forward on the mane. As for the mana gem en t of the reins, it is § what S I N G U L A R ll R I D G E. what they have no conception of. A trot is odious to them, and they cx!Jrcfs the utmo_fl: af1:onia1ment at a perfon who can like that uncafy o~ut, as th y call tt. The fclVouritc ga its whi .h all their horfcs arc taught, arc a pace ami a 'Wrack. In the firfi, the animal moves his two feet on one fide at the fame time, and gets on with a fort of i11llffi inl)- motion b ·ing unable to fpring from the grou11d on thcfc two feet as in a trot: We fhould call this an unnatmal gait, as none of our horfcs would ever m ov~ i~ that m•:nncr without a rider; but the Americans j 1 liD: upon it th at Jt tS oth erw1fe, becaufc many of their foals pace a foon as born. Thcfc kind of horfes arc called " motural pacers," and it is a matter of ~h e utmofl:. diflic~lty to make them move in any other manner; but it JS not one horfc 111 five hundred that would pace without being taught. In the wrack, the horfe gallops with his fore feet, and trots with thofc behind. This is a gait equally devoid of grace with the other, and equally contrary to nature; it is very filtiguing alfo to the horfe; but th~ ~irginian finds it more conducive to his cafe than a fair gallop, and th1s C1rcumfl:ancc baniD1cs every other confidcration. The people in this part of the country, bordering upon James River, are extremely fond of an entertainment which they call a barbacue. It confifl:s in a large party meeting tog-ether, either under iome trees, or ia a houfe, to partake of a. .fl:urgeon or pig roafl:cd in the open air, on a fort of hurdle, over a flow fire; this, lwwev r, is an entertainment chiefly confined to the lower ranks, and, like mofi others of the fame 11ature, it generally ends in intoxication. Richmond, the capital of Virginia, is fituated immediately below the £dls of James River, on the north fide. The river oppofite to the town is about fonr hundred yards wide, and is croiled by means of two bridges, which are feparated by an i!land that lies t~early in the middle of the nver. The bridge, leading from the fouth {bore to the ifland, is built upon fifteen large flat bottomed boats, kept fiationary in the river by fhong chains and anchors. The bows of them, which are very iharp, are put againfl: the fiream, and fore and aft there is a ilrong 0 beam, upon which the piers of the bridge refi. Between the ifland and the town, the water being {hallowcr, the bridge is built upon P 2 p1eri |