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Show OA. 10. M 0 U N T V E R N 0 N. Fairfax) having referved to himfelf a third of all ore that nuy be difcovered in the Northern Neck. From Colchefl:er we went about twelve miles farther to Mount Vernon. This place is the property of colonel Wa!hington, and truly deferving of its owner*· The houfe is mo!l: beautifully fituated upon a very high hill on the banks of the Potowmac ; and comma1~ds a noble profpect of water, of cliffs, of woods and plantatiOns. The river is near two miles broad, though two hundred from the mouth ; and divides the dominion of Virginia from Mary-land t. We rdl:ed here one day, and proceeded up the river * I cannot omit this opportunity of bearing tefiimony to the gallant and public fpirit of this gentleman. Nov. I, 1753, Lieut. Gov. Dinwiddie having informed the a!fembly of Virginia, that the French bad erected a fort upon the Ohio, it was refolved to fend fomebody to M. St. Pierre the commander~ to claim that country as belonging to his Britannic majcfi:y, and to order him to withdraw. Mr. \Valhington, a young gentleman of fortune jufi: arrive_d at age, offered his fcrvice on this important occaGon. The difiance was more than 400 miles; 200 of which lay through a tracklefs defarr, inhabited by cruel and mercilefs favages; and the feafon was uncommonly fevere. Notwithftanding thefe difcouraging circumfiances, Mr. Walhington, attended by one companion only, fet out upon this dangerous enterprize: travelled from Winchefler on foot, carrying his provif10ns on his back., executed his commiffion; and after incredible hardlhips, and many providential efcapes, returned fafe to William!burg, and gave an account of his negociation to the alrembly, the 14th day of February following. t A very curious fight is frequently exhibited upon rhis and the other great rivers in Virginia, which for its novelty is exceedingly diverting to fi:rangers., During the fpring and fummer months the filhing-hawk is often feen hovering over the rivers, or refl:ing on the wing without the lcaft vilible change of place for Come minutes, then fuddenly darting down and plunging into the water, from whence it feldom rifes again without a rock fi{h, or fori1e other conficler:. tble fifh in its talons. It immediately fhakes off the water like a mill-, and makes the befi: of its way towards the woods. The bald-eagle, which is generally upon the watch, infiantly purfues, and if it can overtake, endeavours to foar above it. The hawk grown follicitous for its own fafety drops the about F A L L S 0 F P 0 T 0 W M A C. about twenty-fix miles to take a view of the Great Falls. Thefe are ~orm~d in fome refpea: like thofe of the Rappahannoc; but are Infinitely more noble. The channel of the river is contraC1:ed by hills, and is as narrow, I was told, as at Fort Cumberland, which is an hundred and fifty miles higher up. It is clogged moreover with innumerable rocks; fo that the water for~ mile or two flows with accelerated velocity. At length cornmg to a ledge of rocks, which runs diametrically crofs the river, it divides into two fpouts, each about eight yards wide, and rufhes down a precipice with incredible rapidity. The fpout on the Virginian fide makes three falls, one above another; the fir!l: about ten feet, the next fifteen, and the la11: twenty-four or twenty-five feet perpendicular. The water is of a vatl: bulk, and almo!l: intire; the fpout on the Maryland fide is nearly equal in height and quantity, but a great 'deal more broken. Thefe two [pouts, after running in feparate channels for a lbort [pace, at length unite in one about thirty yards wide ; and as we judged from the fmoothnefs of the furface and our unfuccefsful endeavours to fathom it, of prodigious depth. The rocks on each fide are at leaft ninety or a hundred feet high; and yet in great frelhes, the water overflows the tops of them, as appeared by feveral large and intire tree~, which had lodged there. In the evening we returned down the river about fix teen miles to Alexandria, or Bel-haven, a fmall trading place in one of the fine!l fituations imaginable. The Potowmac above and below the town, is not more than a mile broad, but it here opens into a large circular bay, of at lea(l twice that diameter. The town is built upon an arc of this bay; at one extremity of which is a wharf; at the other a dock for building fi{h, and the bald-eagle never fails to !loop and catch it in its pounces before it reaches the water, leaving the hawk to go and fifh for another, lhips; 17 59· |