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Show 114 TRAVELS THROUGH NORTH AMERICA: 1 1 b[i ., ed it moving from him, conflernation was great indeed w Jen le o et . . . t tllc · 1 ( ·rtneu dcp:1.rllng agam m 0 prefently comin y bJck, and then Wit 1 wt . 1 ~ . , wood '. I was at a loL for a time myfdf to accoun~ for t 1C appc~tanc~, . . . . . . l bfc rved the iame fo rt of ltght 111 but after proceed too- a httlc fat t 1 ', 0 . . b {} · f y hark to cx·1tn111e a u 1 In "I1Y other })lac s, and difmoulltll1g J u tn m . . d d " · 11 1 f 1 t procec e <vvbcrc one of thc!l: fpatl< appearcLI to have f.l en,·. . : ~11~ - J d ever f . the fire fly. As the fummcr came on, th ck flk s .lppcan.. y 1om 1 t1 e woods ' oht. 'lft '1' a light {bower in the afternoon, I l .1VC ieen 1 ~}::tkl;n~ with th em in very qu~lttcr. The l_ight i·· cmitteJ _fr_om the tail, and tbe nnimal has the power of emitting tt o~ not at pk:J.iut c~ . After wanden.n g a b out tt'1 1 1't "'a :,. ncar eleven o cloc.k , a pLmtat iOn at la£1. appearc d , an d I1 av.m g got frcfh information rdpccbng .t he road from the negroes m. t1I e quat· t c'I', w11o generally fit up half t. he mght, . and over a fire 1·1 1 al 1 1r ea,.-on_ s, I agal·l1 [ce> t out for the Green Sprtngs. \V1th. f.o mc difliculty I at lafl: found the way, and arrived there abo~lt mi~tllght. The 11 0ur was 1r 0 un.re,, a [co n able, that the people at the tavern wet e ve.r y unwilling to open their doors; and it was not till I had r~latcd the htf-tory f my adventures from the lafl: ftage two or three t1m~s th~t th~y could be prevailed upon to let me in. At laft a tall fell~w _m h1s £1urt amc grumbling to the door, and told me I might come 111 1f I ~auld. I had now a parley for anoth r quarter of an hour to per~u~de hun to give me fame corn for my horfes, which h~ was _vet:y u.nw1_llmg to do; b tt at hil he complied, though much agamfl: hts mc1mattOn, an~ unlocked the fiable door. Returning to the houfe, I was ibewn mt~ a room about ten feet fquare, in which w re two filthy beds fwar~mg V\-ith bugs; the ceiling had mouldcred away, and the walls adtmtted light in various places; it was a happy circumfl:ance, however, that_ tl:efc apertures were in the wall, for the window of th.e apartment was mtu~. ficient in itfelf to admit either light or fre!h a1r. Here I would fam have got fomcthing to eat, if pofiible, but not even fo much as a pie e of bread was to be had; indeed, in this part of the country they fcldom think of keeping bread ready made, but jnfi prepare funlcient for the meal about half an hour before it is wanted, and then ferve it hot. Unable therefore to procure any fooJ, and fatigued with a long journey during B L A C K S N A K E. <luring a parching day, I threw myfdf down on one of the beds in my clothes, and enjoyed a. profound rcpofe, notwithO:anding the repeated onfets of the bugs and other vermin with which I was molc11cJ. Delides the tavern :md the quarters of the ilavcs, there is but one more building at this place. This is a brgc farm houfe, where people that rcfort to the fprings arc accommodated with lodgings, about as good as thofc at the tavern. Thefe habitations fl:and in the center of a cleared fpot of land of about fifty acre , furrounded entirely with wood. The fprings arc juft on the margin of the wood, at the bottom of a ilopc, which begins at the ho 1fes, and arc covered with a few boards, merely to k p the leaves fi·om falling in. The waters are chalybeate, and are drank chiefly by pcrfons from the low country, whofe confl:itution have been relaxed by the heats of fummcr. Having brcakhfl:ed in the morning at this mifcrable little place, I proceeded on my journey up the South-weft Mountain. In the courfe of this day's ride I obfervec.l a great number of fnal' cs, which were now beginning to come forth fr m their holes. I killed a black one, that I found ilccping, firetched acrofs the road; it was fivt feet in length. The black fnakc is more commonly met with than any other in this part of America, and is u(ually fr-om four to fix ftet in length. In proportion to the length it is extremely ilender; the back i · perfeCtly black, the belly lead colonr, inclining to white tov:nrds the throat. The bite of this fr1akc is not poifonou , and the people in that country are not generally inclined to kill it, from its great utility in defl:roying rats and mice. It i wonderfully fond of milk, :-tnd i· frequently found in the dairi.cs, which in Virginia arc for the moil part in low fituations, like cellars, as the milk could not othcrwifc be kept fwc t for two hours together in fummer time. The black fnakc, at the time of opuh tion, immediately purfucs any perfon who comes in fight, and with fu h fwiftnefs, thnt the bcfl: runner cannot cicapc from lJim upon even ground. Many other forts of harmlcfs fi1akcs are found here, fonte of wl ich are beautifully variegateJ, as the gat tcr, th · ribhon, the blueiD1 g rel.!n fr1ak , &c. &c. f t!Jc venomous kind, th~ moO: common :ue the rattle fnake, and the copper or moccafrin fi1akc. The form r is found chi ·fly on Q 2 th~ |
