OCR Text |
Show JI6 TRAVELS THROUGH NORTH AMERICA: the mountains; but although frequently met with, it is very rarely that people are bitten by it; fcarcdy a fummcr, however, _pa!fes ove1 without fevcral being bit by the copper Ji1ake. The p01fon of the btter is not fo fubtilc as that of the rattle fnakc, but it is very injurious, and if not attended to in time, death will certainly enfue. The rattle fnakc i ' very dllll, and never attacks a perfon that does not molcfl: him; but, at the fane time, he will not turn out of the way to avoid any ot1e; before he bite , he always gives notice by {baking his rattles, fo that a perf on that hears them can readily get out of his way. Th~ ~op.~er fnake, on the contrary, is more aClive and tr acherous, and, Jt IS Lud, will abfolutely put himfc1f in the way of a perfon to bite him. Snakes are neither fo numerous nor fo venomous in the northern as in the fouthern fi:ates. Horfes, cows, dogs, anJ fowl fcem to have an innate fenfe of the danger they are expofed to from thefe poifonous reptiles, and will fhcw evident fymptoms of fear on approaching near them, although t 1ey are dead; but what is remarkable, hogs, fo far from being afraid of them, purfnc and devour them with the greatefi avidity, totally regardlefs of their bites. It is fuppofed that the great quantity of fat, with which they arc fL1rniG1ed, prevents the poifon from operating on their bodies as on thofe of other animals. Hog's lard, it might therefore reafonably be conjeCtured, would be a good remedy for the bite of a fnake; however, I never heard of its being tried; the people generally apply herbs to the wound, the fpecific qualities of which are well known. It is a ren arkabJe infbnce of the bounty of providence, that in all thofe parts of the country where thefe venomous reptiles abound, thofc herbs which are the moil: certain antidote to the poifon arc found in the o-ren tefi plenty. The South-weft Mountains run nearly parallel to the Blue Ridge, and are the firfl: which you come to on going up the country from the [eacoafl: in Virginia. Thcfe mountains arc not lofty, ancl ought indeed ,rather to be called hills than mountains; they are not feen till you come within a very few miles of them, and the afcent is fo gradual, that you get upon their top almofl: without perceiving it. The foil here changes to a deep argillaceous earth, particularly well fuited to the culture of fmall grain and clover, and produces abundant M 0 U N T A I N T 0 R R E N T S. abundant crops. As this earth, however, does not abforb the Welter very quickly, the farmer is expofcd to great lo!fes from heavy falls of rain ; the feed is liable to be wailied out of the ground, fo that fometimcs it is found ncce!Tary to [ow a fieltl. two or three different times befon; it becomes green; and if great care be not taken to guard fuch fields as lie on a declivity by prop r tren ches, the crops are fomctimcs entirely defi: royed, even after they arrive at maturity; indeed, very often, notwithfianding the utmofl: precautions, the water depnrts from its ufual channel, and fwe ps away all before it. Aftt:r heavy torrents of rain I have fr qucntly feen all the negroes in a farm difpatchcd with ho;;s and fpades to d.ffu·cnt fi Jds, t0 be rcadv to turn the courfc of the wat r, in cafe it ' :lhon1d take an improper direCtion. On the fidl:s of the mountain, where the ground has been worn o It with the culture of tab ceo, and left wafic, and the water has been [uffered to run in the fame chan nel for a length of time, it is furprifing to fee the d pth of the ravines or gullies, as they are called, which it has formed. They arc jufl:like [o many precipices, and are infurmountable barriers to the pall~tgc fr m one fide of the mountain to the other. Notwitbfianding fuch difadvantages, howev r, the country in the neighbourhood of thcfe mountains is far more populous than that which lies towards Richmond; and there arc many per(nns that even confider it to be the garden of the United States. All the produCtions of the lower part of Virginia may be had here, at the .Gune time that the heat is never found to be fo oppreffive; for in the hottcfl: months in the year there is a frdhnefs and clafl:ici ty in the air unknown in the low country. The extremes of heat and colJ arc found to be 90° and 6o~ above cipher, but it is not often that the thermometer 1 ifcs above 84", and the winters are io mild in general, that it is a very rare circumfiance fvr the fnow to lie for three days together upon the gr und . The falubrity of the climate is equal aHo to that of any part of the Unit d States; and the inhabitants have in confcqucnce a healthy ruddy appearance. The female part of th peafantry in particular is totally different from that in the low country. In!tcad of the pale, fickly, de-bilitated |