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Show uS TRAVELS TIIROUGII NORTH AMERICA: b.l.tatcd bcino·s whom you me t with there, you find amongfi: thcfc 11 :::-' . df; mountam many a one th::~t would be a fit fubject to be pamte or a Lavinia. It is really delightful to behold the groups of. fcma~cs, aHi mbled here, at times, t gather the cherries and other frutts whtch o-row in the greatcfi abun lance in the neighbourhood of almo!l: every habitation. Their ihtpcs and complexions arc charming; and the careleifnefs of their drcfTcs, w!Ji h confifl: of little more, in common, than a flmplc bodice and petticoat, makes them appear even fiill more en-gagmg. b The common people in this neighbourhood appeared to me . to. c of a more frank and open difpofiti n, more inclined to hofpJtal! ty, and to Jiv · more contentedly on what they pouac·H nC· d, t I1 an tl lC Pc oplc of the f:1me clafs in any other part of the United States I paill:d through. From being able, however, t pro ure the necefliuics of life upon very eafy terms, they are rather of an indolent habit, and inclined to diilipation. Intoxication i very pr valent, and it is fcarccly poiliblc to meet with a man who does not b rin the day with taking one, two, or more drams as foon as he ri(cs. Brandy is the liquor which they principally ufe, and having the greatefl: abnndance of peaches, they make it at a very trifling expcnce. There is hardly a houfe to be found with two rooms in it, but where the ir1hab itant l1ave a fiill. The females do not fdl into the habit of intoxi ation like the men, but in oth r rcfp~?Cls they arc equally difpofed to pleafurc, and their morals arc in like manner relaxed. Al no- thcfe mountains live fevcral gentlemen of large lanclccl property, who farm their own dbt ·s, as in the lower parts of Virginia; among the number is Mr. Jcffcdon ·>If, iiom whofe f-:at I date tbi letter. His hou(e is about thr e miles difl:ant (j·om Charlottcfville and two from Milton, which is on the hcaJ waters of Rivanna River. It is moO: fingularly fituatcd, being Lnilt upon the top of a fmall mountain, the ape, f '\\hicb bas been cut off: fo a to leave an ar a of about an ~ere and half. At • Vicc-prelident of the Unitrd States. prefcnt SEAT OF MR. JEFFERSON. prefent it is in an unfini01cd fl:ate ; bnt if carried on according to the plan laid down, it will be one of the moil elegant priv,tt~ habitations in the United States. A brgc ap<lltmcnt is laid ont for a library and mn(cum, meant to extend the entire breadth of the houfc, the windows of which arc to open into an extenlive gre~"n houfe and :1viary. In the center is another very fp acious apartment, of an odagon fimn, reaching from the front to the rear of the boufl:, the brgc folding glaCs doors of \vhich, at e.1ch end, op.::n unr..ler a porti co. An apartment like th i., extending from front to back, is very com1 ton in a Virginian boule; it is C<tllc.:d the faloon, ani duriug fumm( r is the . nc generally pr ICrn.:d by the funily, on account of its beinn· more ai ry and i}>a~ cious than any other. The hou(e comm.1nJs a m1.gnificcnt profpeCl: on one fide of the blue ridge of mountains for nearly forty miles, and on the oppofitc one, of the I w country, in appl'arance like an extended l1eath covered with trees, the tops alone of which an; vi lib lc.:. The mill': and vapours a1 iling from the low grounds gtve a continual variLty to the fcenc. 'The mountain whereon the houfe O.ands is thick y w oth{ 11 one fiJe, and walk are carrie l round it, with difTen:nt dc.;rec:; of obliquity, runaing into each other. On the fouth fide is tl1c garden and a large vineyard, tl1at produ es abundance o[ fine fi·uit. Scv ml attempts have been made in this neighbourhood to ring the manufacture of wine to perfdl. ion; none of them however h::tvc fir - ceeded to the win1 of the parties. A fct of gentlemen once went to the expence even of getting fi Italians over for the purpo(e, but the vine; which the Itali::~ns fottrH.l growing here were diffvrcnt, as w ·lla tire (oil, from what they had been in the habit of cultiv, ting, and th y were not much more fucceisful in the bufinefs than the people of the onntry. W c mufl: not, however, from hence conclude tl at o·ood wine can never be manufaclured upon thefc mountains. lt is \veil known that t] e vines, and the mode of cuJtiv:aing them, vary as much in different parts of Europe as the foil in one country diftcrs from that in another. It will require fome tim , therefore, aud different experiments, to afcertain the particular kind of vine, and the moue of cultivating it, oefl: adapted |
