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Show 120 TRAVELS TUROUGII NORT I AMERfCA : a ttptcd to the foil of thefc mountains. This, however, having bee~ once afi'ertain~..d, there is every reafon to fuppofc that . the grape may b cu 1u · vatc(1 to t 11 e gr.e a telnl. j)erfct ion ' as the climate 1S as . favour, bl,c r 1 r tl t f any country in E nrope. By cxpenments ali~ 10r t 1e purpoJe as 1a o · . , 1t is by 110 mean improbable, that they w ill in proccfs o~ t1mc 1 am the heft n~cthod of converting the juice of the fruit into wtnc. LETTER XVI. Of the Cozmtry bet'wem the Soutb-rzorjl and Blue Mozmtmiu.-CojJJ>t!r and Iron Mims.-Lyucbbmgh.-Ne'W L ondon.-.Armomy bere.Dtjcrij; tion ef the Road over the Blue Mottntain.r.-Peaks qf Otter, f11g·btjt of tbe Mountains .-Suppofld Height .-1.-fuch over-rated.Germau Settlers uum.!rous beyond the Blue Mountrzins.- ingular Contrr!fl between the Country and tbe i nhabitants on each Side qf the Mountains. -Of the Weevil.-Qf the Il~/}ian Fly.-Bottetourt County.-lts Soil.- Salubrity of the Climate.- Medz"cinal Springs here.-Much frequmted. Fincafllc, May. T liE country between the South-weft Mountains and the Btue Ridge i very fertile, and it is much n:ore tl1!l k.ly inhabited than the lower parts of Virginia. The linute is nood, and the people have a heal thy and robu.fl: appearance. Severa 1 valu· blc mines of iron aml copper have been di[cov '1\.:d here, for the working of fome of which works have been efi:ablifhed; but till the country hecomes more populous it cannot be expeCted that they will be car ·ied on with mu h fpirit. Having cr i cd th<..: South-weft Mount. ins, I p:1 !fed along through this county to Lynchburgh, a town fituated on the f< uth file of Fluvanna River, one hundred and fifty miles above Ri hmond. This town contains abou t one hundred hcufes, and a warehonfe for the infpeClion of tobacco, where about two thouf<1nd hog!h ·ads are annually infpeCted. 3 It N E W L 0 N D 0 N. 111 It has been built entirely within the lall: fifteen yean·, and is rapidly in creafing, from its advantageous fituation for carrying on trade with the adjacen t country. The boats, in which the produce is conveyed down the river, are fi·om forty- eight to fifty~ four fee t long, bu t very narrow in proportion to their breadth. Three men ar.; fufli icnt to naviga te one of thefe boats, a:1d they can go to Richmond and back again in ten days. They fidl down with the fi:ream, but work their way hack a~ain with poles. The cargo carried in th efe boats is alway proportionate to the depth of water in the river, whi h varie very much. When I paffed it to Lynchburgh, there was no di fliculty in riding a~r~) fs, ~ct when I got upon the oppolite banks I obfcrved great quant!tJe ot weeds hanging upon the trees, confidembly above my head though_ on horfeback, evidently lc.:ft there by a flood. This flood happened 111 the preceding September, when the waters rofe fifteen feet above th eir ufuallevel. A few miles from Lynchl urgh, towards the Blue !viountains, i~ a fmall town called New London, in which there is a magaz ine, and alfo an armoury, eretted during the war. About fift en men were here tmpl ~yc ], as I pafled through, repairing old arm and furbiD1- ing_up others; and indeed, from the .flovenly manner in which they keep thetr arms, f iJJOu]d imagine that the fame number mull: be COtlfl:antly employed all the year round. At one end of the room lay the mufquets, t.o the amount of about five thoufan<.l, all toge ther in a large heap, and .n t thn oppofi te end lay a pile of lea thern accoutrements, abfolutely rotcmg _for want of common ~lttention. All the armourics throughout the Umtcd Stateli are kept much in the fame ftyle. . Between this place and the Blue Mountain. the country is rough and hJlly, and but very thinly jnhabited. The few inhabitants, however, met with here nrc uncommonly robull and tall; it is rare t0 fee a man amongll them who is not fix feet high. Thefe people entertain a high opinion of their own fuperiority in point of bodily ihengtl over the inhabitant~; of the low country. A iimilar ra .e of m n is found !tll along the Blue Mountains. R The |