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Show lJZ TRAVELS THROUGH NORTH AMERICA: cliff~rent heights; tome of them reach nearly to the roof. If you go to a remote part of this apartment, and leave a perfon with a lighted torch rnovinrr about amidfi thcfe pillars, a thouf<md imaginary forms prcfent themfd vcs, anrl you might almofl: fcmcy yourfclf in the inflTnal region s, with fpeftres and monfl:ers on every fid e. The floor of this room flo pes down gradually from one end to the other, and terminates in a pool of water, which appears to be on a level with that at the end of the long paffitgc; from their fituation it is mofi: probable that they ommunicatc together. The thermometer which I had with me fl:ood, in the remotcfl: part of this chamber, at 5 So· From hence we returned to the mouth of the cavern, and on coming into the light it apjwared as if we really had been in the infernal regions, for our face , h , nds, and clothes were ii1 utted aU over, every part of the cave being covered with foot from th fmoke of the pine torches which arc fo often can·icd in. The ftnoke from the pitch pine is particularly thick and heavy. Before this :we was much vifited, and the walls bhckcncd by the frnoke, its bcanty, I was told by fomc of the old inhabitants, was great indeed, for the petrifaCtions on the roof and walls are. 11 of the dead white kind The country immediately behind the Blue Mountains, between Bottetourt County and the Patowmac River, is agreeably divcrfificd with hill a1 d dale, and abounds with cxtenfive traCls of rich Lmd. The low grounds bordering upon the henandoah River, which runs contiguous to the Blue Ridge for upwards of one hundred miles, arc in particular diftinguiilied for their[! rtility. Thefc I w groun is are thole which, firicrly fpeaking, confl.:itute the henandoah Valley, though in general the countty lying for fcvcral miles diJLtnt from the river, and in fome p.1rts very hilly, goes under that name. Th natu ral berb:tgc is not fo firt~.: he r~.: as in B tt tourt County, but when clover is once iown it grows mofl: luxL?riantly; wheJ.t alfo is produced in as plentiful crop as in any part of the United States. Tobacco is not raifcd e.'ccpting for pt ivate u!c, and but little Indian corn is fown, as it is liabl , to be injured by the nightly frofls, which are common in the fpring. The climate here is not fo warm as in the lower parts of tl 1e country, on the eaftern fide of the mountains; but it is by no means fo tern perate as OBSERVATIONS ON AMERICAN LANDSCAPES. IJJ as in Bottetourt County, which, from being cnvironcd with ridges of mountains, is confiantly rc l"refhed with coolin~ bre ze during fummer, :\nd in the winter is D1cltcred from th<.: keen blafl.s from the north weil:. The whole of this country, to the wefl: of the mountains, is incrcafing moO: rapidly in population. In the neighbourhood of Winchefi:cr it is fo thickly f<.:ttled, and confcquently fo much cleared, that wootl is now ben-inning to be thought valuable; th J:umcrs arc obl iged frequently to fend ten or fifteen miles even for their fence rnil s. 1t is only, however, in this )articular neighbourhood that the country i , fo much improved; in other pla es there arc immcnfe traCls of woodlands fl.ill rcmain[ng, and in gcncr~ll the h ill.s arc ;11l kit uncle,u·cJ. The hills being thus left covered with tr ·cs is a circumftance which ncld much t the beauty of the country, and intermixed with cxtcnflve fields clothed with the richcfi verdure, ancl. watered by the numerous branches of the Shenandoah River, a variety of plcafing landfcapes arc prefented to the eye in almofi every part of the route from Bottctourt to the Patowmac, many of which are confidcrably heightened by the appearance of the Blue Mountains in the back ground. With regard to thcfc bndfcapes however, and to Am rican landfcapes in gem:ral, it is to be obfervecl, th at their beauty is much impaired by the unpiCl:u refque appearance of the ang nl..tr fences, and of the fl:iff wooden houfc , which have at a little cliflc nee a heavy, dull, and gloomy afpeB:. The finmps of the trees alfo, on land newly cleared, arc moll: dif:1grceable objcc1s, wherewith the ye is continually aOailcd. When trees arc felled in Am~ric<1, they nrc never cut down clofc to the ground, hut the trunks arc left fianding two or three feet high; for it i found that a woodman can cut down many more in a day, fianding with a g ntle inclination of the body, than if he wer~.: to fioop fo as to apply his axe to the bottom of the tree; it docs not make any difference either to the farmer, whether the fiump is 1 {t two or three feet high, or whether it is cut down level with the ground, as in each caf it would equally be a hindrance to the plough. Thefc il:umps ufually decay in the courfe of feven or eight years; fometimes how ver fooner, fometimcs later, accord-ing |
