278 NOTES ON AMEllICA. 



his only meal, should be a very abundant one. While on the road, he 

 must on no account be permitted to take any food, as in that case, he 

 will inevitably founder. Under this mode of treatment, a good horse 

 will travel in excellent spirits from forty to sixty miles a day, for eight or 

 ten weeks. I suspect there are few roadsters in England, who could 

 perform as much. 



That the 9ourage and coolness of both horse and rider may be some- 

 times put rather severely to the proof, will appear from the following 

 little incident. Upon arriving at the banks of a river in North Carolina, 

 I discovered that the wooden bridge had been removed to a more con- 

 venient station, about five miles up the river, but was informed by a 

 countryman, that there was a good ford at hand, by means of which I 

 might pass in safety to the opposite bank. The stream was much 

 swollen and rolled rapidly over the ford, or raised pathway, making a 

 considerable fall on the other side. Had I not been assured that there 

 was a way underneath, I should have supposed it to be nothing more 

 than a dam in a mill-stream; I was debating in my mind as to the 

 prudence of attempting this ugly passage, when another traveller arrived. 

 He was mounted upon a very fine horse, and determined at once to 

 cross the river, as he had repeatedly clone before, when the water, how- 

 ever, was not so deep or so rapid. Accordingly he plunged in, and I 

 followed, though my steed was extremely reluctant to do so. We found 

 the pathway not more than three feet wide, and the water rolled over it 

 breast high like a torrent. It appeared to me to be the most dangerous 

 business I had ever been engaged in, but it was impossible to turn round 

 or back out. When we had proceeded about half way across, I sud- 

 denly lost sight of my companion ; but almost immediately, saw him 

 emerge from a deep hole into which his horse had fallen the large 

 stones which formed the path, having in this place been swept away by 

 the stream. The strength and prowess of his good steed had saved him. 

 My horse snorted and shuddered, turned his head to the right and to the 

 left, and then stood perfectly motionless. I at once released my feet 

 from the stirrup irons, threw the bridle on his neck, and seized a firm 

 hold on the mane. The poor fellow absolutely groaned, and then with 

 immense exertion, cleared the hole by a prodigious leap. I reached the 

 opposite bank in safety, but the adventure made me cautious of fording 

 American rivers ever after. 



Next to having no path at all, the most perplexing thing to a traveller 

 is, to find too many. For when he inquires his route through the woods, 

 the direction almost invariably given, is, " go right straight along till 

 the Yoad forks, and then take the plain waggon path to the right," (or 

 left, as it may happen.) Nothing, apparently, could be more intelligible 

 or satisfactory than this ; but the misfortune is, that the fork of the road 

 has so many prongs, that the stranger is completely at a loss w T hich to 

 select. His pocket compass is then his only resource, and if he suc- 

 ceeds in reaching his place of destination at the expense of fifteen or 

 twenty miles of devious riding, he may congratulate himself on his saga- 

 city and good fortune. 



In the mean time, however, he may chance to meet with some scores 

 of wild deer, a few rattle-snakes, sleeping Indians, and run-away 

 negroes. And if he should happen to encounter a thunder storm in the 

 forest, he will be amply recompensed for any extra fatigue or perplexity, 

 to which the want of a turnpike-road may have subjected him. I have 



