VIRGINIA 59 



assessments, so as to foot the costs of recruiting made 

 necessary by desertions, the authorities nevertheless 

 were so philanthropical as neither to punish nor send 

 back to the army those perfidious fugitives found 

 within their districts. 



The entire commerce of Virginia has for long been 

 almost altogether in the hands of European houses 

 who have maintained their ware-houses and factors 

 here. Among the Virginians few have concerned 

 themselves in trade beyond the keeping of little shops 

 here and there, and throughout the whole province 

 there are still hardly any houses who would be dis- 

 posed, or in a position, to undertake large affairs. 

 And in all Virginia there is no commercial town which 

 in the extent of its business may be compared with 

 Philadelphia, New York, Boston, Baltimore, or Charles- 

 ton ; the natural situation and activities of those 

 provinces bring together in their chief towns almost 

 the whole trade of the interior, whereas in Virginia 

 this is greatly distributed, owing to the numerous 

 navigable streams penetrating the country ; and thus 

 in many small Virginia towns together there is hardly 

 as much business done as in a single one of the large 

 places mentioned, albeit the total value of Virginia ex- 

 ports exceeds in amount that of any of the other 

 provinces. So far the raw products of Virginia are 

 exported almost entirely through European ships and 

 seamen, these also bringing in European manufactures 

 and other articles of trade. For Virginia itself, beyond 

 little coasting-vessels and a few West India trading- 

 boats, likewise small, has no large shipping of its own 

 and few sailors. The tobacco-trade alone formerly 

 occupied several hundreds of English vessels, and some 



