NORTH CAROLINA 111 



right ' so-called, according to which every plantation 

 has a fixed share of all wild herds thereabouts; and 

 this right, like any other property, can be transferred 

 or sold at will. Their hogs are especially apt to grow 

 wild, not answering calls and difficult to bring tame 

 again. But I could not precisely discover whether 

 these wild hogs and their progeny become like the 

 European wild hogs. 



Edenton was the first town we came to in North 

 Carolina, and it is none of the worst, although con- 

 sisting of not more than ioo framed houses, all stand- 

 ing apart and surrounded with galleries or piazzas. 

 The place was once for a considerable time the capi- 

 tal of this province, and stands on the north side of 

 Albemarle Sound, which is here 13 miles wide and has 

 always been a furtherance to the trade of the town, 

 notwithstanding the harbor is very ordinary and ship- 

 ping in the entire Sound extremely difficult and 

 tedious. The road which ships must take coming in 

 from the sea by the navigable and best channels is as 

 much as 180 miles long, although the town itself is 

 not more than 35-40 miles from the sea in a direct line. 

 There would be a shorter passage if the Roanoke and 

 other inlets were navigable for vessels even of a 

 moderate tonnage. Coming in, vessels must first pass 

 the Occacock Bar, where at high tide there is no more 

 than 13 ft. water; and then there lies in the way 

 another bank, 2-3 miles wide, called the Swash, con- 

 sisting of firm sand, and at the highest tide giving a 

 depth of only 9 ft. Ships, therefore, often take 8-12 

 days entering and clearing the Sound, at times must 

 wait months for a favorable opportunity, and then are 

 subject to the very great inconvenience of lading and 



