NORTH CAROLINA 113 



small places lying on the rivers emptying into this 

 Sound. 



It was hoped, but in vain, that Lord Cornwallis on 

 his march through North Carolina might come to 

 Edenton, which he at one time seemed to be approach- 

 ing. It would indeed have been an easy matter to lock 

 him up here, because on the land side, what with the 

 numerous swamps and creeks, there is only one prac- 

 ticable road for an army destined for Virginia, and 

 for crossing the Sound a great number of small boats 

 would have been necessary, since no large armed ves- 

 sels could have been used ; in either case the loss of the 

 army would have been inevitable. But Lord Corn- 

 wallis knew the country quite as well as his enemies, 

 at that time fleeing before him. 



At Edenton we were for the first time regaled with 

 the domestic tea universally known and beloved in 

 North Carolina. This is made from the leaves of the 

 Ilex Cassine L., a tolerably high and beautiful tree or 

 shrub, which growing abundantly in this sandy coun- 

 try is very ornamental with its evergreen leaves and 

 red berries ; more to the north and even farther inland 

 it is rare. It is here generally called Japan, but has 

 this name in common with the South-Sea tea-tree 

 {Cassine Peragaa L.), which likewise grows on the 

 Carolina coast, and is also greatly esteemed for tea. 

 The people here have a very high opinion of the good 

 qualities of the Japan; they not only make use of it 

 for breakfast instead of the common Bohea, but in 

 almost every kind of sickness as well. Near to the 

 coast, where the drinking-water is not altogether pure, 

 it is pretty generally the custom to boil the water with 

 these leaves. Such an infusion is not unpleasant, if it 



