122 TRAVELS IN THE CONFEDERATION 



habitants are still almost entirely German, with a few 

 Quakers who have settled among them. Their busi- 

 ness is farming with somewhat of linen and woolen- 

 weaving and other trades ; in particular a good quantity 

 of common woolen stockings was at one time made 

 here, but by no means enough to supply a fourth part 

 of the country. It is asserted that America does not 

 yet produce wool enough to furnish each inhabitant 

 so much as one pair of stockings. Among the residents 

 of Germantown are many well-to-do people ; and many 

 Philadelphians own land and houses here, and use the 

 place as a resort for summer. By reason of its near- 

 ness also, excursions are often made hither ; on Sun- 

 days the whole street is filled with the carts and coaches 

 of pleasure-seeking Philadelphians. There are in the 

 place a Lutheran and a Reformed church and a Quaker 

 meeting-house. Also a few families of another sect, 

 called Tumblers,' live here ; they wear beards and a 

 simple dress but not after the manner of the Quakers. 

 They are similar to the Anabaptists, but I cannot say 

 how they are distinguished in creed or opinions, for it 

 is a difficult matter to come at the idiosyncrasies of the 

 many religious sects in America. 



Beyond Germantown the country lies uneven and 

 hilly, but still shows the sandy clay which in spots re- 

 sembles somewhat the red Jersey soil. Some loose 

 fragments of rock by the way were made up of a sandy 

 slate or splintery stone with much mica. The same sort 

 of rock * appears frequently throughout the German- 

 town region and towards the Schuylkill ; most of the 

 houses of Germantown are built of this stone. 



* A sort of gneiss containing granite at times. Kalm men- 

 tions that he found Hme in the splintery mica-rock. 



