274 TRAVELS IN THE CONFEDERATION 



and this was the only one for perhaps a hundred miles 

 around. In it were several varieties of the best-tast- 

 ing pears and apples. The common reproach that 

 America is unable to produce as good fruit as Europe 

 will certainly not apply to this region. In the woods 

 around there are many wild bees, and on a still, warm 

 evening one notices quite plainly a pleasant smell of 

 honey. The hunters are accustomed to gather honey 

 incidentally. The field-crops of the region are maize, 

 wheat, spelt, oats, buckwheat, and turnips. With the 

 present trifling number of the inhabitants the worth 

 of their produce is not great, and the income from 

 lands is inconsiderable. Mr. Ormsby, our host, owns 

 a tract of land along the Monongahela some miles in 

 length; but only 18 indolent families are settled on it, 

 who are required to pay a third of their harvest as 

 rent. But being careless whether they raise much 

 more than they themselves need or whether the owner 

 bids them go or stay, and having so far no competitors 

 to fear, what they render is very insignificant. 



The inhabitants of the surrounding mountain-woods 

 are bears, wolves, the fox, the lynx, wild cats, now and 

 then a red tiger (Fells concolor, L.) raccoons, opos- 

 sums, and deer. Elks are much rarer ; and the buffalo 

 likewise have been frightened farther off, preferring 

 besides the flatter country. Deer * are already grow- 

 ing scarcer in the neighborhood, but it is nothing un- 

 common for a man to bring down at times 10-12 in a 

 day. Liberty of hunting being unrestricted, their num- 

 bers will soon become still more diminished. It is 



* By this I understand the ' Virginian Deer ' of Pennant, 

 or according to Zimmermann the 'Virginian Hart.' 



