298 TRAVELS IN THE CONFEDERATION 



little of sickness. But they, (as others of their country- 

 men and from the same cause), are very subject to 

 rheumatick complaints ; letting their horses and cattle 

 run in the woods at night, according to the general 

 custom, in the morning if they wish to use them they 

 must often go far to find them through dewy grass 

 and wet bush, and thinly clad besides. There are coals 

 and limestone in this valley, but no traces of petrifac- 

 tions in the limestone. The Helianthns tuberosus is 

 here and there grown in gardens and from it a toler- 

 ably good thin beer is brewed, and a syrup also is 

 boiled. Of fruit-trees there were few to be seen, and 

 as little industry observed in the item of gardening 

 In the woods along the road we remarked no trees 

 conspicuously distinct from those of the lower parts 

 of the country towards the coast. 



From the Glades the ascent is by no means steep to 

 the ridge of the Alleghany ; only four miles from 

 Marshall's to the opposite foot of the mountain, along 

 which runs a branch of the Juniata, and following this 

 it is three miles more, a level road mostly, to the first 

 cabin. Crossing the Alleghany we found nothing but 

 sand-stones, (grind-stones, whet-stones, cos), whitish 

 intermixed with red, grey, reddish, and blackish ; the 

 last named variety shows something of a fine mica, but 

 the others none of it or much less. The loose stones 

 lie as plates, half an inch to four inches thick, along 

 the road, or stick up out of the mould-earth. On one 

 of these plates I found the impression of a cockle 

 scallop ; but these must be very rare for notwithstand- 

 ing all my searching and turning over of stones I 

 could find no other along the road ; they are perhaps 

 to be found more numerously only in particular spots. 



