304 TRAVELS IN THE CONFEDERATION 



gathered and dried over a slow fire. It was said that 

 around Fort Littleton many 100 pounds of this Bohea- 

 tea, as they call it, had been made as long as the Chi- 

 nese was scarcer. Our hostess praised its good taste, 

 but this was not conspicuous in what she brewed. 



In order to visit the Warm Springs, so famous in 

 America, I parted here with Mr. Hairs, my travelling- 

 companion, and rode quite alone from MacDonald's 

 to Waller's on Licking Creek, and over Scrub Ridge 

 to the Cove, which I have already mentioned above. 

 There are here a few, but very weak and insignificant 

 salt-licks at the eastern foot of Sideling-hill, and 

 farther to the east not a trace of them. Licking Creek 

 gets its name thus. These ' licks ' appear only as 

 faint, standing ponds, which in warm weather evapo- 

 rate and leave somewhat of a salt-deposit. The soil 

 where they are found is said to be mostly a blueish 

 sort of clay. Something similar was mentioned to me 

 by Herrman Husband. He described salt-rock, as a 

 grey-black species of stone which according to him 

 is found wherever there are salt-springs and is every- 

 where the same. 



The road to the Cove led over hilly and mean pine- 

 land. The Great Cove has the Blue Mountain to the 

 east, the Tuscarora to the north, the Scrub Ridge on 

 the west, and lies between these mountains 16 miles 

 long and 1-3 miles broad. 



rime ciliatis. Virga aurea americana, tarraconis facie & 

 sapore, panicula speciosissima. Pluk. aim., [Plukenet, Alma- 

 gestum], p. 389. tab. 116. f. 6. A species similar to this grows 

 about New York, and has a pleasant odor of anise, noticeable 

 also in the plant here, but weaker; no doubt because it was 

 already late in the season and it had suffered from the cold. 



