312 TRAVELS IN THE CONFEDERATION 



The hill to the east of Bath-town contains shaly 

 sandstones, sandy clay, and coarse, reddish quartz ; 

 beyond are other hills of the same structure, tolerably 

 high, to the west ; and then the North Mountain which 

 here near the Poto\vmack is not high, consisting chiefly 

 of broken and barren hills, but still keeps its direction 

 unchanged from north-east to south-west. In the 

 valleys rough sorts of slate are found, the farms are 

 scattered, the cabins wretched, and the inhabitants for 

 the most part Irish. A few miles from Leek's Mill, I 

 again met with the grey limestone, in the great lime- 

 stone valley,* passed to Shepherdstown on the Potow- 

 mack, and across the river to the foot of the South 

 Mountain, where the road turns to Fredrick-town, 

 the whole way over limestone soil. 



I was now again out of the mountains and might 

 hope to be somewhat less burdened with tedious ques- 

 tions which, while in the mountains, one must submit 

 to from every man. At bottom one cannot be offended 

 at the curiosity of these remote people, who very 

 seldom see strangers among them and do not know 

 all that goes on in the rest of the world, but it can 

 hardly be expected of the traveller that he should, with 

 the patience of a saint, allow himself to be examined 

 by every fool every day and all the time. Was it a 

 stone I picked up or a plant I broke off, some one 

 assailed me with questions. Are you a miner? A 

 goldsmith ? A doctor ? Are you buying land ? Where 

 have you come from ? How long have you been in the 

 country? Where do you live? Are you married? 

 How old are you? What is your name? Where have 



* See above, p. 230. 



