370 TRAVELS IN THE CONFEDERATION 



illustrious assembly resolved for the future to remove 

 its residence every autumn and spring from one to the 

 other of these places. These solemn migrations have 

 given occasion to the bitterest gibes in the public 

 papers. 



Maryland is behind none of the other states in ex- 

 cellence of climate, in variety and fertility of soil, or in 

 diversity of products. Its situation, almost at the 

 middle of the continent of North America, causes its 

 inhabitants seldom to languish from immoderate heat 

 or to suffer from disagreeable cold, and most of the 

 products of the rest of America thrive here under good 

 management. With Virginia it shares the advantages 

 of a spacious bay, which in regard to its size, safety, 

 and the number of its navigable streams can hardly 

 be excelled. It is convenient at all seasons of the vear 



* 



and is seldom disturbed by the hurricanes of the south 

 or closed by the impassable ice of the north. Maryland 

 produces good maize and excellent wheat, hemp, and 

 flax. The more profitable culture of tobacco has in- 

 deed kept these articles somewhat under ; but the in- 

 convenience of wanting the most necessary things and 

 the uncertainty of getting them from other parts hav- 

 ing been variously felt, more attention is now directed 

 to agriculture. Swine and horned cattle do well with 

 the most careless handling, and increase prodigiously. 

 The lands are more divided, and more uniformly, than 

 in Virginia, are therefore somewhat better cultivated 

 and are generally worth more, especially on the west- 

 ern side of the Bay where the soil is less sandy and 

 barren than on the Eastern Shore. 



The whole province is divided into the following 16 

 counties ; Ann-Arundel, of which Annapolis is the chief 



