THE FOUNDING OF THE NATIONAL CAPITAL 227 



variety and fertility as to produce almost every kind of plant 

 requisite for the benefit of man. " The vesture of the Earth," 

 says Strachey, "doth manifestly prove the nature of the soyle 

 in most places to be lusty and very rich. There are pines in- 

 finite, especially by the sea coast." The early settlers soon in- 

 troduced all varieties of fruits and vegetables indigenous to Eng- 

 land, which, added to the staple agricultural products native to 

 Virginia — Indian corn, sweet potatoes, grapes, melons, etc., 

 soon loaded the tables of the inhabitants with viands in rich pro- 

 fusion. Wild cherries, currants, mulberries, raspberries, black- 

 berries and strawberries of delicate flavor abounded, and the 

 woods were prolific of chestnuts, chinkapins, hazel nuts, peanuts 

 and walnuts. The forests were endless groves of stately trees, 

 oak, pine, maple, hemlock, walnut, ash, chestnut, sassafras and 

 poplar. Early voyagers tell of the sweet aromatic odors blowing 

 off the shore from the forests of balsam pines. The rich and 

 varied flora of the country loaded the summer air with fragrance, 

 the wild bees laid their stores of honey in the woods, the native 

 song-birds filled the air with melody. 



The climate, midway between the extremes of heat and cold, 

 was genial and wholesome, save in low and marshy regions, 

 and cattle, sheep, and swine could be kept in most winter sea- 

 sons in the open air. " I believe," says Beverly (1705) '* it is 

 as healthy a country as any under heaven ; but the extraordi- 

 nary pleasantness of the weather, and plenty of the fruit lead 

 people into many temptations. If one impartially considers all 

 the advantages of this country, as nature made it, he must al- 

 low it to be as fine a place as any in the universe." 



For animal food the Virginians found all which the most eu- 

 peptic Britons had on their tables, and in addition wild bears, 

 opossums, rabbits and squirrels. The waters, both fresh and 

 salt, literally swarmed with fish, the toothsome shad, the deli- 

 cate rock fish, the multitudinous herring, the lively bass, the 

 immense sturgeon, with crabs and oysters in inexhaustible shoals 

 along the bays and rivers. Of the feathered tribes were wild 

 turkeys, pigeons, partridges, and water-fowl in clouds, the de- 

 licious canvas-back ducks feeding on the wild celery of the 

 bays and inlets. Quaint old Alsop, describing the Eastern 



