26 ESSAYS. 
Seneca or Keowee River, crossing over to the latter; and, 
climbing the higher mountains about its sources in the inclem- 
ent month of December, when they were mostly covered with 
snow, he at length found some trees of Magnolia cordata, to 
obtain which was the principal object of this arduous journey. 
Retracing his steps, he reached Charleston at the end of 
December, with a large collection of living trees, roots, and 
seeds. The remainder of the winter Michaux passed in the 
Bahama Islands, returning to Charleston in the month of 
May. Early in June he set out upon a journey to a different 
portion of the mountains of North Carolina, by way of Cam- 
den, Charlotte (the county seat of Mecklenburg), and Mor- 
ganton, reaching the higher mountains at “Turkey Cove, 
thirty miles from Burke Court House” (probably the head 
of Turkey Creek, a tributary of the Catawba), on the 15th of 
June. From this place he made an excursion to the Black 
Mountain, in what is now Yancey County, and afterwards to 
the Yellow Mountain, which Michaux at that time considered 
to be the highest mountain in the United States. If the 
Roan be included in the latter appellation, as I believe it 
often has been, this opinion is not far from the truth; since 
the Black Mountain alone exceeds it, according to Professor 
Mitchell’s recent measurements. Descending this elevated 
range on the Tennessee side, and traveling for the most part 
through an unbroken wilderness, near the end of June he 
reached the Block House on the Holston, famous in the an- 
nals of border warfare. Several persons had been killed by 
the Indians during the preceding week, and general alarm 
prevailing, Michaux abandoned his intention of penetrating 
into Kentucky, and resolved to botanize for a time in the 
mountains of Virginia. He accordingly entered that State, 
and arrived on the 1st of July at “ Washington Court House, 
premitre ville dans la Virginie que l’on trouve sur la cote 
occidentale des montagnes, en sortant de la Carolinie Sep- 
tentrionale.” To this he adds the following note: ‘* Premiere 
ville, si lon peut nommer ville une Bourgade composée de 
douze maisons (log-houses). Dans cette ville on ne mange 
que de pain de Mays. II n’y a viande fraiche, ni cidre, mais 
