LIFEOF WILSON. Ixi 



the subject ; thinking it a pity, as he says, that the knowledge he possesses 

 should die with him. But he has intrusted the business to me ; and I have 

 promised him an account of our interview. 



" All the subscribers I have gleaned here amount to seventeen. I shall set 

 off, on finishing this letter, to Georgetown and Alexandria. I will write you, 

 or some of my friends, from Richmond." 



To Mr. D. H. Miller. 



" Charleston, February 22d, 1809. 

 " Dear Sir. 



" I have passed through a considerable extent of country since I wrote you 

 last; and met with a variety of adventures, some of which may perhaps amuse 

 you. Norfolk turned out better than I expected. I left that place on one 

 of the coldest mornings I have experienced since leaving Philadelphia. 



" I mentioned to you in my last that the streets of Norfolk were in a most 

 disgraceful state; but I was informed that some time before, they had been 

 much worse ; that at one time the news-carrier delivered his papers from a 

 boat, which he poled along through the mire ; and that a party of sailors, 

 having nothing better" to do, actually lavxnched a ship's long-boat into the 

 streets, rowing along with four oars through the mud, while one stood at the 

 bow, heaving the lead, and singing out the depth. 



" I passed through a flat, pine-covered country, from Norfolk to Suffolk, 

 twenty-four miles distant; and lodged, in the way, in the house of a planter, 

 who informed me that every year, in August and September, almost all his 

 family are laid up with the bilious fever; that at one time forty of his people 

 were sick; and that of thirteen children, only three were living. Two of 

 these, with their mother, appeared likely not to be long tenants of this world. 

 Thirty miles farther, I came to a small place on the river Nottaway, called 

 Jerusalem. Here I found the river swelled to such an extraordinary height, 

 that the oldest inhabitant had never seen the like. After passing along the 

 bridge, I was conveyed, in a boat termed a flat, a mile and three-quarters 

 through the woods, where the torrent sweeping along in many places rendered 

 this sort of navigation rather disagreeable. I proceeded on my journey, pass- 

 ing through solitary pine woods, perpetually interrupted by swamps, that 

 covered the road with water two and three feet deep, frequently half a mile 

 at a time, looking like a long river or pond. These in the afternoon were 

 surmountable ; but the weather being exceedingly severe, they were covered 

 every morning with a sheet of ice, from half an inch to an inch thick, that 

 cut my horse's legs and breast. After passing a bridge, I had many times to 

 wade, and twice to swim my horse, to get to the shore. I attempted to cross 

 the Roanoke at three different ferries, thirty-five miles apart, and at last suc- 

 ceeded at a place about fifteen miles below Halifax. A violent snow storm 

 made the roads still more execrable. 



" The productions of these parts of North Carolina are hogs, turpentine, tar, 

 and apple brandy. A tumbler of toddy is usually the morning's beverage of 

 the inhabitants, as soon as they get out of bed. So universal is the practice, 



