290 Singing Valleys 



ried on in all the towns near the seaboard. Massachusetts rum, 

 at two shillings the gallon, made up in cheapness what it 

 lacked in quality. Most of the colonies placed a tax on the 

 distilling of spirits; but this was not so heavy as to discourage 

 the distillers, or to make the exciseman's task dangerous. 

 Though always there was a natural inclination to do the gov- 

 ernment out of its revenue from stills whenever possible. The 

 little stream which runs through the town of Portchester, 

 and which is the dividing line between Connecticut and New 

 York was named "Buy Rum River." The local distiller had his 

 pot-still set up so he could move it from one bank to the other 

 depending on the side from which the hated exciseman ap- 

 proached. 



Colonel William Byrd of Westover was the greatest planter 

 on the upper James River. His father's caravans to the Chero- 

 kees had brought back pelts which sold in London for good 

 round sums. Westover tobacco, carried to the same market, 

 gave the Byrds a fine credit on the books of British merchants. 

 And Westover corn, pork, lard and beef cattle were sold in the 

 West Indies for molasses, sugar and rum which brought good 

 prices in the colonies. 



As a boy, Colonel Byrd had talked with the scouts who 

 led his father's pack-caravans. As a young man, he had made 

 the journey with them over the mountains and down into 

 what is now the state of Tennessee. If any man in Virginia 

 knew that wild country, it was he. Accordingly, the governor 

 appointed him chief of the commission to settle the vexing 

 problem of the dividing line between Virginia and Carolina. 



William Byrd to the day of his death he took pleasure in 

 the fact that admirers of his elegance called him the "Black 

 Swan" made the trip down to the Dismal Swamp and be- 

 yond with the dignity of a king's messenger. What he saw 

 on that momentous journey, and what he reported to the 

 governor, fill two volumes. They are the first contribution to 

 American literature. One, the official History of the Dividing 



