58 OF NORTH CAROLINA. 



midway stopped her career, and came sneaking 

 back to us with her tail betwixt her legs. 



We saw in the path a great many trees blown 

 up by the roots, at the bottom thereof stuck great 

 quantities of fine red bole : I belive nothing infe- 

 rior to that of Venice or Lemma. We found 

 some holes in the earth which were full of water 

 as black as ink. I thought that tincture might 

 proceed from some mineral, but had not time to 

 make a farther discovery. About noon we passed 

 over a pleasant stony brook, whose water was of 

 a bluish cast, as it is for several hundreds of miles 

 towards the heads of the rivers, I suppose occa- 

 sioned by the vast quantities of marble lying in 

 the bowels of the earth. The springs that feed 

 these rivulets, lick up some portion of the stones 

 in the brooks ; which dissolution gives this tinc- 

 ture, as appears in all, or most of the rivers and 

 brooks in this country, whose rapid streams are 

 like those in Yorkshire and other northern. coun- 

 tries of England. The Indians talk of many sorts 

 of fish which they afford, but we had not time to 

 discover their species. 



I saw here had been some Indian plantations 

 formerly, there being several pleasant fields of 

 cleared ground and excellent soil, now well 

 spread with fine bladed grass, and strawberry 

 vines. 



The mould here is excessive rich, and a coun- 

 try very pleasing to the eye, had it the conven- 

 ince of a navigable river, as all new colonies, of 



