LAWSON'S HISTORY 79 



take a light and go among them in the night and 

 bring away some thousands, killing them with 

 long poles, as they roost in the trees. At this 

 time of the year, the flocks as they pass by, in great 

 measure, obstruct the light of the day. 



On Monday we went twenty-five miles, travel- 

 ing through a pleasant, dry country, and took up 

 our lodgings by a hill side that was one entire 

 rock, out of which gushed out pleasant fountains 

 of well tasted water. 



The next day, still passing along such land as 

 we had done for many days before, which was 

 hills and valleys, about ten o'clock we reached the 

 top of one of these mountains, which yielded us a 

 fine prospect of a very level country, holding so 

 on all sides farther than we could discern. When 

 we came to travel through it, we found it very 

 stiff and rich, being a sort of marl. This valley 

 afforded as large timber as any I ever met withal, 

 especially of chesnut oaks, which render it an ex- 

 cellent country for raising great herds of swine. 

 Indeed, were it cultivated, we might have good 

 hopes of as pleasant and fertile a valley, as any 

 our English in America afford. At night we 

 lay by a swift current, where we saw plenty of 

 turkeys, but perched upon such lofty oaks that our 

 guns would not kill them, though we shot very 

 often, and our guns were very good. Some of our 

 company shot several times at one turkey before 

 he would fly away the pieces being loaded with 

 large goose shot. 



