148 



FARMERS' REGISTER. 



[No. 3 



illiterate neighbors. Ofien n clever servant, or 

 convict, that can write and reail tolerably, and is 

 of no handicraft business, is indenled to some 

 planter, who has a nuniber of children, as a school- 

 TOuster, and iheii, to be sure, he is a tip-top man in 

 his parts, and the servant is used more iiuiulgently 

 thaii the generality of them. 



As ! said before, the young fellows are not mucli 

 burdened with study, nor are their manners vastly 

 polite. But the old gentlemen are generally a most 

 agreeable set of companions, and possess a pretty 

 deal of improving knowledge; nay, I knov\^ some of 

 the better sort, whose share oi' learning and read- 

 ing, would really surprise you, consi.lering their 

 educations; but tins, to be sure, must be an after 

 improvement. One thing they are very faulty in, 

 with regard to their children, which is, that when 

 young, theysud'er them too much to prowl amongst 

 the young negroes, which iitsensib'Iy causes them 

 to imbibe their manners and broken speecli. The 

 girls, under such good mothers, generally have 

 twice the sense and discretion of the boys; their 

 dress is neat and clean, and not much bordering 

 upon the ridiculous humor of their njother coun- 

 try, where the daughters seem dressed up for a 

 market. 



It is an odd sight, that except some of the very 

 elevated sort, few persons wear perukes, * so that 

 you would imagine they were all sick, or going to 

 bed. Common people wear woollen and yarn caps; 

 but the belter ones wear white Holland, or cotton. 

 Thus they travel fifty miles from home. It may be 

 cooler, ibr ought I know; but, methinks, it is very 

 ridiculous. 



They are all great horsemen, and have so much 

 value for the saddle, that rather than walk to church 

 five miles, they will go eight to catch their horses, 

 and ride there; so that you would think their church- 

 es looked like the out-skirts of a country horse fair; 

 but then, as some excuse, it mav be said, that their 

 churches are otlen very distant "from their habita- 

 tions. 



An universal mirth and glee reigns in Maryland, 

 amongst all ranks of people, and ax set times, noth- 

 ing but jollity and feasting goes forward. J\lusic 

 and dancing are the everlasting delights of the lads 

 and lasses, aud some very odd customs they have 

 at these merry-rnakings. You would think all care 

 was then thrown aside, and that every misfortune 

 was buried in oblivion. In short, my spirits have 

 been sometimes raised so much, that'l have almost 

 forgotten I was of another clime, and have wished 

 myselfforever amongst them. Adieu! happy peo- 

 ple! For the favors I have reaped at your hands, 

 gratitude shall ever fill my breast. I leave you but 

 to return again; f once more fo partake of your 

 halcyon feasts, and hearty jovial mirth. 



For now, with gladdened eyes, we view the bounds 

 Of that famed colony, from whence the weed, 

 The salutiferous plant, that fends the breast 

 From noxious vapors of the inclement morn. 

 Provocative to solid, studious thought, 

 Derives its birth and use; the land that erst 

 Employed the labors of our virgin queen. 

 And still is sacred to Eliza's fame. 



• Wigs— then generally worn in England.— Ed. Far. 

 Reg. 



t The author was again in JVTarylaiid for some time, 

 and many of the detached observations were made 

 then, though he chose to interweave them with this 

 Bhort tour. 



In leaving these lowlands of Maryland, and 

 passing into Virginia, you find the scene greatly 

 altered; and hills and dales, with more frequent 

 plantations, seem, entirely, to take off the rude- 

 ness of the country's aspect. The roads, also, 

 throuirh the two counties of Acomoco and North- 

 ampton, save here and there, are equal to most in 

 England; though not near so conmiodious, as in 

 the counties on the other side of the bay. You 

 pass over several considerable rivers, and branch- 

 es, and find many lofiy and conmiodious bridges; 

 whilst the same hospitality, simplicity and honesty 

 reign amonirst the inhabitants, as in the part of 

 Maryland I have just traced. Indeed, you find 

 greater, and more considerable marks of opulency; 

 and we begin to regale with excellent wines, good 

 brandies and rum, and, here and there, with Eng- 

 lish porter, which is imported generally in bottles. 

 Trade, also, seems to flow in a brisker channel, and 

 the stores of the merchants to be better provided; 

 nor are the gentlemen a little vain, ol' their being 

 a part of the king's government, and look down 

 with an air of contempt, upon the neighboring 

 patentee colonics. 



The inhabitants on the Western Shore, are sup- 

 plied with prodigious quantities of beet, fiork, and 

 grain from this Eastern Shore, as they call tliem, 

 bj^Way of distinction; to whom they give, also, iron- 

 ically, the epithet of Buckskins, alluding to their 

 leather breeches, and the jackets of some of' the 

 common people; which is, all over Virginia, as 

 great a reproach, as in England, to call a man oat) 

 or clown, or lubberkin. This Eastern .Shore, is a 

 neck of land, resendiling a peninsula, having its 

 junction, in about 40*^ north, with the main land, 

 somewhat above Annapolis, near Baltimore and 

 Elsingburg, upon the frontiers of Pennsylvania, 

 where the Delaware bay and river, form to the 

 eftst, and the heads of Chesapeake bay, to the 

 westward, a kind of istfimus; and thence, trend- 

 ing away south-easterly, terminates at Cape 

 Charles, nearly in latitude 37°, and is one of the 

 arms, that confines the noblest bay in the uni- 

 verse; though, with all winds it is not so conve- 

 nient to ride in, as having a dangerous plenty of 

 sands, shoals, and reefs, that have proved very of- 

 ten full of distress. In this bay, the whole navies 

 of Great Britain, Holland and France, might ride 

 at anchor; it being, from Magidi bay, to the en- 

 trance of YorH river, more than twenty miles over; 

 and into which, a ntimberof the noblest navigable 

 rivers disembogue themselves, which you may, as 

 far as eyes can reach, see overspread with waving 

 forests of European vessels, and a lesser tribe, who 

 trade from shore to shore, and exchange their own 

 products for those of their neighbors. The com- 

 mon harbor for the men of war, in this station, is 

 Sarah's creek, on the Glocester side of York river; 

 which a late commander, the thrice renowned Sir 

 Yel, peace be to his ashes — rendered as shame- 

 fully famous, as ever Turtle bay was rendered by 



P or E s; or Hobcaw, by some others. 



But to return; we made two stages, .^rom Acomoco 

 Court-house; lying at Pongoteag the first night, 

 and at the ferry house at Magidi bay (where a 

 chaloupe attends to transport passengers and their 

 horses to York, Norfolk, Gloucester, James-Town, 

 or other parts, at a pislole a horse and man) the 

 seeond day, being two days and an half fiom the 

 line, the distance being more than one hundred 

 miles from Snow-Hiil in Maryland. There are 



