1837] 



F A R IM E R S' R E G I S T E II , 



149 



no considerable towns on tliis sliore, only a few 

 Bcaiterod hamlets, particularly, at the court-hou- 

 ses of the two couniios, which renders llu^m liir 

 less polite, than the iniiabitants on the otlicr side 

 ofthe bay, where lariie towns abound, and, which 

 are the rendezvous ol the several tobacco Heets that 

 sail li'oni Europe: but to make amends, it may, with 

 rejiard to their h.onesty, and kindness lo one ano- 

 ther, and to strangei-s, be jnslh" called, the Elysian 

 Fields of Virijinia. I shall have, again, occasion 

 to mention this part of the colony, I find, when 

 I begin to enter into the nature of the tobacco 

 trade. 



No sooner the morning dawned, than we reused 

 from our beds, and addressed ourselves to our voy- 

 age, in one of those delicious mornings, in which 

 nature seems to take pride, in displaying her whole 

 profusion of charms; and when a wretch must be 

 quile inanimate, not to rejoice with the whole cre- 

 ation, at the infinite kindness and benevolence of 

 Providence. All hail! eternal sovereign of the 

 universel Low, on this sandv beach, surrounded 

 with these venerable shades, and whilst the waves 

 are laving at my feet, let me adore the great, the 

 awful dispositions of thy creating wisdom! Alas! 

 how my importance droops, and how inconsidera- 

 ble i appear; when, but now, I imagined myself 

 one of the lords of this globe, and rashly suggested 

 to myself, tJiat all these mighty stores of blessings 

 were intended to solace and delight mankind alone! 

 But if so, why are the most remote regions so be- 

 spangled with thy goodness; regions but lately 

 known, and yet, scarce one ten thousandth part 



peopled? My mind opens ; surely, thy wise 



intention was to excite the benevolence of thy 

 more happy creatures, and to make thy saving 

 health known to all nations, by spreading the 

 knowledge of true religion and virtue, even 

 amongst the sable inhabitants of these lovely 

 deserts. 



Alter being victualled for our voyage, Avhich 

 generally employs three or four hours, and we 

 had gotten our baggage and part of our atten- 

 dants on board, we ourselves stepped into a small 

 punt, * and put off to the shallop; which, by rea- 

 son of the shallowness of the water, lay at anchor 

 near a mile from shore, and be3'0nd a very ugly 

 reef, on which the waves broke v.ith great fury; 

 attended by scores of porpoises, who were wan- 

 toning about us. We had- very nearly gained the 

 vessel, when two of these stupid hogs came souse 

 against one side of the punt, and overturned us, 

 just upon the back of the shoal. 



W W ^ W % ^ 



In two or three days we embarked, being per- 

 fectly recovered, and addressed ourselves once 

 more to the passage; and here, how can I help 

 sketching out the various beauties and adorn- 

 ments of nature, that elucidated our pleasing voy- 

 age? Suppose us now near ten miles from either 

 shore, about the meridian ofone ofthe most trans- 

 porting days, that could have occurred for us, whilst 



every storm, 



Is hushed within its cavern, and a breeze 



* A very small and dangerous sort of canop, liable to 

 be overturned by the least motion of the sitters in it. 

 The negroes manage them very dexteroufly, with a 

 paddle. 



Soft-br^athinp:, lightly with its wings, along 

 The slackened coidage glides; the sailois ear 

 Perceives no soiuid, throughout Ihe vast expanse, 

 None but the murmurs of the sliding prow, 

 Whicli gently parts the smooth and azure main. 



Gl.OVER. 



The golden rays of the sun darting through the 

 gloom of the surrounding woods, and refiecled 

 upon the translucent (ace oi'ilip watery plain, gave 

 so lively a perspective draught ofthe circumjacent 

 country, that we were at a loss whether to fix our 

 admifing view upon the reality, or the representa- 

 tion. These woods, every where diversified with 

 interspersed plantations, by their reverend gloom, 

 seemed the retreat of some ancient druids; nor 

 could I lorbear a kind of reverence lor so awful a 

 scene, really much calculated tor a seat of super- 

 stitious rites and ceremonies; where not a sigh of 

 the soltest zephyr, but in a mournful, melancholy 

 whisper, is heard through the whole forest, and 

 seems even to ibrm articulate sounds. Whilst 

 now and then the long pausing scream of the 

 turkey, or the quick, smart cry of the paroquet, 

 interrupts the responsive lays of the turtle, and 

 the rest of the musical choir, and passes in thril- 

 linsr chorus from grove to grove, from brake to 

 break; whilst imitative echo fondly retains the 

 sound. Who can, here, help recalling to his 

 mind, the fauns and satyrs of the ancients; their 

 tables of Diana and her virgin train, and their 

 whole beautiful decoration of the sylvan scene.? 

 When these fables were first sung, even the now 

 despoiled and desert regions of Achaia, and the 

 territories of Italy, Gaul and Eritain, bore just 

 such an aspect; so buried in the depth of almost 

 impassable woods, and the inhabitants of some of 

 them little more civilized than the Indian natives 

 of these regions. And no doubt, but in proportion 

 lo the increase of our colonies, the manners ofthe 

 ancient possessors may be polished, and their bru- 

 tal fierceness tamed; seeing so many potent na- 

 tions are exhausted, already, by their intestine 

 wars, or broils with the Europeans, that they are 

 in the whole America not of half so much im- 

 portance as they were one hundred years ago. 

 Nay, manj^ 'nations live amongst the English, 

 there being several settlements of (hem in New 

 England, Maryland, Georgia, &c. and in the first 

 named place, whole tribes who have embraced the 

 Christian religion, and have teachers of their own 

 set apart to the ministiy. Like our preoccupiers, the 

 ancient Britons, the Indians peribrm all religious 

 ceremonies and mysteries in the deepest retreat of 

 the woods; and inured from their infancy to heroic 

 idleness, and hunting for subsistence, they esteem 

 the open savannah or the corn-field, no farther 

 than lor profit, whilst their choice hours of plea- 

 sure are generally sought in the shade. I remem- 

 ber to have asked the famous Toanahowi, so ca- 

 ressed in England some years ago, by the royal 

 family, how he liked that country? He told me, 

 they were good people, but that it was a poor 

 country, and he could not live in it, because they 

 had no woods nor deer, but what were kept in 

 some gardens; for so he styled the parks of Eng- 

 land. * But to return: the infinity of sloops and 



* This Indian was killed at the head of his people, 

 valiently fi:;hting, as an auxiliary party to the English, 

 by the Yamasees, in the year 1743, and was interred 

 with military honors at Fort WiUiam. He was a son 



