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F A R I\I E R S ^ li E G I S T E R , 



239 



year sends to the lord chancellor,* or one of the j my comini; hither ; nor, I believe, in twenty years 

 principal secretaries, what laws are yearly made ; | belbre. All that have been sent by his sacred 

 which for the most part concern only our own pri- mnjesty, aie still in the country, with a few more 

 vate exigencies; for, contrary to the laws ol'Eiin^- j we lately bou<jht. 



land, we never did, nor dare make any, only j 10. VVhat monies have been paid or appointed 

 this, that no sale of land is good and legal, unless j to be paid by his majesty, or levied within your 

 within three months after the conveyance it be re- j government, lor and towards the buying of armes, 

 corded in the general court, or county courts. i or making or maintaining of any fl'ortihcalions or 



5. What number of horse and foot are within castles, and how have the said monies been ex- 

 your government, and whether they be trained I pended? 

 bands or standing forces? | y/nsiver. Besides those guns I mentioned, we 



Answer. All our freemen are bound to be | never had any monies of his majesty towards the 

 trained every month in their particular counties, I buying of ammunition or building of fibrts. What 

 which we suppose, and do not much mistake in monies can be spared out of the publick revenue, 



the calculation, are near eight thousand horse 

 there are more, but it is loo chnrgeable lor poor 

 people, as we are, to exercise them. 



6. What castles and tlbrtsare within your gov- 

 ernment, and how situated, as also what stores 

 and provisions they are furnished withall? 



we yearly lay out in ammunition. 



11. What are the boundaries and contents of 

 the land, within your government'? 



Answer. As Ibr the boundaries of our land, it 

 was once great, ten degrees in latitude, but now 

 it has pleased his majesty to confine us to halle a 



Ansiver. There are five fibrts in the country, degree.* Knowingly, I speak this: Pray God it 

 two in James river, and one in the three other ; may be ibr his majesty's service, but I much fear 

 rivers of York, Rappahannock and Potomeck; j the contrary. 



but God knows we have neither skill or ability to VI. What commodities are there of the produc- 

 make or n)aintain them ; lor there is not, nor, as ! tion, growth and manufiaclure of your plantation ; 

 far as n)y enquiry can reach, ever was one inge- [ and particularly, what materials are there already 

 nier in the country, so that we are at continual <Trowing, or may be produced for shipping in the 

 charge to repair unskilfull and inartificial buililings j same? 



Jlnswer. Commodities of the growth of our 

 country, we never had any but tobacco, which in 

 this yet is considerable, that it yields his majesty 



of that nature. There is not above thirty great 

 and serviceable guns ; this we yearly supply with 

 powder and shot as far as our utmost abilities will 

 permit us. 



7. What nun)ber of priviteers do frequent your 

 coasts and neighbouring seas ; what their burth- 



a great revenue; but of late, we have begun to 

 make silk, and so many nmlberry trees are plant- 

 ed, and planting, that it we had skiifull men li'oni 



ens are; the number of tlieir men and guns, and I Naples or Sicily to teach us the art of making it 

 the names of their conmianders? I perlectly, in less than hali'an age, we should make 



j/nswser. None to our knowledge, since tlie ' a» much silk in an year as England did yearly ex- 

 late Dutch war. pend three score years since ; but now we hear it 



8. Wliat is the strength of yoiu' bordering neigh- ! is grown to a greater excess, and more common 



hours, be they Indians or others, by sea and land ; 

 what correspondence do you keep with your neigh- 

 bours? 



jlaswer. We have no Europeans seated near- 

 er to us than St. Christophers or Mexico that we 

 know of, except some few fi'rench that are beyond 

 New England. The Indians, our neighbours are 

 absolutely subjected, so that there is no fear of 

 them. As for correspondence, we have none 

 with any European strangers; nor is there a pos- 

 sibility to have it with our own nation further 

 than our trafiick concerns. 



9. What arms, ammunitions and stores did you 

 find upon the place, or have been sent you since, 

 upon his majestyes account ; when received ; how 

 employed ; what quantity of them is there remain- 

 ing, and where? 



Answer. When I came into the country, I 

 found one only ruinated tFort, with eight great 

 guns, most unserviceable, and all dismounted but 

 four, situated in a most unhcalihy place, and 

 where, if an enemy knew the sounding?, he could 

 keep out of the danger of the best guns in Europe. 

 His majesty, in the time of the Dutch warr, sent 

 us thirty great guns, most of which Avere lost in 

 the ship that brought them. Belbre, or since this, 

 we never had one great or small gun sent us, since 



* By an order of the Lords Commissioners for for- 

 eign plantations, made in 1679, it is made the duty of 

 the clerk of the assembly to send them u cojiy of the 

 jomnal and laws of each assemblv. 



and vulgar usage. Now, for shipping, we have 

 admirable masts and very good oaks ; but for iron 

 ore, I dare not say there is sufficient to keep one 

 iron mill going for seven years. 



13. Whether salt-petre is or may be produced 

 within j'our plantation, and if so, at what rate 

 may it be delivered in England? 



Answer. Salt-petre, we know of none in the 

 country. 



14. What rivers, harbours or roads are there in 

 or about your plantation and government, and of 

 what depth and soundings are they? 



Answer. Rivers, we have four, as I named be- 

 lbre, all able, ealiily and severally to bear an har- 

 bour a thousand ships of the greatest burthen. 



15. What number of planters, servants and 

 slaves ; and how many parishes are there in your 

 plantation? 



Answer. We suppose, and I am very sure we 

 do not much miscount, that there is in Virginia 

 above forty thousand persons, men, women and 

 chiltlren, and of which there are two thousand 

 black slaves, six thousand christian servants, for a 

 short time, the rest are born in the country or have 

 come in to settle and seat, in beltermg their condi- 

 tion in a growing country. 



16. What number of English, Scots, or Irish 

 have for these seven yeares last past come yearly 

 to plant and inhabite within your government ; as 



* This must allude to the eastern boundary, on the 

 sea shore. 



