lOS A JOURNEY TO 



21st. The necessity of drying our baggage prevented us from marching 

 til] eleven o'clock. Then we proceeded through low-grounds which were 

 tolerably wide for three miles together, as far as a small creek, named by us 

 Morris' creek. This tract of land I persuaded Mr. Banister to enter for, 

 that he might not be a loser by the expedition. The low grounds held good 

 a mile beyond the creek, and then the highland came quite to the river, and 

 made our travelling more difficult. All the way we went we perceived there 

 had been tall canes lately growing on the bank of the river, but were uni- 

 versally killed ; and inquiring into the reason of this destructton, we were 

 told that the nature of those canes was, to shed their seed but once in seven 

 years, and the succeeding winter to die, and make room for young ones to 

 grow up in their places. Thus much was certain, that four years before we 

 saw canes grow and flourish in several places, where they now lay dead and 

 dry upon the ground. The whole distance we travelled in this day by com- 

 putation was fifteen miles, and then the appearance of a black cloud, which 

 threatened a gust, obliged us to take up our quarters. We had no sooner 

 got our tents over our heads, but it began to rain and thunder furiously, and 

 one clap succeeded the lightning the same instant, and made all tremble be- 

 fore it. But, blessed be God ! it spent its fury upon a tall oak just by our 

 camp. Our Indians were so fearful of falling into the hands of the Catawbas, 

 that they durst not lose sight of us all day ; so they killed nothing, and we 

 were forced to make a temperate supper upon bread and cheese. It was 

 strange we met with no wild turkeys, this being the season in which great 

 numbers of them used to be seen towards the mountains. They commonly 

 perched on the high trees near the rivers and creeks. But this voyage, to 

 our great misfortune, there were none to be found. So that we could not 

 commit that abomination, in the sight of all Indians, of mixing the flesh of 

 deer and turkeys in our broth. 



22d. We were again obliged to dry our baggage, which had been thoroughly 

 soaked with the heavy rain that fell in the night. While we stayed for that, 

 our hunters knocked down a brace of bucks, wherewith we made ourselves 

 amends for our scanty supper the aforegoing night. All these matters being 

 duly performed made it near noon before we sounded to horse. We march- 

 ed about two miles over fine low-grounds to a most pleasant stream, which 

 we named the Medway, and by the way discovered a rich neck of highland 

 that lay on the south side of the Dan, and looked very tempting. Two miles 

 beyond the Medway, we forded another creek, which we called Maosty 

 creek. The whole distance between these two streams lay exceeding rich 

 lands, and the same continued two miles higher. This body of low-grounds 

 tempted me to enter for it, to serve as a stage between my land at the fork, 

 and the Land of Eden. The heavens looked so menacing that we resolved 

 to take up our quarters two miles abov^e Maosty creek, where we intrenched 

 ourselves on a rising ground. We had no sooner taken these precautions, 

 but it began to rain unmercifully, and to put out our fire as fast as we could 

 kindle it; nor was it only a hasty shower, but continued with great impe- 

 tuosity most part of the night. We preferred a dry fast to a wet feast, be- 

 ing unwilling to expose the people to the weather, to gratify an unreasonable 

 appetite. However it was some comfort, in the midst of our abstinence, to 

 dream of the delicious breakfast we intended to make next morning, upon a 

 fat doe and two-year-old bear our hunters had killed the evening before. 

 Notwithstanding all -the care we could take, several of the men were dripping 

 wet, and, among the rest, Harry Morris dabbled so long in the rain, that he 

 was seized with a violent fit of an ague that shook him almost out of all his 

 patience. 



23d. It was no loss of time to rest in our camp according to the duty of 



