837.] 



FARMERS' REGISTER. 



595 



spirits, now almost jaded with fatigue, but served 

 to correct the badness ot the water, and at the 

 same time to resist the malignity ol' th(; air. 

 Whenever the men wauled to drink, which was 

 very often, they had nothing more to c^ but lo 

 make a hole, and the water bubbled up in a mo- 

 ment. But it was fiir from being either clear or 

 well tasted, and had besides a physical elfect, (rom 

 the tincture it received ii'om the roots of ihe 

 shrubs and trees that grow in the neighborhood. 



While the surveyors were thus painfully em- 

 ployed, tlie commissioners discharged the long 

 score they had with JMr. Wilson, for the men and 

 horses which had been quartered upon him 

 during our expedilion to Coraluck. From thence 

 we marched in good order along the east side of 

 the Dismal, and nassed the long bridtre that lies 

 over the South Branch of Elizabeth River. At 

 the end of 18 miles we reached Timothy Ivy's 

 plantation, where we pitched our lent for the first 

 time, and were furnished with every thing the 

 place afibrded. 



We perceived the happy effccls of industry in 

 this family, in which every one looked tidy "and 

 clean, and carried in their countenances the cheer- 

 ful marks of plenty. We saw no drones there, 

 vi'hich are but too common, alas 1 in that part of 

 the world. Though, in truth, the distemper of 

 laziness seizes the men ofiener, much, than the 

 women. These last spin, weave, and knit, all 

 with their own hands, while their husbands, de- 

 pending on the bounty of the climate, are sloth- 

 ful in every thing, but getting of children — and in 

 that only instance, make themselves useful mem- 

 bers of the ini'ant colonJ^ 



There is but little wool in that province, thoucrh 

 cotton grows very kindly, and so fiir soutb, is sel- 

 dom nipped by the frost". The good women mix 

 this with their wool for their outer garments, 

 though for want ol" fulling, that kind of manuliic- 

 ture is open and slazy. Flax likewise thrives 

 there extremely, being perhaps as fine as any in 

 the world ; and I question not, mioht with a little 

 care and pains, be brought to rival that of Egypt ; 

 and yet the men are here so intolerably lazy ,^they 

 seldom take the trouble to propagate it. 



16th.— The line was this day carried one mile and 

 an half, and 16 poles. The soil continued soft and 

 miry, but fuller of trees, especially white cedar.* 

 Many of these were thrown down, and piled in 

 heaps, high enough for a good Muscovite fortifica- 

 tion. The worst of it was, the poor fellows began 

 to be troubled with fluxes, occasioned by bad wa- 

 ter and moist lodging; but chewing o'f rhubarb 

 kept that malady within bounds. 



In the mean time the commissioners decamped 

 early in the morning, and made a march of 25 

 miles, as fiir as Mr. Andrew Mead's, who lives 

 upon Nansiraond River. They were no sooner 

 got under the shelter of that hospitable roof; but 

 it began to rain hard, and continued so to do great 

 part of the night. This gave them much'^pain 

 for their friends in the Dismal, whose eufferino-s 

 spoiled their taste for the good cheer, wherewith 

 they were entertained themselves. l 



However, late that evening, these poor men had I 

 the fortune to come upon another terra firma, \ 

 which was the luckier for them, because the \ 



* Now called juniper. — Ed. 



lower ground, by the rain that fell, was made a 

 fitter lodging for tadpoJee than men. 



In our journey we remarked that the north side 

 of this areat swamp, lies higher than either the 

 east or the west, nor were the approaches to it so 

 full of sunken grounds. We passed by no less 

 than two Quaker meeting houses, one of which 

 had an awkward ornament on the west end of it, 

 that seemed to ape a steeple. I must own I ex- 

 pected no such piece of fbpperj' from a sect of so 

 much outward simplicity. 



That persuasion prevails much in the lower end 

 of Nansimond county, lor want of ministers to pi- 

 lot the people a decenlerway to heaven. 



The ill reputation of tobacco planted in those 

 lower parishes, makes the cleriry uhwillinij to ac-' 

 cept of them, unles^it be such, whose abilities are 

 as mean as their pay. Thus whether the church- 

 es be quite void, or but indilferently filled, the 

 quakers will have an opportunity ol'gaining prose- 

 lytes. 



'Tis a wonder no popish missionaries are sent 

 from Maryland to labor in this neglected vineyard, 

 who we know have zeal enough to traverse sea 

 and land on the meritorious errand of making 

 converts. 



N.or is it less strange that some wolf in sheep's 

 clothing arrives not from New England, to lead 

 astray a flock that has no shepherd. People un- 

 instructed in any religion, are ready to embrace 

 the first that ofiers. • 'Tis natural for helpless man 

 to adore his maker in some form or other, and 

 were there any exception to this rule, I should 

 suspect it to be among the Hottentots of the Cape 

 of Good Hope, and of North Carolina. 



There fell a great deal of rain durinir the night, 

 accdmpanied with a strong wind. The fellow- 

 fijelmg we had for the poor Dismalitcs, on account 

 of this unkind weather, rendered the down we 

 laid upon, uneasy. We fancied them half drown- 

 ed in their wet lodging, wi;h the trees blowing 

 down about their ears. These were the gloomy 

 images our fears sugiiested, though it was so 

 much uneasiness clear-gain. They happened 

 to come oH' much better, by being luckily encamp- 

 ed on the dry piece of ground aforementioned. 



17th. — They were, however, iiirced to keep the 

 Sabbath, in spite of their teeth, contrary to the dis- 

 pensation our good chaplain had given them, 

 indeed their short allowance of provision would 

 have justified their making the best of their way, 

 without distinction of days. 'Twas certainly 'a 

 work both of necessity and self-preservation to 

 save themselves fi-om starving. Nevertheless, 

 the hard rain had made every thing so thoroughly 

 wet, that it was quite impossible to do any busi- 

 ness. They therelbre made a virtue of what they 

 could not help, and contentedly rested in their dry 

 situation. 



Since the surveyors had entered the Dismal, 

 they had laid eyes on no living creature : neither 

 bird, nor beast, insect, nor reptile, came in view. 

 Doubtless, the eternal shade that broods over this 

 mighty bog, and hinders the sun-beams from 

 blessing the ground, iTiakes it an uncomfortable 

 habitation for any thing that has life. Not so 

 much as a Zealand fi^og could endure so agueish 

 a situation. 



It had one beauty, however, that delighted the 

 eye, though at the expense of all the other senses : 

 the moisture of the soil preserves a continual ver- 



