226 VIRGINIA 



anything that I could even imagine to stand 

 for them. I have had experience enough of 

 such things, however, to be aware that my 

 failure proves nothing as against the wit- 

 ness of other men's eyesight. Certainly I 

 know of no ground for doubting that Wash- 

 ington cut his initials on the cliff ; and if he 

 did, it seems reasonable to believe that tra- 

 dition would have preserved a knowledge of 

 the place, and so have made it possible to 

 find them now in all their inevitable indis- 

 tinctness after so long an exposure to the 

 wear of the elements. Neither do I esteem 

 it anything but a natural and worthy curi- 

 osity for the visitor to wish to see them ; and 

 I may add my hope that all young men who 

 are destined to achieve Washington's mea- 

 sure of distinction will cut their names large 

 and deep in every such wall, for the benefit 

 of future generations. As for the rest of 

 us, if we must scratch our names in stone or 

 carve them on the bark of trees, let us seek 

 some sequestered nook, where the sight of 

 our doings will neither be an offense to 

 others nor make of ourselves a laughing- 

 stock. 



I have said that I discovered Dumphj of 



