26 ESS A YS. 



Seneca or Keowee River, crossing over to the latter ; and, 

 climbing the higher mountains about its sources in the inclem- 

 ent month of December, when they were mostly covered with 

 snow, he at length found some trees of Magnolia cordata, to 

 obtain which was the principal object of this arduous journey. 

 Retracing his steps,* he reached Charleston at the end of 

 December, with a large collection of living trees, roots, and 

 seeds. The remainder of the winter Michaux passed in the 

 Bahama Islands, returning to Charleston in the month of 

 May. Early in June he set out upon a journey to a different 

 portion of the mountains of North Carolina, by way of Cam- 

 den, Charlotte (the county seat of Mecklenburg), and Mor- 

 ganton, reaching the higher mountains at " Turkey Cove, 

 thirty miles from Burke Court House " (probably the head 

 of Turkey Creek, a tributary of the Catawba), on the 15th of 

 June. From this place he made an excursion to the Black 

 Mountain, in what is now Yancey County, and afterwards to 

 the Yellow Mountain, which Michaux at that time considered 

 to be the highest mountain in the United States. If the 

 Roan be included in the latter appellation, as I believe it 

 often has been, this opinion is not far from the truth ; since 

 the Black Mountain alone exceeds it, according to Professor 

 Mitchell's recent measurements. Descending this elevated 

 range on the Tennessee side, and traveling for the most part 

 through an unbroken wilderness, near the end of June he 

 reached the Block House on the Holston, famous in the an- 

 nals of border warfare. Several persons had been killed by 

 the Indians during the preceding week, and general alarm 

 prevailing, Michaux abandoned his intention of penetrating 

 into Kentucky, and resolved to botanize for a time in the 

 mountains of Virginia. He accordingly entered that State, 

 and arrived on the 1st of July at " Washington Court House, 

 premiere ville dans la Virginie que Ton trouve sur la cote 

 occidentale des montagnes, en sortant de la Carolinie Sep- 

 tentrionale." To this he adds the following note : " Premiere 

 ville, si Ton peut nommer ville une Bourgade composee de 

 douze maisons (log-houses). Dans cette ville on ne mange 

 que de pain de Mays. II n'y a viande fraiche, ni cidre, mais 



