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santly through a wood, became a little better after we arrived at 
the other side of the bridge. It was called a turnpike road, but 
still it continued hilly. We passed but a single inn, and saw 
but a single country house, which belonged to Commodore 
Jones, whose daughter became a Catholic and a nun, in a convent 
at Georgetown; this occurrence produced a great sensaticfri in 
the United States. Most of the people we met yvith, were tat¬ 
tered negroes, who humbly saluted us. We were now in the 
state of Virginia, in the vicinity of the falls; when the road be¬ 
came very bad, we left our vehicle and went on foot through the 
forest, to see this natural curiosity, whose noise made us sensible 
of its proximity. 
The river runs here over a rocky bed, and is about three hun¬ 
dred paces wide; in the dry season it is a great deal narrower. It 
forms several distinct falls, none of them above fifty feet high. 
They recal to memory Glenn’s Falls on the Hudson, between 
Lake George and Saratoga. We crept about in the labyrinth of 
broken rocks, not without danger or difficulty, in order to obtain 
different views of these falls. The sun was shining upon them 
at the time, and afforded us the sight of several rainbows; we soon 
felt ourselves richly rewarded for our pains. 
In order to avoid these falls, a canal with locks has been made 
on the right shore. The canal passing through the rocks, is in 
some places dug down more than fifty feet. We, unfortunately, had 
chosen Sunday for our excursion; the inhabitants were gone to 
church, and there was nobody to give us the necessary explana¬ 
tions. There was no vegetation on the rocks about the falls, ex¬ 
cept some broom and single clover. We saw also upon the rock 
a creeping cactus plant, resembling the cochineal cactus, with 
small pear-shaped fruit, which contained a purple-red slimy juice. 
This plant gave me the first sign of my approach to the south. 
We returned to Washington by the road we came. Notwith¬ 
standing the late season, it was as warm as in midsummer. 
The capitol is a really imposing building. When it is once 
surrounded by handsome buildings, it will produce a fine effect. 
It is built of white marble, and has three domes; the largest is 
over the rotunda, and the two smaller over the wings. The ca¬ 
pitol stands on an acclivity, and in front is three stories high, and 
on the back, which is opposite the president’s mansion, four 
stories high. In front is the entrance, with a portal of Corinthian 
columns; on the back part there is a large balcony, decorated 
with columns. The entrance under the portal is a little too low. 
In the centre of the building, under the principal dome is a 
large circular hall, receiving light from the roof. Pictures are 
to be placed in this hall, under the bas-reliefs. One of these 
represents the deliverance of Captain Smith, commander of the 
