184 
The whole of the marine corps is composed of but seven hun¬ 
dred men, who were employed on board the squadrons in the 
Mediterranean Sea, the Gulf of Mexico, and in the South Sea, to 
serve on board the receiving ships, and in the navy yards of 
Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Washington and Norfolk. 
Hopes were entertained, that the next congress would consent to 
augment this corps to the number of fifteen hundred men, and 
this augmentation would, no doubt, have a great influence on the 
improvement of the service. 
CHAPTER XIV. 
Departure from Washington.—Fredericktown. — Harper*s 
Ferry.—Blue Ridge. — Staunton.—Natural Bridge. — 
Wier’s Cave.-—Char lot teville.— University of Virginia. 
—Monticello. —Richmond. —Jamestown. —Norfolk.—Fort 
Monroe. — Fayetteville. — Columbia. 
ON the 15th of November, I set out from Washington with 
Mr. Huygens, jr., who was desirous of accompanying me by per¬ 
mission of his father. I had hired a carriage with four horses to 
Harper’s Ferry, about fifty miles from Washington, where we 
were to arrive in two days. The road was for some miles very 
good, but afterwards it became bad and rugged and continued so 
the rest of the day. We left the District of Columbia, and again 
entered the state of Maryland. The country through which we 
were passing was hilly, covered with wood, and in some places 
cultivated; single large"; houses belonging to tobacco planters, 
and in their vicinity small ones for the negro slaves, were scat¬ 
tered here and there. We went through only one decent place 
called Rocksville. About seven o’clock in the evening we reach¬ 
ed an inn called Scholl’s tavern, situated in the township of 
Clarksburg, distant from Washington twenty-five miles. 
Next morning we left Clarksburg; it was pretty cool, and the 
road as rough as before. It was fifteen miles to Fredericktown, 
over a hilly and rocky country. Sometimes we saw handsome 
prospects on the mountains of the Blue Ridge, which we were 
approaching. The houses that we passed by, were like those of 
yesterday; the negro houses mostly of wood, with clumsy chim- 
nies, built close to the house. The Monocacy river we passed 
at a ford within four miles of Fredericktown. This is one of 
the principal places in the state of Maryland, and is situated in 
