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Mrs. Weightman, in Washington, a letter of introduction to Dr. 
Scheffey, her brother-in-law, and the most renowned lawyer in 
the place. I delivered it, and received a visit from this gentle¬ 
man. He came with several of his brother lawyers, and among 
them three generals of militia were introduced. Dr. Scheffey 
himself was a major, and almost every inhabitant of distinction 
is invested with a rank in the militia. The custom being here 
to call one another by their military rank, one is tempted to be¬ 
lieve himself transported to the head-quarters of some army! In 
conversing with these gentlemen, I observed with astonishment 
the aristocratical spirit which the Virginians possess, I was as¬ 
tonished to hear them praising hereditary nobility and primoge¬ 
niture! In the evening I went to see Dr. Scheffey, and we spent 
the time very pleasantly over a good glass of wine, and in rational 
conversation. 
The next morning, I left my baggage in Staunton at half past- 
two o’clock, in a miserable stage, in order to go to the Natural 
Bridge, upon a very bad road. We passed only two decent places, 
Fairfield and Lexington, the last is the chief town of Rockbridge 
county, and has a court and high school. On account of a fog, 
which lasted all day, we could see but little of the country, which 
in some parts of Rockbridge county becomes very mountainous. 
We forded two small streams, called Middle river and Buffalo 
creek, over the last there is a wooden bridge, which is made use 
of only at very high water. Our travelling company was not 
the most agreeable, it was composed of two Americans, who did 
not open their mouths, and of an Irish resident, who talked the 
more for the silence of the others; all this was disagreeable enough. 
At times he became interesting, when he had cheered his heart 
with whiskey. We passed by many very handsome country- 
houses; at one of them we saw eight large black eagles sitting on 
a fence, they were fed by the care of the proprietor. The inha¬ 
bitants seem not very fond of shooting, for I saw snipes in Fair- 
field, which flew even into the yard of the tavern. Game is here 
very abundant, a deer costs about a dollar and a half. 
In the afternoon we reached a lonely tavern, situated in the 
mountains called Natural Bridge, which is fifty miles distant from 
Staunton. I availed myself of the short time the sun remained 
above the horizon to hasten to the Natural Bridge, which is a 
mile and a half distant from the tavern, and for the sake of 
which I had made so great a circuit and suffered so many fa¬ 
tigues. A young negro slave from the tavern was our conduc¬ 
tor; the way lead through mountains overgrown with wood. At 
last I stood upon a rock whence I could overlook the cleft and 
the bridge just before me. In Jefferson’s Notes, that learned 
man gives a description of the bridge, which is as follows: 
