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a way, when in the interior of Virginia, and beyond the Blue 
Ridge. 
On the 25th of November, we set out for Charlotteville, thirty- 
two miles distant, passing over the Blue Ridge. The road is 
through a country little cultivated, and without a single village; 
and the number of separate houses could scarcely be more than a 
dozen. After we had gone about five miles, we arrived at the 
western base of the Blue Ridge, which affords an agreeable view, • 
being overgrown with wood up to the top. Then we entered 
a narrow valley, and when the road began to ascend, we alight¬ 
ed and walked over the mountains. I was surprised to find the 
road less 6teep than I expected, and it was also pretty good. 
From elevated places, the day being not so foggy as the preced¬ 
ing ones, we had many fine views of the mountains. The wood 
consisted of oak trees, and different kinds of nut trees; here and 
there were colossal fir, larch, Weymouth’s pine and acacia trees. 
Evergreen rhododendrons, for which some amateurs in Europe 
spend a great deal of money, are growing here in abundance, 
also wild vines, which wind themselves round the trees. The 
prospect on the mountains would have been more pleasant, had 
there been some marks of human dwellings, but we saw only 
two miserable log houses, inhabited by dirty and ragged negro 
families, on the whole tract for eight miles over the mountains; 
and we met but a few carts loaded with flour. 
Having crossed the Blue Ridge, we arrived at a good-looking 
Country house, and a mill called Brown’s Farm, situated at the 
base of the mountains, and took our dinner there. This house 
is surrounded by fields belonging to it, and from its piazza there 
is a very fine view of the mountains. From this place we had 
yet twenty miles to Charlotteville. The road became less hilly, 
at least we had no more mountains to cross; however, the road 
continued very rough, and we were rudely jolted. About eight 
o’clock in the evening we reached Charlotteville, in which the 
houses appeared to be scattered. In its vicinity is a new estab¬ 
lishment for education, called University of Virginia. The next 
morning we went to see the university, which is one mile distant 
from the town. 
This establishment has been open since March, 1824, and it 
is said to have already one hundred and thirty students; but a 
spirit of insubordination has caused many of the pupils to be 
sent away. The buildings are all new, and yet some of them 
seem to threaten to fall in, which may be the case with several 
others also, being chiefly built of wood. The interior of the 
library was not yet finished, but according to its plan it will be a 
beautiful one. The dome is made after the model of the Pan¬ 
theon in Rome, reduced one half. This place is intended for 
