200 
boat went in the direction we wished to take. My design was 
to go to Yorktown, to see the remains of an English fortification 
of the revolutionary war, and Fort Monroe near Old Point Com¬ 
fort, and then to travel on farther to Norfolk, to see the navy- 
yard, thence to hasten to the south, in order to make up for the 
time I spent in Virginia. I took a walk through the town, to 
look around, for there was nothing else remarkable to be seen. 
The town lies on the left bank of James river, and consists of 
two streets, running parallel with the river, and of several insig¬ 
nificant alleys. The main street, which lies next to the river, is 
finished, the other does not contain many houses; the former is 
probably a mile long, paved, and has side-walks made of bricks. 
As they burn coal here, the city looks nearly black. In the 
western part of Virginia, they only use wood. The blacks seem 
to compose the most numerous part of the population of that place. 
It is here where James river becomes navigable; above the city, 
navigation is carried on by the above-mentioned canal, which here 
joins the river, after having gone through a large basin, at whose 
wharves they were yet working. This canal descends in the 
city from a considerable height, by means of eight locks; the 
sides of the canal between the locks are only made of plank. 
On the hill where those locks begin, there is a pretty large basin, 
which serves as an harbour for the boats coming from the coun¬ 
tries above, and bound for Richmond. In the vicinity of this 
basin, I saw a hollow formed by rocks and full of wooden huts, 
which were inhabited by negroes, and exhibited a true picture of 
human misery. This hollow has the form of a funnel. In rainy 
weather, these poor people must probably suffer a great deal 
from dampness. Below the locks, you cross James river on a 
.wooden bridge resting on wooden trestles. From this bridge 
you go over a side bridge to a small island, containing a public 
garden, and lying in the middle of the river; above the island a 
ledge of rocks crosses the river and forms a small cataract; farther 
up there are said to be several other falls in the river. 
On a hill which commands the city, stands the state-house, call¬ 
ed the capitol, surrounded by a newly laid out garden; it reminds 
one of the Maison Quarree, at Nismes in France. On one of 
the smaller sides of the parallelogram there is a portico of eight 
Ionic columns. But these columns are of wood only, and have, 
when closely inspected, a rather decayed appearance. On the 
two long sides, the building has entrances with steps. In the 
hall in the middle of the house, there is a full length marble sta¬ 
tue of President Washington, somewhat tasteless. It represents the 
great man in uniform; the right hand reposing on a cane, the left 
arm on fasces, to which a sword is hanging, and against which the 
plough leans. In one of the lateral chambers the court of the 
