201 
United States was assembled, to try a captain of a merchant ves¬ 
sel, and a Frenchman by birth. This man had twice sunk his 
ship, in order to get the insurance money for it. At one of these 
sinkings, a lady lost her life, and on that account the captain was 
accused of murder. I was sorry I could not fully understand the 
debates and speeches of the advocates, as I heard that the person 
under trial had the best lawyers for his defenders. The decision 
did not follow. 
Behind the capitol stands the court-house, a massive building 
with a portico of four Doric stone columns; in the interior of the 
building I saw nothing farther remarkable. At several booksellers 
I asked in vain for the plan of the city and the surrounding 
country, also for a description of the canal. 
We intended to leave Richmond at three o’clock in the morn¬ 
ing of the 30th of November, and set out on our projected tour. 
But, as the ordinary stage was repairing, they put us in a small 
carriage with only two horses, in which it was impossible to carry 
our baggage. As I would not part with it, I gave up the tour 
which I had concluded on, and left Richmond, in the morning at 
eight o’clock, on board the steam-boat Richmond, to descend the 
James river to Norfolk. In the mean time, I had an opportunity 
of noticing the particular manner in which the negroes are treat- 
ed. I wished to employ my leisure in writing; when I entered 
the room, I found several slaves wrapt up in woollen blankets, 
sleeping on the floor by the chimney-fire; upon inquiring, I was 
told that slaves never receive a better bed. 
We had one hundred and twenty-two miles to Norfolk, and 
reached that city between nine and ten o’clock in the evening. 
During the whole day the weather was not clear; on the banks 
of the meandering James river, which grows gradually larger, 
there was not any thing remarkable. The travelling company 
was not large, and was composed of incommunicative persons: I 
could not exchange a word with any of them. There was no' 
opportunity of writing, as the engine communicated such a 
quivering motion to the whole vessel, that I could hardly hold 
my pen, and spent my time in reading. Towards evening we 
perceived a large stone building on the left bank, the only remains 
of James Town, the first English settlement in Virginia. The 
following romantic story is related. An Indian princess, Po¬ 
cahontas, daughter of a powerful Indian chief on the banks of 
this river, whose name was Powhattan, fell in love with the Eng¬ 
lish Captain Smith, who was the commander of the first settle¬ 
ment at James Town. This Indian princess swam across the 
river in a stormy night, in order to give .notice to her lover of 
the conspiracy of her father and the principal chiefs, against 
his life. In this manner she saved the new settlement, and also 
Vol. I. 26 
