399 
V I R G 
To VI'RGIN, v. n. To keep as a virgin in fact. 
A kiss 
long as my exile, sweet as my revenge! 
I carried from thee, my dear; and my true lip 
Hath virgin'd it e’er since. Shakspeare. 
VIRGIN, Cape, a steep white cliff on the east coast of 
South America, not unlike the North Foreland. It was so 
called bv Magellan, because he discovered it on the feast of 
St. Ursula. Lat. 52. 24. S. long. 68. 22. W. 
VIRGIN GORDA, or Spanish Town, one of the Virgin 
islands, in the West Indies, which belongs to the English. 
It is of a very irregular figure, and its greatest length from 
north-east to south-west, is 8 miles. Lat. 18. 20. N. long. 
63. 48. W. 
VIRGIN ISLANDS, a cluster of islands in the West 
Indies, situated to the east of Porto Rico. 
VIRGIN ROCKS, rocks in the Atlantic; 60 miles south¬ 
east of Cape Race, on the coasj; of Newfoundland. Lat. 46. 
20. N. long. 50. W. 
VI'RGINAL, adj. Maiden; maidenly; pertaining to a 
virgin. 
Tears virginal 
Shall be to me even as the dew to fire; 
And beauty, that the tyrant oft reclaims. 
Shall to my flaming wrath be oil and flax. Shakspeare. 
VI'RGINAL, s. [more usually virginals."] A musical 
instrument so called, because commonly used by young 
ladies.—The musician hath produced two means of straining 
strings. The one is stopping them with the finger, as in the 
necks of lutes and viols; the other is the shortness of the 
string, as in harps and virginals. Bacon. 
To VI'RGINAL, v. a. " To pat; to strike as on the vir¬ 
ginal. A cant word .—Still virginalling upon thy palm. 
Shakspeare. 
VIRGINES, Las, Bay of, a bay on the coast of New 
Albion, between Cape Colnet and Point Zuniga. 
VIRGINIA, one of the United States, situated between 
36° 30' and 40° 40' E. and 6° 20' N. latitude, and between 
1° 20' W. longitude. It is bounded on the north by Mary¬ 
land, Pennsylvania, and Ohio; south by North Carolina 
and Tennesse; east by Maryland and the Atlantic ocean; 
west by Kentucky and Ohio. Its length, from the Atlantic 
on the east to the Cumberland mountains on the west, is 440 
miles. Its greatest breadth, from north to south, is 290 
miles ; area, 70,000 square miles. It contains the following 
counties:—Accomack, Albemarle, Amelia, Amherst, Au¬ 
gusta, Bath, Bedford, Berkeley, Botetourt, Brooke, Bruns¬ 
wick, Buckingham, Campbell, Caroline, Charles City, Char¬ 
lotte, Chesterfield, Cumberland, Culpeper, Cabell, Dinwid- 
die, Elizabeth City, Essex, Fauquier, Fairfax, Fluvanna, 
Frederick, Franklin, Gloucester, Goochland, Grayson, 
Greenbrier, Greensville, Giles, Halifax, Hampshire, Hanover, 
Hardy, Harrison, Henrico, Henry, Isle of Wight, James 
City, Jefferson, Kenhawa, King and Queen, King George, 
King William, Lancaster, Lee, Loudoun, Louisa, Lunen- 
burgh, Madison, Matthews, Mecklinburg, Middlesex, Mo¬ 
nongalia, Monroe, Montgomery, Mason, Nansemond, Nel¬ 
son, New Kent, Nicholas, Norfolk county, Northampton, 
Northumberland, Nottaway, Ohio, Orange, Patrick, Pen¬ 
dleton, Pittsylvania, Powhatan, Preston, Prince Edward, 
Princess Anne, Prince William, Prince George, Randolph, 
Richmond, Rockbridge, Rockingham, Russel, Scott, She¬ 
nandoah, Southampton, Spotsylvania, Stafford, Surry, Sus¬ 
sex? Tazewell, Tyler, Warwick, Washington, Westmoreland, 
Wood, Wythe, York, Richmond City, Norfolk Borough, 
and Petersburg. 
The state of Virginia may be classed under four separate 
divisions, essentially differing from one another. The first, 
extending 100 miles inland, from the sea-coast to the termina¬ 
tion of tide at Fredericksburg, Richmond, &c., is low and 
flat, sometimes fenny, sometimes sandy, and on the margin 
of rivers composed of a rich loam, covered with a luxuriant 
and even rank vegetation. This part is unhealthy in the 
months of August, September, and October, 
I N I A. 
The next division extends from the head of tide water to the 
Blue Ridge, 150 miles. The surface near the tide water is 
level; higher up the rivers it becomes swelling; and near the 
mountains it is often abrupt and broken. The soil is divided 
into sections of very unequal quality, parallel to each other, 
and extending throughout the state. The parallel of the coun¬ 
ties of Chesterfield, Henrico, Hanover, &c., is a thin, sandy, 
and, except on the rivers, an unproductive soil. That of 
Goochland, Cumberland, Prince Edward, Halifax, &c., is 
generally fertile- Fluvanna, Buckingham, Campbell, Pitt¬ 
sylvania, again, are poor; and Culpeper, Orange, Albemarle, 
Bedford, &c., a rich, though frequently a stony, broken soil, 
on a substratum of tenacious and red coloured clay. The 
population of this section, especially near the mountains, is 
more robust and healthy than that of any other part of the 
state. The scenery of the upper part is highly picturesque and 
romantic. There is a vein of limestone running through the 
counties of Albemarle, Orange, &c. Pit coal, of a good quality, 
is found within 20 miles above Richmond, on James river. 
The third division is the valley between the Blue Ridge and 
North and Allegany mountains; a valley which extends, with 
little interruption, from the Potomac, across the state, to 
North Carolina and Tennessee, narrower, but of greater length 
than either of the preceding divisions. The soil is a mould 
formed on a bed of limestone. The surface of the valley is 
sometimes broken by sharp and solitary mountains detached 
from the general chain, the sides of which, nearly bare, or 
but thinly covered with blasted pines, form disagreeable ob¬ 
jects in the landscape. The bed of the valley is fertile, pro¬ 
ducing good crops of Indian corn, wheat, rye, oats, buck 
wheat, hemp, flax, timothy, and clover. The farms are 
smaller than in the lower parts of Virginia; and the cultiva¬ 
tion is better. Here are few slaves. This valley has inex¬ 
haustible mines of excellent iron ore. Chalk is found in 
Bottetourt county. 
The fourth division extends from the Allegany mountains 
to the river Ohio: a country wild and broken, in some parts 
fertile, but generally lean or barren; but having mines of 
iron, lead, coal, salt, &c. The soil of a great proportion of 
the county of Randolph, and the adjacent counties in the 
north-west part of the state, is of an excellent quality, pro¬ 
ducing large crops of grain. The surface is uneven and 
hilly. The county is well watered, is excellent for grazing, 
and has a very healthy climate. 
Virginia and Maryland lie between those parallels, which 
include the finest climate in the old continent; Morocco, 
Fez, Syria, Asia Minor, Greece, Sicily, Naples, and the 
southern provinces of Spain. Of late years, snow does not lie 
below the mountains more than a few days, and the rivers 
seldom freeze. The heat of the summer is also more mo¬ 
derate. The temperature is much influenced by the winds; 
those from the north and north-west bring cold and clear 
weather; those from the south-east, haziness, moisture, and 
warmth. The pleasantest months are May and June : July 
and August are intensely hot, and September and October are 
generally rainy. It is observed, that as agriculture advances, 
and the swamps are drained, the climate becomes gradually 
milder; and it is believed, that at no very distant period, 
oranges and lemons may be cultivated in the south-eastern 
parts. 
Iron ore is in great abundance on the banks of James river, 
in the counties of Albemarle and Augusta. The manufac¬ 
turing establishments on the southern banks of Cullaway, 
Ross, and Balendine, produce considerable quantities of 
bar iron. Brown scaly iron ore, or the brown oxid of iron, 
is seen on the Shenandoah. Plumbago, or carburet of 
iron, is in great abundance in the county of Amelia, between 
the Blue ridge and the extremity of tide water. Copper, in a 
native state, has been found in Orange county ; and the ore of 
this metal on both sides of James river, in the county of Am¬ 
herst. Gold ore has been discovered in Buckingham county. 
In Mr. Jefferson’s Notes on Virginia, it is stated, that on the 
borders, and not far from the cataracts of the Rappahanock 
river, a piece of this substance was found, which yielded 
seventeen pennyweights. Sulphuret of antimony is said to 
exist 
