VIEW OF THE TRADING TOWNS. 61 
laws consequently existed ; still however we 
shall hud that the most flourishing 1 towns in 
the state, are those which are open to the sea, 
and situated most conveniently at the same 
time for trading with the people of the baek 
country. On Rappahannock River, for in¬ 
stance, Tappahannock or Hobb’s Hole was 
laid out at the same time that Philadelphia was. 
Fired ericksburgh was built many years after¬ 
wards on the same river, but thirty miles 
higher up, and at the head of that part of it 
which was navigable for sea vessels ; the con¬ 
sequence of this has been, that Fredericksburgh, 
from being situated more in the heart of the 
country, is now four times as large a town as 
Hobb’s Hole. 
York River, from running so closely to 
James River on the one side, and the Rappa¬ 
hannock on the other, does not afford a good 
situation for a large town. The largest town 
upon it, which is York, only contains seventy 
houses. 
Williamsburgh was formerly the capital of 
the state, and contains about four hundred 
houses; but instead of increasing, this town is 
going to ruin, and numbers of the houses at 
present are uninhabited, which is evidently on 
account of its inland situation. There is 
no navigable stream nearer to it than one 
mile and a half, and this is only a small 
