MOUNT VERNON, 
place, are out of repair, and the old part of the 
building is in such a perishable state, that I 
have been told he wishes he had pulled it en¬ 
tirely down at first, and built a new house, in- 
stead of making any addition to the old one* 
The grounds in the neighbourhood are culti¬ 
vated ; but the principal farms are at the dis¬ 
tance of two or three miles. 
As almost every stranger going through the 
country makes a point of visiting Mount Ver¬ 
non, a person is kept at the house during 
General Washington's. absence, whose sole 
business it is to attend to strangers. Imme¬ 
diately on our arrival every care was taken of 
our horses, beds were prepared, and an ex¬ 
cellent supper provided for us, with claret and 
other wine, <&c. 
As the season was now too far advanced to 
see the country to advantage, I proceeded no 
farther in Virginia than Mount Vernon, hut 
returned again to the city of W ashington, 
