132 TRAVELS THROUGH NORTH AMERICA : 
Passage o f the Paiomnm very dangerous 
Fresh Water Oysters.—Landed on a deserted 
Part of the Virginian Shore.—Great • Hospi¬ 
tality of the Virginians „ 
Stratford, March, , 
IN the neighbourhood of York aiitk 
caster, the soil consists of a rich, brown, loamy 
earth; and if you proceed in a south-westerly. 
course, 
el to the 
iue 
ajos, you 
meet with the same kind of soli as far as Fre¬ 
deric 10 
ary] and. 
rlere 
nges gvac 
to a deep reddish colour, aod continues much 
the same along the eastern side of the moun¬ 
tains, all the way down to North Carolina. 
On crossing over the mountains, however, di¬ 
rectly from Frederic, the same fertile brown 
soil, which is common m the neighbourhood 
of! erk and Lancaster, is again met with,, and 
it is found throughout the Shenandoah Valley., 
and as far down as the Carolina^ on the west 
side of the mountains. 
Between York and Frederic in Maryland 
there are two or three, small towns; viz. Han¬ 
over, Petersburg b, and Vi oodsburgh, but there 
is nothing, worthy of mention in any. of therm 
JVederic contains about seven hundred houses 
and five churches, two of which are for Ger¬ 
man Lutherans, one-for Presbyterians, one for 
>, It is a 
^■amrnsis, ana one 
