156 TRAVELS THROUGH NORTH AMERICA: 
i 
that grain in preference. Those-who raise to¬ 
bacco and Indian corn are called planters,, and 
those who cultivate small grain., fanners. 
Though many of the houses in the Northern 
Neck are built, as I have said., of brick and 
stone, in the style of the old English manor 
houses, yet the greater number there, and 
r. 
th rough o ut Virginia, are of wood; amongst 
which are all those that have been built of late 
years. This is chiefly owing to a prevailing, 
though absurd opinion, that wooden houses are 
the healthiest, because the inside walls never 
appear damp, like those of brick and stone, in 
rainy weather. In front of every house is a 
porch or pent-house, commonly extending the 
whole length of the building ; very often there 
is one also in the rear, and sometimes all round. 
These porches afford an agreeable shade from 
the sun during summer. The hall, or saloon as 
it is called, is always a favourite apartment, 
during the hot weather, in a Virginian house, 
on account of the draught of air through it, 
and it is usually furnished similar to a parlour, 
with sofas, &c. 
The common people in the lower parts of 
Virginia have very sallow complexions, owing 
■to the burning; rays of the sun in summer, 
and the bilious complaints to which they are 
subject in the fall of tlie year. The women 
are far from being comely, and the dresses* 
