158 TRAVELS THROUGH NORTH AMERICA: 
LETTER XII. 
Town of Tappahannock.—Rappahannock Ri¬ 
ver.—Sharks found in it.—Country border¬ 
ing upon Urbanna.—Fires common in the 
Woods.—Manner of stopping their dreadful 
Progress—Mode of getting Turpentine from 
Trees. — Gloucester .— York Town.—Remains 
of the Fortifications erected here during the 
American war—Houses shattered by Balls 
still remaining.—Cave in the Bank of the Ri¬ 
ver — Williamsburgh.—State House in Ruins. 
—Statue of Lord Bottetourt.—College of Wil¬ 
liam and Mary.—Condition of the Students. 
Williamsburg!),, April. 
SINCE I last wrote,, the greater part of my 
time has been spent at the houses of dif¬ 
ferent gentlemen in the Northern Neck. 
Four days ago I crossed the Rappahannock 
River^ which bounds the Northern Neck on 
one side,, to a small town called Tappa- 
hannockj or Hobb's Hole„ containing about 
one hundred houses. Before the war„ this 
town was in a much more flourishing state 
than at present; that unfortunate contest min¬ 
ed the trade of this little place., as it did that 
of most of the sea-port towns in Virginia. 
The Rappahannock is about three quarters of 
