184 TRAVELS THROUGH NORTH AMERICA 3 
boiled together with milk till the whole mass 
becomes firm. This is eat, either hot or cold, 
with bacon, or with other meat. 
As for my horses, they were almost starved. 
Hay is scarcely ever made use of in this part 
of the country, but in place of it they feed 
their cattle upon fodder, that is, the leaves of 
the Indian corn plant. Not a bit of fodder,' 
however, was to be had on the whole road 
from Norfolk to Richmond, excepting at two 
places; and the season having been remark¬ 
ably dry, the little grass that had sprung up 
had been, eat down every where by the cattle 
in the country. Oats were not to be had on 
any terms; and Indian corn was so scarce,^that 
I had frequently to send to one or two differ¬ 
ent houses before I could get even sufficient 
to give one feed each to ray horses. The peo¬ 
ple in the country endeavoured to account for 
this scarcity, from the badness of the harvest 
the preceding year; but the fact, I believe, 
was, that corn for exportation having been in 
great demand, and a most enormous price of¬ 
fered for it, the people had been tempted to 
dispose of a great deal more than they could 
well spare. Each person was eager to sell his 
own to such advantage, and depended upon 
getting supplied by his neighbour, so that they 
were all reduced to want. 
Petersburgh stands at the head of the na- 
