GAMBLING. _ 191 
veral that live retired on their fortunes, reside 
in the upper town; the other part is inhabited 
principally by the traders. 
Perhaps in no place of the same size in the 
world is there more gambling going forward 
than in Richmond. I had scarcely alighted 
from my horse at the tavern, when the landlord 
came to ask what game I was most partial to, 
as in such a room there was a faro table, in 
another a hazard table, in a third a billiard 
table, to any one of which he was ready to 
conduct me. Not the smallest secrecy is em.~ 
ployed in keeping these tables; they are al¬ 
ways crowded with people, and the doors of 
the apartment are only shut to prevent the rab¬ 
ble from coming in. Indeed, throughout the 
lower part of the country in Virginia, and also 
in that part of Maryland next to it, there is 
scarcely a petty tavern without a billiard room, 
and this is always full of a set of idle low-lived 
fellows, drinking spirits or playing cards, if not 
engaged at the table. Cock-fighting is also 
another favourite diversion. It is chiefly, how¬ 
ever, the lower class of people that partake of 
these amusements at the taverns; in private 
•there is, perhaps, as little gambling in Virginia 
as in any other part of America. The circum¬ 
stance of having the taverns thus infested by 
such a set of people, renders travelling ex¬ 
tremely unpleasant. Many times I have been 
