198 TRAVELS THROUGH NORTH AMERICA l 
tobacco. On the neck of land between the 
two rivers,, just opposite to the town, is the 
magazine of the state, in which are kept 
twelve thousand stand of arms, and about thirty 
tons of powder. The low lands bordering 
upon the river in this neighbourhood are ex¬ 
tremely valuable. 
From Columbia to the Green Springs, about 
twenty miles farther on, the road runs almost 
wholly through a pine forest, and is very lonely. 
Night came on before I got to the end of it, 
and, as very commonly happens with travellers 
in this part of the world, I soon lost my way. 
A light, however, seen through the trees, 
seemed to indicate that a house was not far 
oif: my servant eagerly rode up to it, but the 
poor fellow's consternation was great indeed 
when he observed it moving from him, pre¬ 
sently coming back, and then with swiftness 
departing again into the woods. I was at a 
loss for a time myself to account for the ap¬ 
pearance, but after proceeding a little farther, 
I observed the same sort of light in many other 
places, and dismounting from my horse to ex¬ 
amine a bush where one of these sparks ap¬ 
peared to have fallen, I found it proceeded 
from the fire fly. As the summer came on, 
these flies appeared every night: after a light 
shower in the afternoon, I have seen the woods 
sparkling with them in every quarter. The 
