SIS TRAVELS THROUGH NORTH AMERICA t 
who is not six feet high. These people enter¬ 
tain a high opinion of their own superiority in 
point of bodily strength over the inhabitants 
of the low country. A similar race of men is 
i 
found all along the Blue Mountains. 
The Blue Ridge is thickly covered with large 
trees to the very summit; some of the moun¬ 
tains are rugged and extremely stony, others 
are not so, and on these last the soil is found to 
be rich and fertile. It is only in particular 
places that this ridge of mountains can be cross¬ 
ed, and at some of the gaps the ascent is steep 
and difficult'; but at the place where I crossed 
it, which was near the Peak of Otter, on the 
south side, instead of one great mountain to 
pass over, as might be imagined from an inspec¬ 
tion of the map, there is a succession of small 
hills, rising imperceptibly one above the other, 
so that you get upon the top of the Ridge before 
vou are aw are of it. 
' The Peaks of Otter are the highest moun¬ 
tains in the Blue Ridge, and measured from 
their bases, are supposed to be more lofty than, 
any others in North America. According to 
Mr. Jefferson, whose authority has been quoted 
nearly by every person that has written on the 
subject since the publication of his Notes on 
Virginia, the principal peak is about four 
thousand feet in perpendicular height; but it 
must observed, that Mr, Jefferson does not 
