This manufactory, and that of Springfield, the only ones belonging to the government, furnishes at present in time of peace, fifteen thousand guns yearly. These guns are generally browned by the process indicated by Dupin, also, the rings and bayonets, the last of which are kept bright by the British.
Mr. Stubbersfield conducted me also to the arsenal, in which the finished muskets are delivered, and are either here preserved, or packed up in cases by twenty, and sent to other arsenals. In the interior of the arsenal, every thing is of wood, notwithstanding the great importance of being fire-proof, as it contains such a large capital. There were eighty-four thousand guns. If the value of one be estimated only at thirteen dollars, it makes the sum of one million and ninety-two thousand dollars.
From the arsenal, we were conducted to a new manufactory, half a mile from the town, where Mr. Hall’s patent guns are constructed under his own direction. He not being present, I was not fortunate enough to find any body to explain the machinery, which appeared not yet in full action. Dr. Weise, went with us to a mountain above this place, called Jefferson’s Rock. The prospect from it is really very fine; it agrees with the description, yet I believe I have seen finer landscapes in Germany. From that place also, the town can be surveyed, the houses of which appeared to be rather scattered; of its fifteen hundred inhabitants, three hundred are working in the gun manufactory. The ground for the most part belongs to the government, and well recommended persons obtain permission to build upon it. On an elevation, near Jefferson’s Rock, a large building, three stories high, has been erected. The first story was intended for a church, the second for a Lancasterian school, and the third for a free mason’s lodge. I suffered very much from a very cold wind, which brought with it a little snow. In the evening, Dr. Weise came to me with a bridge builder, who was a native of Reuslingen, who came here thirty years ago as a baker, and then had learned the art of constructing mills and bridges. The second bridge on the Schuylkill, above Philadelphia, built of a single arch, is of his invention, and the next year he was to build one here over the Potomac.
On the 19th of November, we left Harper’s ferry in a clear, but very cold morning, and set off on a journey to the Natural Bridge, which is one hundred and seventy-five miles distant. We rode in an ordinary stage. The improvement of stages, appears not yet to have extended beyond the Blue Mountains, because we were obliged to be contented with one, which was in every respect very uncomfortable. The way led us through a hilly country and was very bad. We went for a considerable distance on rocks; on the road, a great many loose stones were lying, and I was surprised, that our miserable vehicle was not broken to pieces. At break of day, we arrived at a small place called Smithfield, eighteen miles from Harper’s ferry. A couple of miles farther, we came to warm Sulphur Springs, the water of which has the taste of spoiled eggs, like that of Aix-la-Chapelle. It seems to be very little known, as there is no enclosure around it, and no houses near. A lucky chance will no doubt make it known, and I should not be surprised, were I to come hither again in fifteen or twenty years, to find at this spot an elegant watering place, somewhat like Saratoga Springs. The road continued through a forest of oak, chesnut, acacia, and cedar trees; houses were seldom met with. We forded many creeks, the most considerable of them is called Cedar creek. We observed also some grist-mills. It froze pretty hard, so that the borders of the creeks were covered with a pretty thick ice, and large icicles hung on the sluices of the mills. Eleven miles beyond Smithfield, we came to Winchester, a very nice country town, where the houses are mostly of masonry, and form a long principal street, intersected by other smaller ones; it has a market-house, and many stores, which appeared to be very well provided. Here we changed our stage for a better one, although still very inconvenient. The wood of which it was constructed was hickory, which has a great deal of elasticity.
From Winchester, we went to Stephensbury, eight miles farther, to Middleton, then to Strasburg, six miles, and at last to Woodstock, twelve miles, where we passed the night. This place is sixty-one miles distant from Harper’s ferry. We reached our night-quarters in the evening about six o’clock, in a very cold night and a fine moonshine. The places between Winchester and Woodstock were not considerable, except Strasburg, which is more ancient than the others, and appears to have a larger population. The houses are generally of wood and covered with shingles, although a great number of stones are found here. The country became at last very fine. On our left we saw the Blue Ridge, from which we now withdrew at every moment. Another ridge, in a parallel direction with the former, called the Northern Ridge, rose suddenly between us and the Blue Ridge, which soon entirely disappeared. On our right there was another ridge of mountains, it was an arm of the Alleghany Mountains, and we went through a valley at least ten miles wide. The formation of these parallel ridges is very singular, and no instance occurs of it in the other parts of the world. The country was pretty well cultivated, and by the exterior appearance of many country-houses, we were induced to believe their inhabitants enjoyed plenty. The enclosures of fields are here, for the most part, the above-mentioned old fences, yet next to the houses they are of masonry carefully formed. As it appeared, they travel here much on horseback. On account of great distances between the plantations, almost all the ladies can ride on horseback; we met several of them elegantly dressed, and also black women. The race of horses of this country, appears to be a very strong one. They use also oxen for drawing; to many carts were put two oxen, and before them two horses. On the 20th of November, we left Woodstock at half-past two o’clock in the morning, in a very miserable stage, and proceeded to Staunton, seventy-one miles distant, on a still more rugged road than that of yesterday; in this place we passed the night. The places on our way were mostly insignificant: only Shryock, New Market, Big Spring, and Harrisonburg, deserve to be mentioned; the last of them is said to have from eight to nine hundred inhabitants. The greatest part of the houses were wooden ones, and but a few of masonry. This part of the state of Virginia does not bear comparison with Massachusetts, New York, or even Pennsylvania. The great number of slaves in this state, makes also a very bad impression.[I.34] The largest part of the country is not covered with wood, and appears to be well cultivated. As for the rest it is very hilly, and on our left hand we had all day the ridge of North Mountains, of which, however, we could not see much, owing to the fogginess of the weather. We crossed many streams at fords; these streams were rather torrents. We crossed the Shenandoah near its source. About seven o’clock in the evening we reached Staunton, and took our lodgings in an unpleasant tavern. This long and uncomfortable journey, in an extremely bad stage, and upon a very rough way, made me quite uneasy, and my young travelling companion more so, for he seemed not to be very much accustomed to such fatigues. I suffered, however, this want of comfort with a great deal of patience.
On the 21st of November, we were obliged to stay in Staunton, because the stage goes only every other day to the Natural Bridge, which is on the road to Knoxville and Louisville, and this bridge being too far distant from Staunton, we could not, with a hired carriage, go there, and return within two days. We employed the leisure forced upon us in examining the country. The town itself is small, has about one thousand six hundred inhabitants, and consists, properly speaking, of but two principal streets, intersecting each other at right angles. The greatest part of the houses are of wood, covered with shingles. Staunton is the chief place of Augusta county; the court was in session, and on that account a great many lawyers were present. The town is surrounded by hills and covered with wood, as far as I could observe in the foggy weather, which lasted all day. The Shenandoah here is but a small brook; opposite the town is a limestone rock, having many cavities. I was told they were very spacious. I tried to creep in, but found the entrance so narrow and low, that I was obliged to give it up. I had obtained from Mrs. Weightman, in Washington, a letter of introduction to Dr. Scheffey, her brother-in-law, and the most renowned lawyer in the place. I delivered it, and received a visit from this gentleman. He came with several of his brother lawyers, and among them three generals of militia were introduced. Dr. Scheffey himself was a major, and almost every inhabitant of distinction is invested with a rank in the militia. The custom being here to call one another by their military rank, one is tempted to believe himself transported to the head-quarters of some army! In conversing with these gentlemen, I observed with astonishment the aristocratical spirit which the Virginians possess. I was astonished to hear them praising hereditary nobility and primogeniture! In the evening I went to see Dr. Scheffey, and we spent the time very pleasantly over a good glass of wine, and in rational conversation.
The next morning, I left my baggage in Staunton at half past two o’clock, in a miserable stage, in order to go to the Natural Bridge, upon a very bad road. We passed only two decent places, Fairfield and Lexington, the last is the chief town of Rockbridge county, and has a court and high school. On account of a fog, which lasted all day, we could see but little of the country, which in some parts of Rockbridge county becomes very mountainous. We forded two small streams, called Middle river and Buffalo creek, over the last there is a wooden bridge, which is made use of only at very high water. Our travelling company was not the most agreeable, it was composed of two Americans, who did not open their mouths, and of an Irish resident, who talked the more for the silence of the others; all this was disagreeable enough. At times he became interesting, when he had cheered his heart with whiskey. We passed by many very handsome country-houses; at one of them we saw eight large black eagles sitting on a fence, they were fed by the care of the proprietor. The inhabitants seem not very fond of shooting, for I saw snipes in Fairfield, which flew even into the yard of the tavern. Game is here very abundant, a deer costs about a dollar and a half.
In the afternoon we reached a lonely tavern, situated in the mountains called Natural Bridge, which is fifty miles distant from Staunton. I availed myself of the short time the sun remained above the horizon to hasten to the Natural Bridge, which is a mile and a half distant from the tavern, and for the sake of which I had made so great a circuit and suffered so many fatigues. A young negro slave from the tavern was our conductor; the way lead through mountains overgrown with wood. At last I stood upon a rock whence I could overlook the cleft and the bridge just before me. In Jefferson’s Notes, that learned man gives a description of the bridge, which is as follows:
“The Natural Bridge, the most sublime of Nature’s works, though not comprehended under the present head, must not be pretermitted. It is on the ascent of a hill, which seems to have been cloven through its length by some great convulsion. The fissure just at the bridge, is by some admeasurements, two hundred and seventy feet deep, by others only two hundred and five. It is about forty-five feet wide at the bottom, and ninety feet at the top; this of course determines the length of the bridge, and its height from the water, its breadth in the middle is about sixty feet, but more at the ends, and the thickness of the mass, at the summit of the arch about forty feet. A part of this thickness is constituted by a coat of earth, which gives growth to many large trees. The residue, with the hill on both sides, is one solid rock of limestone.—The arch approaches the semi-elliptical form, but the larger axis of the ellipsis, which would be the chord of the arch, is many times longer than the transverse. Though the sides of this bridge are provided in some parts with a parapet of fixed rocks, yet few men have resolution to walk to them, and look over into the abyss. You involuntarily fall on your hands and feet, creep to the parapet, and peep over it. Looking down from this height about a minute, gave me a violent head-ache. If the view from the top be painful and intolerable, that from below is delightful in an equal extreme. It is impossible for the emotions arising from the sublime, to be felt beyond what they are here: so beautiful an arch, so elevated, so light, and springing as it were up to heaven! The rapture of the spectator is really indiscribable! The fissure continuing narrow, deep, and straight, for a considerable distance above and below the bridge, opens a short but very pleasing view of the North Mountain on one side and Blue Ridge on the other, at the distance each of them of about five miles. This bridge is in the county of Rockbridge, to which it has given name, and affords a public and commodious passage over a valley, which cannot be crossed elsewhere for a considerable distance. The stream passing under it is called Cedar creek. It is a water of James’s river, and sufficient in the driest seasons to turn a grist-mill, though its fountain is not more than two miles above.”
I confess that I am no poet; yet I was very glad to have taken the trouble of coming hither; this rock-bridge being certainly one of the greatest wonders of nature I have ever beheld; and I have seen Vesuvius and the Phlegrean fields, the Giant’s Causeway in Ireland, the Island of Staffa, and the Falls of Niagara! The brook under the bridge was almost dry; the most majestic view is from below.