We found Purslane (Portulaca oleracea) growing plentifully in a sandy soil. In gardens it was one of the worst weeds.
We found people returning every where to their habitations, which they had been forced to leave during the war.
The farms were commonly built close to the river, on the hills. Each house has a little kitchen-garden, and a still lesser orchard. Some farms, however, had large gardens. The kitchen-gardens afford several kinds of gourds, water-melons, and kidney-beans. The orchards are full of apple-trees. This year the trees had few or no apples, on account of the frosty nights which had happened in May, and the drought which had continued throughout this summer. [[285]]
The houses hereabouts are generally built of beams of wood, and of unburnt bricks dried by the sun and the air. The beams are first erected, and upon them a gable with two walls, and the spars. The wall on the gable is made of boards. The roof is covered with shingles of fir. They make the walls of unburnt bricks, between the beams, to keep the rooms warmer; and that they might not easily be destroyed by rain and air, they are covered with boards on the outside. The cellar is below the house.
The farms are either built close to the river-side, or on the high grounds; and around them are large fields with maize.
We saw great numbers of Musk-Rats (Castor Zibethicus Linn.) on the shores of the river, where they had many holes, some on a level with the surface of the water. These holes were large enough to admit a kitten. Before and in the entrance to the holes, lay a quantity of empty shells, the animals of which had been eaten by the Musk-Rats[80]. They are caught in traps placed along the water-side, and baited with some maize or apples. [[286]]
The Sassafras-trees abound here, but never grow to any considerable height.
Chestnut-trees appear now and then.
The Cockspur Hawthorn (Cratægus Crus Galli Linn.) grows in the poorest soil, and has very long spines; which shews, that it may be very advantageously planted in hedges, especially in a poor soil.
This night we lodged with a farmer, who had returned to his farm after the war was over. All his buildings, except the great barn, were burnt.