“Such a number of roads in different directions cross over these flats, upon none of which is there anything like a direction post, and the face of a human being is so rarely met with that it is scarcely possible for a traveler to find out the direct way at once. Instead of twelve miles, the distance by the straight road from Port Tobacco to the ferry, my horse had certainly traveled twice the number before we got there. After having waited for two hours and a half for my breakfast, the most I could procure was two eggs, a pint of milk and a bit of cake bread, scarcely as big as my hand.
“After having got into the ferry-boat the man of the house, as if conscious that he had given me very bad fare, told me that there was a bank of oysters in the river, close to which it was necessary to pass, and that if I chose to stop the men would procure abundance of them for me. The curiosity of getting oysters in fresh water tempted me to stop, and the men got near a bushel of them in a very few minutes. These oysters are extremely good when cooked, but very disagreeable eaten raw; indeed all the oysters found in America are, in the opinion of most Europeans, very indifferent and tasteless when raw. The Americans, on their part, find still greater fault with our oysters, which, they say, are not fit to be eaten in any shape, because they taste of copper.
“The river at the ferry is about three miles wide, and with particular winds the waves rise very high; in these cases they always tie the horses, for fear of accidents, before they set out; indeed with the small open boats which they make use of it is what ought always to be done, for in this country gusts of wind rise suddenly. Having omitted this precaution, the boat was on the point of being overset two or three different times as I crossed over. On the Virginian shore, opposite to the ferry house from whence I sailed, there are several large creeks, which fall into the Potowmac. As I wished to go beyond these creeks I therefore hired the boatman to carry me ten miles down the Potowmac River in the ferry-boat, past the mouths of them all; this he accordingly did, and in the afternoon I landed on the beach, not a little pleased at finding that I had reached the shore without having been under the necessity of swimming any part of the way.
“The part of the country where I landed appeared to be a perfect wilderness. Taking a road, however, as nearly as I could guess, in a direct line from the river up the country, at the end of an hour I came upon a narrow road, which led to a large old brick house, somewhat similar to those I had met with on the Maryland shore. On inquiring here from two blacks for a tavern, I was told there was no such thing in this part of the country. In the course of five or six miles I saw several more of the same sort of old brick houses, and the evening now drawing toward a close, I began to feel the necessity of going to some one of them. I was considering within myself which house I should visit, when a lively old negro, mounted on a little horse, came galloping after me. On applying to him for information on the subject, he took great pains to assure me that I should be well received at any of the houses I might stop at, and strongly recommended me to proceed under his guidance to his master’s house, which was but a mile farther on.
“‘Masser will be so glad to see you,’ added he; ‘nothing can be like.’
“I accordingly took the negro’s advice and rode to the dwelling of his master, made him acquainted with my situation, and begged I might be allowed to put my horse in his stable for the night. The reception, however, which this gentleman gave me differed so materially from what I had been led to expect, that I was happy at hearing from him that there was a good tavern at the distance of two miles. I apologized for the liberty I had taken, and made the best of my way to it. Instead of two miles, however, this tavern proved to be about three times as far off. The next day I arrived at Stratford, the residence of a gentleman, who, when at Philadelphia, had invited me to pass some time with him whenever I visited Virginia. Some of the neighbouring gentlemen dined here together, and having related to them my adventures on arriving in Virginia, the whole company expressed the greatest astonishment. Every one seemed eager to know the name of the person who had given me such a reception, and begged me to tell it. I did so, and the Virginians were satisfied, for the person was a Scotsman, and had, it seems, removed but a short time before from some town or other to the plantation on which I found him.
“This part of Virginia is called the Northern Neck, and is remarkable for having been the birthplace of many of the principal characters which distinguished themselves in America, during the war, by their great talents.
“Though many of the houses in the Northern Neck are built of brick and stone, in the style of the old English manor houses, yet the greater number there and throughout Virginia are of wood, amongst which are all those that have been built of late years. This is chiefly owing to a prevailing, though absurd, opinion, that wooden houses are the healthiest, because the inside walls never appear damp. Tobacco is not near so much cultivated now as it was formerly, the great demand for wheat having induced most of the planters to raise that grain in preference. Those who raise tobacco and Indian corn are called planters, and those who cultivate small grain, farmers.
“Towards the end of April I crossed the Rappahannock River, which bounds the Northern Neck on one side, to a small town called Tappahannock, or Hobb’s Hole, containing about 100 houses. Before the war this town was in a much more flourishing state than at present; that unfortunate contest ruined the trade of this little place, as it did that of most of the seaport towns in Virginia. The Rappahannock is about three-quarters of a mile wide opposite the town. Sharks are very often seen in this river. What is very remarkable, the fish are all found on the side of the river next to the town.
“As I passed through this part of the country, from Tappahannock to Urbanna, I observed many traces of fires in the woods, which are frequent, it seems in the spring of the year. I was a witness myself to one of these fires, that happened in the Northern Neck.