The North West of Cape Fear, here at Ashwood, is near three hundred yards over (when the stream is low and within its banks), and is eighty or ninety miles above the capes. Observed growing hereabouts a great variety of very curious and beautiful flowering and sweet scented shrubs, particularly Callicarpa, Æsculus pavia, floribus coccineis, caule suffructicoso, Æsculus sylvatica, floribus ex albo et carneo eleganter variegatis, caule arboreo, Ptelea trifoliata, Styrax, Stewartia, Fothergilla, Amorpha, Myrica, Stillingia fructicosa, foliis lanciolatis, utrinque glabris, fructu tricocco, Olea Americana, foliis lanceolato-ellipticis, baccis atro-purpureis (Purple berried bay), Catesby. Ilex dahoon, Cassine Yapon, Azalea, varieties, Kalmia, Cyrilla, Liquidambar peregrinum, Sideroxylon, Andromeda lucida, &c.
Andromeda Pulverulenta
Leaving Ashwood, and continuing up the west side of the river, about forty miles, in the banks of a creek, five or six feet below the sandy surface, are to be seen projecting out many feet in length, trunks of trees petrified to very hard stone; they lie between the upper sandy stratum and the common bed of blackish vitriolic earth; and these stone trees are to be seen in the same situation, sticking out of the perpendicular banks or bluffs of the river in this region: there are several trunks of large trees with their bark, stumps of their limbs and roots, lying petrified on the sand hills and Pine forests, near the road about this creek, not far from the saw-mills.
Crossed Rock-fish, a large branch of the North West, near its mouth or confluence, and at evening arrived at Cross-Creeks, another very considerable branch of the river, flowing in through its west banks. This creek gave name to a fine inland trading town, on some heights or swelling hills, from whence the creek descends precipitately, then gently meanders near a mile, through lower level lands, to its confluence with the river, affording most convenient mill-seats: these prospects induced active enterprising men to avail themselves of such advantages pointed out to them by nature; they built mills, which drew people to the place, and these observing eligible situations for other profitable improvements, bought lots and erected tenements, where they exercised mechanic arts, as smiths, wheelwrights, carpenters, coopers, tanners, &c. And at length merchants were encouraged to adventure and settle: in short, within eight or ten years from a grist-mill, saw-mill, smith-shop and a tavern, arose a flourishing commercial town, the seat of government of the county of Cumberland. The leading men of the county, seeing plainly the superior advantages of this situation, on the banks of a famous navigable river, petitioned the Assembly for a charter to empower them to purchase a district, sufficient for founding a large town, which being granted, they immediately proceeded to mark out its precincts, and named the new city Cambelton, a compliment to —— Cambel, Esq. a gentleman of merit, and a citizen of the county. When I was here about twenty years ago, this town was marking out its bounds, and there were then about twenty habitations, and now there are above a thousand houses, many wealthy merchants, and respectable public buildings, a vast resort of inhabitants and travellers, and continual brisk commerce by waggons, from the back settlements, with large trading boats, to and from Wilmington, the seaport and flourishing trading town on the Clarendon, about forty miles above the capes, which is about one hundred miles below this town. The Clarendon or Cape Fear river has its source in the Cherokee mountains, where its numerous confederate streams unite, after leaving the first ridges of the mountains, it assumes the name of Haw river, and coursing the hilly fertile country, above one hundred and fifty miles, receives through its west banks the west branch, called Deep River, and after this union, takes the name of the North-West of Cape Fear, from whence, down to Cambelton, about eighty miles it is navigable for perriauguas of considerable burthen.
Observed near Cambelton a very curious scandent Fern (Pteris scandens) rambling over low bushes, in humid situations; the lower larger fronds were digitated, or rather radiated, but towards the tops or extremities of the branches they became trifid, hastated, and lastly lanceolate: it is a delicate plant, of a yellowish lively green, and would be an ornament in a garden.
Sat off again to Cambelton, continuing yet up the North West about sixty miles; crossed over this branch, and soon after crossed the Roanoke, and then rested a few days at Mr. Lucas’s, a worthy old gentleman, a planter on Meherren river. Observed strolling over his fences and stables, a very singular and useful species of the Gourd (Cucurbita lagenaria); its neck or handle is above two feet in length, and not above an inch in diameter; its belly round, which would contain about a pint; it makes excellent ladles, funnels, &c. At a little distance from Mr. Lucas’s, at the head of a swamp near the high road, I observed a very curious species of Prinos, which grows seven or eight feet high, the leaves broad, lanceolate, sharply serrated, nervous, and of a deep green colour; but its striking beauty consists in profuse clusters of fruit, collected about the cases or origin of the last spring’s shoots; these berries are nearly round, about the size of middling grapes, of a fine clear scarlet colour, covered or invested with an incarnate mist or nebulæ.
Being now arrived on the South border of Virginia, and the hoary frigid season far advanced, I shall pass as speedily as possible from hence to Pennsylvania, my native country; since those cultivated regions of Virginia and Maryland, through which I design to travel, have been over and over explored, and described by very able men in every branch of natural history.
After leaving Meherren, I soon arrived at Alexandria in Virginia, a fine city on the west banks of the Patowmac, about the 26th of December, having had excellent roads, and pleasant, moderate weather, neither snow nor ice to be seen, except a slight fall of snow from a flying cloud, the day before I reached this place; but this evening it clouded up from the west, the wind North-East and cold. Next morning the snow was eight or ten inches deep on the ground, and the wind shifting to North-West, cleared up intensely cold: I however sat off and crossed the river just below the falls, and landed at George-town in Maryland. The snow was now deep every where around, the air cold to an extreme, and the roads deep under snow or slippery with ice, rendered the travelling uncomfortable.