"Surveyed the water-courses of my Mount Vernon tract of land, taking advantage of the ice."
"Laid out a road from Mount Vernon to the lane of Mr. Marley's."
Irving says of Washington: "He was an early riser, often before day-break in the winter, when the nights were long. On such occasions he lit his own fire and wrote or read by candle-light. He breakfasted at seven in summer and eight in winter. Two small cups of tea and three or four cakes of Indian meal (called hoe-cakes) formed his frugal repast. Immediately after breakfast he mounted his horse, and visited those parts of the estate where any work was going on, seeing to everything with his own eyes, and often aiding with his own hands."
Soon after he introduced his wife to his Mount Vernon estate, he began to improve and adorn the grounds. He made lawns, laid out walks and avenues, set out a great number of ornamental trees, and planted orchards of fruit-trees. He posted himself as far as possible in the science of agriculture, and made many improvements upon his plantations, by reclaiming land and increasing the productive power of the soil.
Once he conceived the idea of reclaiming the Great Dismal Swamp, and actually explored it with reference to that ultimate purpose. Through his agency, the incorporated company known as the Dismal Swamp Company was organized. "This vast morass was about thirty miles long and ten miles wide, and its interior but little known" until Washington explored it, and found a lake six miles long and three miles wide near its centre.
The large number of guests at Mount Vernon, and Washington's enjoyment in hunting, fishing, and visiting, particularly in winter time, when the cares of his plantation were less numerous, appear from his journal. In the month of January, 1770, are the following entries:
"2. Mr. Peake dined here.
"4. Went hunting with John Custis and Lund Washington. Started a deer, and then a fox, but got neither.
"5. Went to Muddy Hole and Dogue Run. Took the dogs with me, but found nothing. Warner Washington and Mr. Thurston came in the evening.
"6. The two Col. Fairfaxes dined here, and Mr. R. Alexander and the two gentlemen that came the day before.