Edward Kimber was a writer and editor who took over as
editor of the LONDON MAGAZINE after his father, its
founder, died. His Itinerant Observations were
written during his youth as a series of letter to the
magazine. In his introduction, Hayes writes:
Some Account of a VOYAGE
from New-York to Sene-puxon in Maryland.
Not being able then, on account of the excessive
Severity of the Season, and the Depth of the Snow,
which was near 4 Feet, to pursue our Route, by Land,
thro' the Province of Pensilvania, we took Passage on
board a Sloop to Sene-puxon in Maryland, which is
generally a Run of 3 or 4 Days, with the Land close
aboard, and a fine level Shore.
A Traveller should never depend upon any Thing, but
his own Sight, or the Experience of a Friend, for the
Character of a Vessel and its Commander: 'Tis as
absolutely necessary to have a personal Knowledge of
those
38 ===== ITINERANT OBSERVATIONS IN
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two principal Points of marine Happiness or Misery,
as to consult the Temper of your Wife or Friend, or
the Situation of your Villa, before you undertake the
uncertain Voyage thro' the tempestuous Ocean of Life.
Indeed, these are but transient ills, you'll say, and
you may see plainly the End of them: Very true; but as
in an unhappy Marriage, so in a Vessel of bad Trim,
and under the Government of an obstinate Steersman,
you frequently but end your Anxieties in the Arms of
Death. Next to the Pleasure you enjoy in having, at
Sea, a good, tight, clean Vessel under you, nothing
can be more agreeable than a sociable, humane Skipper,
who consults the Ease and Satisfaction of his
accidental Family before any selfishly sordid
Inclination.
Misfortune may be lightned by good Company, and the
Charms of Friendship will make Amends even for the
Horrors of Famine and the most dreadful Tempests. We
had no Reason to complain of our Master, indeed; but
of an illness that confined him to his Cabin the whole
Voyage, (which was many Days longer than we expected
or desired) and which rendered the only able Seaman we
found amongst us of no Service.
The Vessel was our greatest Grievance we soon
found, being prodigiously foul, rotten, and leaky; and
a Pack of stupid Planters, the Crew, who never had
been 10 Leagues from Land since they were born,
increased that Misfortune. Unknowing all this, we went
on board as gaily as we would have done into a
Packet-Boat, and found the Master in Bed. Which
Inconvenience we readily put up with, as the Voyage
was so short and safe, and as he informed us, his Mate
was a very able Mariner. Our Complement then was, 6
Hands belonging to the Sloop, 3 Passengers, and 7
Negro Slaves; and after taking some necessary
Refreshments from Town, we weigh'd and fell down under
Nurten Island [in New York Bay], and might
have taken the Advantage of an immediate North-Wester,
to have put out to Sea; but here there happened a
great Dispute between the Captain and his strange
Associates, and in short they refus'd to run beyond
Sandy-Hook that Night. It seems they had engaged to
come this Trip, and to be paid in the Freight of such
Goods, as they bought at New York for their Plantation
Uses, and so were not Absolutely under Command; and
were resolv'd to lie under the Windward Shore, to
consume half an Anchor of New England Rum before they
left the Sight of New York. Rewards and Menaces were
of no Service, so we even made a Virtue of Necessity,
and wrapping ourselves in our Bedding, slept quietly
till next Morning; but found when we arose, that two
of our Negroes
===== ITINERANT OBSERVATIONS IN
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had lost the Use of their Hands and Feet by the
Frost (which was excessively severe) notwithstanding
they were warmly clad, and had the free Use of that
necessary Liquor (on these Occasions) Rum, in what
Quantity they pleas'd. Our Regret at the Disadvantages
we had fallen upon, and which our Time and Occasions
would not permit us to remedy, could be equalled by
nothing but the Displeasure we felt in leaving that
delightful Country, that Land of social Joys and
heighten'd Pleasures, that flow'd in upon us during
our Stay, notwithstanding the rugged Season. Looking
behind me, methinks, the Winter Piece is
inexpressibly, tho' mournfully agreeable, the River
flowing in a long, long Course, till the Sight loses
it in an almost imperceptible Point: On one Shore, the
goodly City, all surrounded, as it were, with the
Waves, reigns supreme Mistress of the brumal Region,
and by its aspiring Fumes, seems to declare itself the
proper Resort and Comfort of the Season; below it, as
far as Eyes can view, the white Beach extends itself,
and above its Borders, the now deserted Country Houses
rear their unsocial Chimneys.
On the opposite Shore of Long-Island, all bleach'd
with Snow, appears the sad Reverse of Spring -- the
tuneful Warblers but just, weakly, hop over the
unfertile Stubble, and raise themselves to complain,
in mournful Chirpings, of their forlorn Condition; nor
pour out those Floods of Harmony that erst awaken'd,
with enliv'ning Melody, the early Swain. The whole
Prospect is as of a large Desart, save that here and
there the crawling Fences of the Plantations, and the
aspiring Vapours of the humble Cottages, shew the
Country to be inhabited; and some Remains of the rich
Gifts of Ceres, unthoughtfully neglected by the
Husbandmen, still betray the Footsteps of vernal
Industry, and somewhat alleviate my Wintry
Chagrin.
At Five in the Evening we were abreast of Barnegat,
on the Coast of New Jersey, and the next Day, at Noon,
we open'd De la War River, Cape Henlopen bearing SW
about 12 Miles, and had an Expectancy of a prosperous
Voyage; when a contrary Wind springing up, we found
our Sloop made nothing of plying to Windward, nor
answer'd her Helm, and that she was so leaky that the
common Spelling at the Pump would not keep her above
Water, so that two Hands were constantly employ'd at
that Work, immediately, and without the least
Distinction of Persons. It seems, that hoping to meet
a speedy Passage, they had neglected telling us of
their making so much Water; but now were fain to
confess their Folly, and implore our Assistance. 'Twas
in vain
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to argue in such a Case, and Self-preservation
excited us to use our best Endeavours.
All the next Day we lost Way prodigiously, and the
cold bleak Weather almost perish'd us: Upon comparing
our Reckonings, we found ourselves above 50 Leagues
from the nearest Land, which we judg'd to be the most
Southerly Part of New Jersey. This last twenty-four
Hours we were drown'd in an Inundation of Rain, which,
however, nothing abated the Wind, which blew with
redoubled Fury, and the irritated Waves toss'd us
aloft and alow in a most frightful Manner, considering
the bad Condition of our Habitation, which had not a
sound Plank in her, and the Water pour'd in upon us on
all Sides. The next Morning open'd, all wild and
tempestuous as the last, and our Distractions were
increas'd, by three more of our People being taken
violently ill of feverish Disorders, occasion'd by the
perpetual Watching, the incessant Labour and the Wet
and Cold they were constantly subject to; and still
more so, by our Hen-Coop with our Fowls, and 2 or 3
Hogs, which were our only remaining Flesh Provisions,
being wash'd overboard, and our Lee Gunnel almost all
torn away.
We were oblig'd to shift our Loading and Ballast on
the other Side, and from this Time could keep no
Reckoning; but lay to, under our double-reef'd Main
Sail, expecting the worst that could befal us. In
shifting the Ballast we found one considerable Leak,
which I stopp'd as well as I could with an old Salvage
well paid with Tallow, and over it nail'd an old Tin
Plate, which gave some little Respite to the Pump. We
now began to think seriously of the Danger we were
involv'd in, and the Death that seem'd inevitable. We
had no Carpenter, nor one Person that understood Sea
Affairs by Profession, of the whole Crew left, and in
short every Thing was fallen into our Hands; we were
but two, and the Negroes were all unable to move, the
Frost having so affected their Limbs, as to call for
present Amputation; two of them being mortified to the
Knees and Shoulders. And here, I must observe, that in
general, they are the most awkward, ungain Wretches,
in cold Weather, that can be met with, and if not
stirr'd up, will sit whole Days shivering in a Corner
without moving Hand or Foot. They seem to be form'd
only for the sultry Climate they were born in, and
those they are principally apply'd to the Use of; tho'
when inur'd to a cold one long, they bear it tolerably
well.
We ourselves now began to feel the Effects before
mention'd. But what will not Men undergo-how many
Hardships that seem quite impossible to human
Strength, to preserve that valuable Blessing,
===== ITINERANT OBSERVATIONS IN
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Life!
This Day we had a Kind of melancholy Memento Mori
presented to us, being the Rudder, Main Yard and Part
of the Cutwater of a Ship, which floated along Side
us, and soon after the Body of a Seaman, in a Jacket
and Trowzers, who seem'd newly to have met his Fate,
and who about two Ship's Length from us was devour'd
by three or four hideous Sharks. I was glad that none
but ourselves were then upon Deck, and we forbore to
speak at all of such a disagreeable Sight, which every
one is not Stoic enough to contemplate without
abandoning himself to fruitless Despair. At Night--may
never my affrighted Eyes or my amazed and terrified
Ears be Witness to the same--what Horrors were we
seized with; and how dreadful our Condition!
All black above--below all foamy
white,
A horrid darkness, mix'd with dreadful light:
Here long, long hills, roll far and wide away,
There abrupt vales fright back th' intruding day.
The Deluges of Rain mix'd with the Waves that
continually broke over us, the howling Blasts that
rent our Ears, the total Darkness, were nothing to our
internal Misery. Delirious Ravings on one
Side--expiring Groans on another--and the Calls of
Help, which we were unable to give, on another, quite
distracted us. Bread, Water, and Rum, were all we had
left; these were our Provisions for the Sick, these
our only Sustenance; and these decreasing so fast as
to promise the Addition of the greatest of all Evils
to those we already endur'd.
Indeed, had our Fowls been preserv'd, we could not
have dressed them, we could keep no Fire, and could
find no Cooks, and therefore we contented ourselves
with Bread dipp'd in Rum for our Patients, and a
Draught of Water after it, and Bread and Water for
ourselves. We forbore to see after the Negroes, but
nail'd down the Hatches, and left them to the Mercy of
Providence; we weaken'd apace, and had no Retreat from
the Deck, but lash'd ourselves to some Part of the
Quarter-Deck, and slept and watch'd by Turns.
Thus we weather'd three more dismal Days and
Nights, in the two last of which the Wind shifted to
the Eastward, tho' without abating of its wonted Fury.
However, we made what Way we could, in our present
Trim, every Minute expecting to meet with Destruction.
We made, as far as we could guess, near 3 Knots an
Hour, not daring all these last 24 Hours to direct our
Eyes to our distemper'd Messmates in the
42 ===== ITINERANT OBSERVATIONS IN
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Cabin, some of whom we were pretty sure deceas'd in
the Morning. We shap'd our Course as near as possible,
to run in with the next Land, and the next Morning
made Shift, one of us, weak as we were, to get up to
the Mast Head. None can conceive, with what Rapture we
descry'd it all abroad; but we could not tell where we
had fall'n in with it, as not having had an
Observation for a long Time. The unexpected Sight
almost depriv'd us of our Senses with very Joy, and
instantaneously, as it were, the Wind dy'd away, and a
gentle Breeze succeeded, that carried us smoothly to
our Mark.
We open'd a large Inlet, which we stood in for, and
safely came to Anchor, in 12 Fathom Water, the Bottom
a fine Sand mix'd with small Shells.
§
Thus then we found ourselves, to our excessive
Satisfaction, free from those dire Apprehensions that
had so long disturb'd our Minds, and those Fatigues
that had jaded our Bodies, in this little, uncommonly
difficult Voyage. As soon as we had dropp'd Anchor, we
saw several Flats full of Men, whom we perceived to be
our Countrymen; but how was our Joy rais'd into
Admiration, when we were inform'd, that the Place we
were in, and had so miraculously lighted on, was
Ascateaque Inlet to Senepuxon! We ador'd the Goodness
of Providence, and return'd unfeigned Thanks for our
Deliverance; and now we had Time to contemplate the
Beauties of the Scene, and to indulge this new
Satisfaction.
The Bay we were in, was open to the Sea on the
Eastward, and on every Side else, landlock'd. We could
plainly now discover the Cries of the industrious
Hind, tending his improving Flock; and on every Side,
the Lowing of Kine, the Bleating of the fleecy Charge,
and the Neighing of the generous Steed struck our
Ears; and we exchanged for this new Musick, the Jargon
of bellowing Winds, the bursting Rains, and the
roaring Thunder. The Beach all glittering with
conchous Riches, and white as the driven Snow,
attracted our Eyes on every Side; the green Marshes
and Savannahs, even at this Time, appear'd in fresh
Verdure; and the Woods, from the great Quantities of
Ever-greens, seemed to wear a Summer Hue. Up the
Country, the Creeks, whose Meanders we could discern,
form'd to the Fancy regular Canals, rushing Torrents,
headlong Cascades, and shining Mirrors; but to
moderate our Satisfaction, and to take off from our
too great and presumptuous Exultation, on the Larboard
Shore lay the
===== ITINERANT OBSERVATIONS IN
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melancholy Wreck of a large Bristol Man, which had
stranded in this Place some Years before. 'Tis
impossible to describe the Tortures this Sight gave
us, which indeed forc'd Tears from our Eyes, by
Comparison with what we had been like to suffer
ourselves.
We now examin'd our Cabin Associates, and found
only the inanimate Remains of three of them. The
others had some Signs of Life, and were convey'd on
Shore by the Planters who visited us, and were their
Neighbours.
A thousand Times they lifted their Eyes up with
Astonishment at our forlorn Condition. Our Negroes
were our next Concern, and here only two were found
alive, and such a Stench of Putrefaction in the Hold,
as made it necessary to have Recourse to the usual
Preservatives from infectious Smells. Ourselves now
were to be consider'd, and as soon as the Relations of
our Owner came down to the Sloop to take Charge of
her, we embark'd in a Flat for Golden Quarter.
And now, as if our Ability held out only so long as
our Necessity subsisted, we soon felt the bitter
Effects of our late Troubles: Frost-bitten from Head
to Foot, and feverishly distracted from so long a
Privation of downy Repose, we now were almost unable
to move any Thing but our deploring Eyes;
yet,--Misfortune on Misfortune!--our Barge ran aground
about a Mile from the Sloop, at low Water, Eleven
o'Clock at Night, and we were forced to lie open and
exposed till the ensuing Morning, she was loaden so
deep; and then, with some Difficulty, we hove her off
the Shelve: And this, in an extreme piercing Frost,
finished our Disasters, and served almost to rob us
entirely of the little Life remaining.
§
Our kind Correspondent, who has favoured us from
Time to Time with an ingenious young Gentleman's
Remarks in his late American Tour has been so good as
to send us the following for this Month; which
contains so many remarkable Incidents, and such
judicious Observations, as we doubt not will be an
agreeable Entertainment to our Readers, who are
desired to connect it with the last Account in our
Mag. for May, p.248.
Now we survey the land that owes its
name
To Charles's bride,
And soon we change, for all that sailors dread,
The spritely musick, and the sportful dance;
Where jocund damsels, and their well pleas'd
mates,
Pass the delicious moments, void of care,
And only study how to laugh and love,
Contented, happy, under Calvert's sway.
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Reliev'd from this Distress, we pursu'd our little
Voyage, of about 14 Miles, thro' the several Creeks
that convey you to Golden Quarter; and we were near 24
Hours before we arrived there, occasioned by our
frequent Interruptions, or running upon the Marches,
or Oyster-Banks, with which these Streams are
prodigiously replete.
On every Side, you might discern the Settlements of
the Planters, with their industrious Clearings,
surrounded by the native Woods of the Country; whilst
the distant Curlings of the aspiring Smoak, wantoning
in the Breeze, direct your Eyes to the happy Places of
their Residence. Where they, generally bless'd with
Innocence and Chearfulness, a compliant Consort, and a
numerous Race at their Boards, enjoy a Life much to be
envy'd by Courts and Cities.
We gather'd a Fruit, on our Route, called a
Parsimon, of a very delicious Taste, not unlike a
Medlar tho' somewhat larger: I take it to be a very
cooling Fruit, and the Settlers make use of prodigious
Quantities to sweeten a Beer, which they brew of
Cassena and divers Herbs, which is vastly wholesome.
The Cassena is a Shrub, that has a small Leaf,
somewhat sharpish, and is so admired, when hot Water
is poured on it, that I imagine the importing of it to
England is prohibited for fear of injuring the Tea
Trade. At our Arrival at our Host's, we were put to
Bed, and for several Days attended with a Tenderness
and Humanity that soon restored our Healths, and our
Limbs to their proper Function; when, being furnished
with Horses, we addressed ourselves to our first
Stage, which was about 20 Miles distant from Golden
Quarter called Snow-Hill.
Golden Quarter is a kind of straggling Country
Village, but the Inhabitants of that Place and
Senepuxon, tho' poorer than some of their Neighbours
of Maryland, occasioned by the Poverty of their Soil,
are a perfectly hospitable, sociable, and honest Set
of People, and abound in every Necessary of Life, and
most of the Conveniencies. In short, they seem to
repine only on three Accounts, as all this Side of the
Colony does: The one is the Scarcity of strong
Liquors; another the extravagant Dues to their Clergy,
whom they pay a pretty large Quantity of Tobacco
yearly to, by Way of Tithe, for every Head in their
Families; and the third, is their paying a larger
Quit-rent, which I think
===== ITINERANT OBSERVATIONS IN
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they do in Sterling Money, than any of their
Neighbours under the King's Governors. These Things
the poorer Sort feel pretty smartly.
To be sure, the Clergy ought to be supported in
every Country, independently and decently; and
certainly they are an Order of Men that are intirely
necessary, whilst they behave soberly and uprightly,
to the Well-being of Society, and seem no where more
so than in these Countries; but as I take it, there is
little Justice in a poor Landholder's being obliged to
give him as great an Offering as his opulent
Neighbour. But here, as in every other Part of the
World, the Complaints are very much regulated by the
Pastor's Behaviour: You seldom hear any Grumbling when
he is a kind, beneficient, humane, and regular Man,
that feels for, and endeavours to supply, both the
mental Distresses and Wants, as well as the bodily
ones, of the Charge intrusted to him; who never, from
a Vanity of Temper, a sour Enthusiasm, or a vain
Ostentation of Learning, puzzles and distracts his
Hearers, by leading them astray from the plain Paths
or Meanings of Christianity, into the eternal
Labyrinths and intricate Mazes of Speculation and
Mystery; nor sets himself up for an infallible Judge
of every Dispute, and the authoritative Decider of
every Question; nor, to sum up the whole, daubs and
dresses Religion (as the Poet says) which is divinely
pure, and simple from all Arts, like a common
Mistress, the Object of his Fancy.
The Rum they generally have from their Stores, is
the New-England Sort, which has so confounded a Gout,
and has so much of the Molasses Twang, that 'tis
really nauseous; and this held up to a very large
Price. Sometimes, indeed, an European Vessel lands, to
the Gentlemen in the Neighbourhood, a Cargo of another
Sort; which, however, never diffuses itself much to
those beneath them: In other better settled Parts of
Maryland, indeed, as about Annapolis, and elsewhere,
you hear of no Complaints of this Sort, as every Thing
is in the greatest Plenty imaginable: So that what I
am speaking of, relates principally to Worcester
County and the Parts adjacent, where the Number of
Merchants or Store-keepers is but small.
You now and then meat with a Cup of good Cyder, in
the Season, here, tho' of a thin fretting Kind. The
Beer they brew is excellent, which they make in great
Quantities, of Parsimons, &c or Molasses; for few
of them are come to malting their Corn, of any Kind,
at which I was much surprized; as even the Indian
Grain, as I have found experimentally, will produce a
wholesome and generous Liquor. The meaner Sort you
find little else but Water amongst, when their Cyder
is spent.
46 ===== ITINERANT OBSERVATIONS IN
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Mush and Milk, or Molasses, Homine, Wild Fowl, and
Fish, are their principal Diet, whilst the Water
presented to you, by one of the bare-footed Family, in
a copious Calabash, with an innocent Strain of good
Breeding and Heartiness, the Cake baking upon the
Hearth, and the prodigious Cleanliness of every Thing
around you, must needs put you in mind of the Golden
Age, the Times of antient Frugality and Purity. All
over the Colony, an universal Hospitality reigns; full
Tables and open Doors, the kind Salute, the generous
Detention, speak somewhat like the old roast-Beef Ages
of our Fore-fathers, and would almost persuade one to
think their Shades were wasted into these Regions, to
enjoy, with greater Extent, the Reward of their
Virtues 85 Prodigious Numbers of Planters are
immensely rich, and I think one of them, at this Time,
numbers upon his Lands near 1000 Wretches, that
tremble with submissive Awe at his Nod, besides white
Servants: Their Pastures bless'd with increasing
Flocks, whilst their Yards and Closes boast Hundreds
of tame Poultry, of every Kind, and their Husbandry is
rewarded with Crops equal to all their Ambition or
Desires. The Planters in Maryland have been so used by
the Merchants, and so great a Property has been made
of them in their Tobacco Contracts, that a new Face
seems to be overspreading the Country; and, like their
more Northern Neighbours, they in great Numbers have
turned themselves to the raising of Grain and live
Stock, of which they now begin to send great
Quantities to the West-Indies. And 'tis the Blessing
of this Country and Virginia, and fits it extremely
for the Trade it carries on, that the Planters can
deliver their Commodities at their own Back-doors, as
the whole Colony is inter-flow'd by the most navigable
Rivers in the World. However, this good Property is
attended with this ill Consequence, that being so well
seated at home, they have no Ambition to fill a
Metropolis, and associate together: They require no
Bourses, or Meetings about Trade; a Letter will
bargain for them, and the general Run of the Market
determines the Price of the Commodity. For this
Reason, the Capitals, and other Towns in these two
Colonies, are very slightly peopled, and very badly
situated, and remarkable for little else than the
Residence of the Governors, and the Meeting of the
three Estates, Governor, Council, and Assembly. The
principal Meetings of the Country are at their
Court-Houses, as they call them; which are their
Courts of Justice, and where as much idle Wrangling is
on Foot, often,
===== ITINERANT OBSERVATIONS IN
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as in any Court in Westminster-Hall The Lawyers
have an excellent Time here, and if a Man is a clever
Fellow, that Way, 'tis a sure Step to an Estate. 'Tis
Necessity that has driven the Practitioners of the Law
hither, from Europe, and other Parts of America, and I
remember few that had not made it very well worth
their While. Thus Innocence and Truth, white-rob'd
Innocence and heavenly Truth, can seldom find a
Retreat to dwell in. Distracted with their Adversaries
barefaced Attempts, 'tis in vain they seek the most
distant Skies: Palevisag'd Guilt, and wily Fraud,
still pursue their flow'ry Steps, determin'd to spare
no Means to work their Unhappiness. Wherever you
travel in Maryland (as also in Virginia and Carolina)
your Ears are constantly astonished at the Number of
Colonels, Majors, and Captains, that you hear
mentioned: In short, the whole Country seems at first
to you a Retreat of Heroes; but alas! to behold the
Musters of their Militia, would induce a Man to
nauseate a Sash, and hold a Sword, for ever, in
Derision. Diversity of Weapons and Dresses,
Unsizeableness of the Men, and Want of the least Grain
of Discipline in their Officers or them, make the
whole Scene little better than Dryden has expressed
it:
And raw in fields the rude militia swarms; Mouths
without hands, maintain'd at vast expence, In peace a
charge, in war a weak defence: Stout, once a year,
they march a blust'ring band, And ever, but in times
of need, at hand; Of seeming arms, they make a short
essay, Then hasten to get drunk, the bus'ness of the
day.
Indeed, now, I fancy the Carthagening Regiment, by
returning some of its Veterans, will give a better
Face to these Matters. Holding Land by the Tenure of
defending it, seems to be as antient as Time itself;
and certainly nothing can endanger a Country more,
than an Army of Mercenaries, who perhaps are quite
unconcerned in the publick Property, and have nothing
to fight for but their Pay. How necessary then is it,
that the Militia in these Colonies should be well
disciplined! since they have no regular Troops allow'd
them, and cannot well maintain a considerable Body
long themselves. Even at this Time they are alarm'd
with an Indian Excursion, and Numbers are marched
towards the Back of the Province to defend the Out
Settlements. Their Government is much respected by
them, and one may, on the Whole, say, they are an
happy People. The
48 ===== ITINERANT OBSERVATIONS IN
AMERICA
Negroes live as easily as in any other Part of
America, and at set Times have a pretty deal of
Liberty in their Quarters,88 as they are called. The
Argument, of the Reasonableness and Legality,
according to Nature, of the Slave-Trade, has been so
well handled on the Negative Side of the Question,
that there remains little for an Author to say on that
Head; and that Captives taken in War, are the Property
of the Captor, as to Life and Person, as was the
Custom amongst the Spartans; who, like the Americans,
perpetuated a Race of Slaves, by marrying them to one
another, I think, has been fully disprov'd: But
allowing some Justice in, or, at least, a great deal
of Necessity for, making Slaves of this sable Part of
the Species; surely, I think, Christianity, Gratitude,
or, at least, good Policy, is concern'd in using them
well, and in abridging them, instead of giving them
Encouragement, of several brutal and scandalous
Customs, that are too much practis'd: Such is the
giving them a Number of Wives, or, in short, setting
them up for Stallions to a whole Neighbourhood; when
it has been prov'd, I think, unexceptionably, that
Polygamy rather destroys than multiplies the Species;
of which we have also living Proofs under the Eastern
Tyrants, and amongst the Natives of America; so that
it can in no Manner answer the End; and were these
Masters to calculate, they'd find a regular
Procreation would make them greater Gainers.
A sad Consequence of this Practice is, that their
Childrens Morals are debauch'd by the Frequency of
such Sights, as only fit them to become the Masters of
Slaves. This is one bad Custom amongst many others;
but as to their general Usage of them, 'tis monstrous
and shocking. To be sure, a new Negro, if he must be
broke, either from Obstinacy, or, which I am more apt
to suppose, from Greatness of Soul, will require more
hard Discipline than a young Spaniel: You would really
be surpriz'd at their Perseverance; let an hundred Men
shew him how to hoe, or drive a Wheelbarrow, he'll
still take the one by the Bottom, and the other by the
Wheel; and they often die before they can be
conquer'd. They are, no Doubt, very great Thieves, but
this may flow from their unhappy, indigent
Circumstances, and not from a natural Bent; and when
they have robb'd, you may lash them Hours before they
will confess the Fact; however, were they not to look
upon every white Man as their Tormenter; were a slight
Fault to be pardon'd now and then; were their Masters,
and those adamantine-hearted Overseers, to
exercise
===== ITINERANT OBSERVATIONS IN
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a little more Persuasion, Complacency, Tenderness
and Humanity towards them, it might, perhaps, improve
their Tempers to a greater Degree of Tractability.
Such Masters, and such Overseers, Maryland may with
Justice boast; and Mr. Bull, a the late
Lieutenant-Governor of Carolina, is an Instance,
amongst many, of the same, in that Province: But, on
the contrary, I remember an Instance of a late Sea
Officer, then resident in a neighbouring Colony, that
for a mere Peccadillo, order'd his Slave to be ty'd
up, and for an whole Hour diverted himself with the
Wretch's Groans; struck at the mournful Sound, with a
Friend, I hasted to the Noise, where the Brute was
beginning a new Scene of Barbarity, and belabour'd the
Creature so long with a large Cane, his Overseer being
tir'd with the Cowskin, that he remained without Sense
and Motion. Happily he recover'd, but alas! remain'd a
Spectacle of Horror to his Death; his Master deceas'd
soon after, and perhaps, may meet him, where the
Wicked cease from troubling, and the Weary be at rest:
Where, as our immortal Pope sings:
No fiends torment, no christians thirst
for gold.
Another, upon the same Spot, when a Girl had been
lash',d till she confess'd a Robbery, in mere
Wantonness continu'd the Persecution, repeating every
now and then these christianlike, and sensible
Expressions in the Ragings of his Fury, "God damn you,
when you go to Hell, I wish God would damn me, that I
might follow you with the Cowskin there."
Slavery, thou worst and greatest of Evils!
sometimes thou appearest to my affrighted Imagination,
sweating in the Mines of Potosi, and wiping the
hard-bound Tears from thy exhausted Eyes; sometimes I
view thy sable Livery under the Torture of the Whip,
inflicted by the Hands, the remorseless Hands of an
American Planter: At other Times, I view thee in the
Semblance of a Wretch trod upon by ermin'd or turban'd
Tyrants, and with poignant, heart-breaking Sighs,
dragging after thee a toilsome Length of Chain, or
bearing African Burdens. Anon I am somewhat comforted,
to see thee attempt to smile under the Grand Monarque;
but, on the other Side of the Alpes, thou again
resum'st thy Tears, and what, and how great are thy
Iberian Miseries! In Britain, and Britain only, thy
Name is not heard; thou hast assum'd a new Form, and
the heaviest Labours are lightsome under those mild
Skies!
50 ===== ITINERANT OBSERVATIONS IN
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Oh Liberty, do thou inspire our breasts!
And make our lives, in thy possession happy; Or our
deaths glorious, in thy just defence.
-- ADDISON
The Convicts that are transported here, sometimes
prove very worthy Creatures, and entirely forsake
their former Follies; but the Trade has for some Time
run in another Channel; and so many Volunteer Servants
come over, especially Irish, that the other is a
Commodity pretty much blown upon. Several of the best
Planters, or their Ancestors, have, in the two
Colonies, been originally of the Convict-Class, and
therefore, are much to be prais'd and esteem'd for
forsaking their old Courses: And Heaven itself, we are
told, rejoices more over one Sinner that repenteth,
than over ninety and nine that never went astray. They
tell many Stories of some of these People in these
Colonies, one of which I commit to Writing, as I had
it from the very Person himself, who is the chief in
the Story.
Above 60 Years ago, Capt. --- , Master of the ---,
walking thro' Lincoln's Inn-Fields, beheld a very
pretty Child, about Six Years of Age, bewailing
himself for the Loss of his Father, whom he had some
how or other stray'd from: He sooth'd the Child,
persuaded him to dry his Tears, and told him he had
Orders from his Father, who was just set out for the
Country, to bring him to him. The innocent Victim,
without Thought of Harm, follow'd his Deliverer, as he
thought him, who carry'd him in the Stage Coach to
Bristol, and there immediately put him on board his
Vessel, which sail'd a Fortnight after for this Part
of the World. Still fed up with Hopes of seeing his
Father, and that he was going but a small Trip by
Water, where he was, and indulg'd by the Captain in
all he desir'd, the Time slipt away, till the Brute
made appear, by the vilest Actions, his accurs'd
Design: The Lad suffer'd much, but his Innocence
render'd him incapable to judge of the Propriety of
such Actions, and he was acquiescent. When he arriv'd
at the End of his Voyage, being very ill, he sold him
to a Planter for 14 Years, for 12 Guineas. The
Planter, a Man of great Humanity, taking a Fancy to
the Child, heard his simple Tale, and perceiv'd the
Villany, but not till the Vessel had sail'd. He
enquir'd his Name, and just so much he could tell him,
and sent over to advertise him in the publick Papers;
but before this Design could be compleated, near two
Years elaps'd, from his first being kidnapp'd, when,
probably, his Father and Mother were both
===== ITINERANT OBSERVATIONS IN
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dead, and, perhaps, the Cause of their Death, this
Accident. In short, his Master lik'd the Youth more
and more, who was sober and diligent, and marry'd him
to an only Daughter, leav'ng him at his Decease his
whole Substance. Thirty Years elaps'd, and tho' under
great Pain for his Ignorance of his Parents, yet happy
in his Family and Affairs, he liv'd with great
Content; when a Ship with Convicts coming in, he went
to purchase some Servants, and the Idea of his
barbarous Captain was so impress'd in his Mind, that
he knew him at first Sight, and bought him eagerly; it
appearing, afterwards, a notorious Crime had brought
him into those Circumstances, and entirely ruin'd him.
As soon as he brought him home,he carry'd him into a
private Room, and lock'd himself in with him; but what
Words could express the Wretch's Confusion and
Astonishment, when he understood whose Hands he had
fallen into! for he had no Notion before of the
Gentleman's being the same, that, when a Lad, he had
us'd so vilely. Struck with Remorse, and the Fear of
Punishment, he fell on his Knees and begg'd
Forgiveness. 'Twas in Vain, he was interrogated about
his Master's Parents; he knew as little of them as
himself; the Master inrag'd, order'd him to be lock'd
into an upper Room, resolving to keep him to the hard
Service he deserv'd the Remainder of his Life; but the
next Morning he was found stabb'd to the Heart, with a
Knife that had been uncautiously left in the Room; and
so despairingly finish'd a wretched Life. The
Gentleman is now near 70, and very hearty and
well.
And now let me address me to my Journey, which lay
in a very pleasant Road, thro' the Woods, that every
now and then presented you with an Opening Plantation:
We met an Indian Man and Woman upon this Road, who
came from a Town of Whigwahms, near Snow-hill, where
they inhabit, in great Peace, with their Neighbours We
pass'd several Branches and Savannahs, and the Road
all the Way is pretty much upon the Level, and marshy;
the Soil of the upper Grounds a loose reddish Sand or
Earth. At our Arrival at Snow-Hill, I took up Quarters
at an Ordinary,1 and found them very good. The Parson
of the Parish, who has the only Brick-House in Town,
was a good conversible Man, as was also the
Presbyterian Minister, a Scotch man, of which Nation
great Numbers are settled hereabouts. The Church and
all the Houses are built of Wood, but some of them
have Brick Stacks of Chimneys: Some have their
Foundations in the Ground, others are built on
Puncheons or Logs, a Foot or two from the Earth, which
is more
52 ===== ITINERANT OBSERVATIONS IN
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airy, and a Defence against the Vermin. The Women
here are very pretty, and the Men, for the generality,
obliging enough. The Town is very irregular, and has
much the Aspect of a Country Fair, the Generality of
the Houses differing very little from Booths.'01 We
staid here only one Day, and the next set forward with
hired Horses, not being able to buy any in the Town.
The Hire was a Shilling Sterling per Day for a Guide.
They are good serviceable little Creatures,102 and
travel at a great Rate: The next Night we got to the
Line that divides Maryland from Virginia, being about
30 Miles, thro' a Road whose delightful Scenes
constantly refresh'd the Senses with new and beauteous
Objects. And here I can't help quoting Mr. Lewis, when
speaking of another Road in this Colony, he says:
But now the enclos'd plantation I
forsake,
And onwards thro' the woods my journey take;
The level road the longsome way beguiles,
A blooming wilderness around me smiles;
Here hardy oak, there fragrant hick'ry grows,
Here stately pines unite their whisp'ring
heads,
And with a solemn gloom embrown the shades.
See there a green savanna opens wide,
Thro' which smooth streams in wanton mazes glide;
Thick branching shrubs o'erhang the silver streams,
Which scarcely deign t' admit the solar beams.
And, indeed, I can't help, every now and then,
taking him out of my Pocket in this Country; for his
descriptive Part is just and fine, and such a Warmth
of Sentiment, such a delicate Vein of Poetry, such an
unaffected Piety runs thro' the Whole, that I esteem
it one of the best Pieces extant. This, with my other
dearer Treasure, and my Euclid, generally relieves me
from a too great Sameness of Prospect, or Frequency of
the same Objects.
Here, having brought several Bottles of Wine for
the Purpose, we drank Success to Britain, His
Majesty's Health, and that of the Right Honourable
Proprietor, whose great and good Qualities have
endear'd him much to the People of this Colony.
There certainly can't be a greater Grievance to a
Traveller, from one Colony to another, than the
different Values their Paper Money bears; for if he is
not studious to get rid of the Money of one Place
before he arrives at another, he is sure to be a
considerable Loser. The New-England Money, for
Instance,
===== ITINERANT OBSERVATIONS IN
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which is excessively bad, and where, to pay a
Six-pence or Three-pence, they tear a Shilling Bill to
Pieces, is much beneath the New-York Money in Value,
and will hardly be got off there without some Person
is going into the first nam'd Province. New-York and
Pensilvania often differ about the Dignity of their
Bills, and they fall and rise in the different
Circulations they take. The Maryland Money is
generally pretty good, but of a low Value, and this,
again, is not taken on the Western Shore of Chesapeak,
where only Gold and Silver is current: North Carolina
is still lower than Maryland, and South Carolina worst
of all; for their Money there is so low as seven for
one Sterling, so that it makes a prodigious Sound; and
not only so, but even private Traders there coin
Money, if I may use the Expression, and give out small
printed, or written circulating Notes, from Six pence
to a Pound, and upwards; in which they are, no Doubt,
considerable Gainers, not only by the Currency of so
much ready Money, without much Expence in making it,
but also by Loss, wearing out, or other Accidents. In
Georgia, again, this Money never passes, for all their
Bills are of Sterling Value, and will pass all over
America as well as Bank Notes. There are, I find, some
considerable Gains, and Stockjobbing in America, by
the issuing out, and calling in, their new and old
Bills, which I shall not think proper to touch
upon.
There are very considerable Numbers of Roman
Catholicks in Maryland, particularly about the Borders
of Pensilvania; but the Bulk of the Colony is of the
Episcopal Persuasion, with a grand Mixture of divers
other Sects. The Women are very handsome in general,
and most notable Housewives; every Thing wears the
Marks of Cleanliness and Industry in their Houses; and
their Behaviour to their Husbands and Families is very
edifying. You can't help observing, however, an Air of
Reserve, and somewhat that looks at first, to a
Stranger, like Unsociableness, which is barely the
Effect of living at a great Distance from frequent
Society, and their thorough Attention to the Duties of
their Stations. Their Amusements are quite innocent,
and within the Circle of a Plantation or two, they
exercise all the Virtues that can raise one's Opinion
of the too light Sex. I would premise here, that I am
not writing any Thing yet of the more refin'd Part of
the Colony, but what I say now is confin'd to a Tract
of about 200 Miles; for in some other Parts you'll
find many Coquettes and Prudes, as well as in other
Places; nor, perhaps, may the Lap Dog or Monkey be
forgotten. Hail delightful Sex! would you divest
yourselves of
54 ===== ITINERANT OBSERVATIONS IN
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but some few Foibles; would you attend somewhat
more to the Knowledge of yourselves, and turn your Eye
inwards; had not the rolling Chariot, the shining
Ring, the Indian Exoticks, the French ify'd
Affectation, the gay Coxcomb, more Charms than
Knowledge, Decency, Prudence, Discretion and Merit,
how happy would you be! But to roll on in a continued
Round of senseless Impertinence, will never, never,
raise you to the Character or Situation of these
American Wives. My God! what a different View has the
Representation! the one a Piece where every Figure on
the Canvas glows with native Ease, Grace and
Proportion, no artful Heightnings, no absurd Conceit,
has debas'd the great Designer, Nature: On the
contrary, turn your Eyes this Way; what Figures are
these? From what distant Clime were they imported?
From the Region of sickly Whim, and the Designer sure,
like Rabelais, was resolv'd to paint some Beings that
were too odd to exist any where else: What a Load of
Ornaments, and a Glare of Colours, that quite hurt the
Eye in looking on the Piece! nor is there one truly
smiling Stroke, one Grace, nor one Beauty in the whole
Delineation.
What's female beauty, but an air
divine,
Thro' which the soul's unfading lustres shine?
She, like a sun, irradiates all between;
The body charms, because the mind is seen.
-- INCERT. AUCT.
I should busy myself more in the descriptive Part
of my Journal whilst in this Colony, did I not reserve
myself, till my Arrival in Virginia; for there is such
a Connection between the Trade and Nature of the Soil,
and the Commodities they raise and export, that one
general Account will serve for both: Nor do the two
Countries appear much of a different Form; for in the
Uplands of Maryland, they are as mountainous, and
abound in Valleys as much as they do in Virginia. For
this Reason, I wave those Matters till I arrive there,
and insist so much on the Manners and Tempers of the
Inhabitants and the Genius of this Country.
They have some considerable Seminaries of Learning
in the two Colonies; but Williamsburgh College in
Virginia is the Resort of all the Children, whose
Parents can afford it; and there they live in an
academical Manner; and really, the Masters were Men of
great Knowledge and Discretion at this Time;
===== ITINERANT OBSERVATIONS IN
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tho' it can't yet vie with those excellent
Universities, for I must call them so, of the
Massachusetts; for the Youth of these more indulgent
Settlements, partake pretty much of the Petit Maitre
Kind, and are pamper 'd much more in Softness and Ease
than their Neighbours more Northward. Those that can't
afford to send their Children to the better Schools,
send them to the Country School-Masters, who are
generally Servants, who, after serving their Terms
out, set up for themselves, and pick up a Livelihood
by that, and writing Letters, and keeping Books for
their illiterate Neighbours. Often a clever Servant or
Convict, that can write and read tolerably, and is of
no handicraft Business, is indented to some Planter,
who has a Number of Children, as a School-Master, and
then, to be sure, he is a tip-top Man in his Parts,
and the Servant is us'd more indulgently than the
generality of them.
As I said before, the young Fellows are not much
burden'd with Study, nor are their Manners vastly
polite: But the old Gentlemen are generally a most
agreeable Set of Companions, and possess a pretty deal
of improving Knowledge; nay, I know some of the better
Sort, whose Share of Learning and Reading, would
really surprize you, considering their Educations; but
this, to be sure, must be an after Improvement. One
Thing they are very faulty in, with regard to their
Children, which is, that when young, they suffer them
too much to prowl amongst the young Negros, which
insensibly causes them to imbibe their Manners and
broken Speech. The Girls, under such good Mothers,
generally have twice the Sense and Discretion of the
Boys; their Dress is neat and clean, and not much
bordering upon the ridiculous Humour of their Mother
Country, where the Daughters seem dressed up for a
Market.
'Tis an odd Sight, that except some of the very
elevated Sort, few Persons wear Perukes, so that you
would imagine they were all sick, or going to Bed:
Common People wear Woollen and Yarn Caps; but the
better ones wear white Holland, or Cotton: Thus they
travel fifty Miles from Home. It may be cooler, for
ought I know; but, methinks, 'tis very ridiculous.
They are all great Horsemen, and have so much Value
for the Saddle, that rather than walk to Church five
Miles, they'll go eight to catch their Horses, and
ride there; so that you would think their Churches
look'd like the Out-Skirts of a Country-Horse Fair;
but then, as some Excuse, it may be said, that their
Churches are often very distant from their
Habitations.
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An universal Mirth and Glee reigns in Maryland,
amongst all Ranks of People, and at set Times, nothing
but Jollity and Feasting goes forward: Musick and
Dancing are the everlasting Delights of the Lads and
Lasses, and some very odd Customs they have at these
Merry-makings: You would think all Care was then
thrown aside, and that every Misfortune was buried in
Oblivion. In short, my Spirits have been sometimes
raised so much, that I have almost forgotten I was of
another Clime, and have wish'd myself for ever amongst
them. Adieu! happy People! For the Favours I have
reaped at your Hands, Gratitude shall ever fill my
Breast: I leave you but to return again; once more to
partake of your Halcyon Feasts, and hearty jovial
Mirth.
For now, with glad'ned eyes, we view the
bounds
Of that fam'd colony, from whence the weed,
The salutiferous plant, that sends the breast
From noxious vapours of th' inclement morn,
Provocative to solid, studious tho't,
Derives its birth and use; the land that erst
Employ'd the labours of our virgin queen,
And still is sacred to Eliza's fame.
§
In leaving these Lowlands of Maryland, and passing
into Virginia, you find the Scene greatly alter'd; and
Hills and Dales, with more frequent Plantations, seem,
entirely, to take off the Rudeness of the Country's
Aspect. The Roads, also, thro' the two Counties of
Acomoco and Northampton, save here and there, are
equal to most in England; tho' not near so commodious,
as in the Counties on the other Side of the Bay. You
pass over several considerable Rivers, and Branches,
and find many lofty and commodious Bridges; whilst the
same Hospitality, Simplicity and Honesty reigns
amongst the Inhabitants, as in the Part of Maryland I
have just traced: Indeed, you find greater, and more
considerable Marks of Opulency; and we begin to regale
with excellent Wines, good Brandies and Rum, and, here
and there, with English Porter, which is imported
generally in Bottles. Trade, also, seems to flows in a
brisker Channel, and the Stores of the Merchants to be
better provided; nor are the Gentlemen a little vain,
of their being a Part of the King's Government, and
look down with an Air of Contempt, upon the
neighbouring Patentee Colonies.
===== ITINERANT OBSERVATIONS IN
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The Inhabitants on the Western Shore, are supply'd
with prodigious Quantities of Beef, Pork, and Grain
from this Eastern Shore, as they call them, by Way of
Distinction; to whom they give, also ironically, the
Epithet of Buckskins, alluding to their Leather
Breeches, and the Jackets of some of the common
People; which is, all over Virginia, as great a
Reproach, as in England, to call a Man Oaf or Clown,
or Lubberkin. This Eastern Shore is a Neck of Land,
resembling a Peninsula, having its Junction, in about
40° N. with the Main Land, somewhat above
Annapolis, near Baltimore and Elsinburgh, upon the
Frontiers of Pensilvania, where the Delaware Bay, and
River, forms, to the East, and the Heads of Chesapeak
Bay, to the Westward, a Kind of Isthmus; and thence,
trending away South-Easterly terminates at Cape
Charles, nearly in Lat. 37°, and is one of the
Abuts, that confines the noblest Bay in the Universe;
tho', with all Winds it is not so convenient to ride
in, as having a dangerous Plenty of Sands, Sholes, and
Reefs, that have prov'd very often full of Distress.
In this Bay, the whole Navies of Great Britain,
Holland, and France, might ride at Anchor; it being,
from Magidi Bay, to the Entrance of York River, more
than 20 Miles over; and into which, a Number of the
noblest navigable Rivers disembogue themselves, which
you may, as far as the Eyes can reach, see overspread
with waving Forests of European Vessels, and a lesser
Tribe, who trade from Shore to Shore, and exchange
their own Products for those of their Neighbours. The
common Harbour for the Men of War, in this Station, is
Sarah's Creek, on the Glocester Side of York River;
which a late Commander, the thrice renown'd Sir Yel,
Peace be to his Ashes-render'd as shamefully famous,
as ever Turtle Bay was render'd by P______ or
E______s; or Hobcaw, by some others.
But to return; we made two Stages, from Acomoco
Court House; lying at Pongoteag the first Night, and
at the Ferry House at Magidi Bay (where a Chaloupe
attends to transport Passengers and their Horses to
York, Noffolk, Glocester James Town, or other Parts,
at a Pistole a Horse and Man) the second Day, being
two Days and an half from the Line, the Distance being
more than 100 Miles from Snow Hill in Maryland. There
are no considerable Towns on this Shore, only a few
scatter'd Hamlets, particularly, at the Court Houses
of the two Counties, which renders them far less
polite, than the Inhabitants on the other Side of the
Bay, where large Towns abound, and, which are the
Rendezvous of the several Tobacco Fleets that sail
from Europe; but to make Amends, it may, with
58 ===== ITINERANT OBSERVATIONS IN
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Regard to their Honesty, and Kindness to one
another, and to Strangers, be justly call'd, the
Elysian Fields of Virginia. I shall have again,
Occasion to mention this Part of the Colony, I find,
when I begin to enter into the Nature of the Tobacco
Trade.
No sooner the Morning dawn'd, than we rous'd from
our Beds, and address'd ourselves to our Voyage, in
one of those delicious Mornings, in which Nature seems
to take Pride, in displaying her whole Profusion of
Charms; and when a Wretch must be quite inanimate, not
to rejoice with the whole Creation, at the infinite
Kindness and Benevolence of Providence. All hail!
Eternal Sovereign of the Universe! Low, on this sandy
Beach, surrounded with these venerable Shades, and
whilst the Waves are laving at my Feet, let me adore
the great, the awful Dispositions of thy Creating
Wisdom! Alas! how my Importance droops, and how
inconsiderable I appear; when, but now, I imagin'd
myself one of the Lords of this Globe, and rashly
suggested to myself, that all these mighty Stores of
Blessings were intended to solace and delight Mankind
alone! But if so, why are the most remote Regions so
bespangled with thy Goodness; Regions but lately
known, and yet, scarce one ten thousandth Part
peopled? My Mind opens-; surely, thy wise Intention
was to excite the Benevolence of thy more happy
Creatures, and to make thy saving Health known to all
Nations, by spreading the Knowledge of true Religion
and Virtue, even amongst the sable Inhabitants of
these lovely Desarts.
After being victualled for our Voyage, which
generally employs three or four Hours, and we had
gotten our Baggage and Part of our Attendants on
board, we ourselves step'd into a small Punt, and put
off to the Shallop; which, by Reason of the
Shallowness of the Water, lay at Anchor near a Mile
from Shore, and beyond a very ugly Reef, on which the
Waves broke with great Fury; attended by Scores of
Porpoises, who were wantoning about us. We had very
nearly gained the Vessel, when two of these stupid
Hogs came souse against one Side of the Punt, and
overturn'd us, just upon the Back of the Shoal.
§
The Pain we are sensible of in our last Moments,
must be very trivial, when no foregoing Apprehension
of our Dissolution has intruded itself on our Minds,
fraught with all the gloomy Terrors, so naturally
representant to us, on this awful Occasion. Here, no
real Danger, at first, could be imagin'd; for
===== ITINERANT OBSERVATIONS IN
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being good Swimmers, a Circumstance of great
Account in travelling in this Country, the escaping on
Shore again, could be no great Trouble; but in the
very first Stroke, bruising my Arm against the Buoy of
the Anchor, I was so disabled, as to be driven with
the Tide, precipitately, and with so much Violence,
into the Current, running directly out to Sea, that I
soon lost all Sense of my forlorn Condition.
Reflection, as near as I Can guess, did not long
remain, and two Seconds put me into the State of an
Inanimate. Only, continual Roarings, and various
unform'd Sounds, intruded upon my Ears for some Time,
and then, as it were, I ceas'd to be. King of Terrors!
thou perpetual and everlasting Dread of the human
Race, in how many different Ways thou surprizest
unhappy Mortals! No Fences can keep thee out, and thou
work'st thy Purposes, often, with the most unforeseen,
and most minute Instruments! Lingering, all pale and
emaciated, on a Bed of lengthen'd Sickness; all but
the deploring Eye, and the conscious Principle, lost
to their Functions; how dreadful the Situation! But,
prepar'd by a constant Endeavour to do good, and
inspir'd with a Regard to the Dictates of Morality and
Virtue, conducted by a humane Turn of Mind; how
eligible this quick Transition from Life to Death!
Here, then, is one principal Qualification of a
Traveller, so to conduct his Steps as to be ready at
every Stage, to enter that Eternal Mansion, or
Resting-Place, where Pains shall lose their Sting, and
Cares shall vex no more! Hurry'd down the Stream thus,
and quite lost to myself, I had soon been lost to my
Friends, had not my worthy Associate pursu'd my
floating Coarse, and overtaken it, at near half a Mile
from the Vessel: When, instantly, seizing me by one
Arm, and getting me on his Shoulders, he recover'd a
Canoa, which had been dispatch'd from Shore, after us;
and, in my first Signs of recover'd Sense, I found
myself in Bed, surrounded by a weeping Crew, and my
dear Deliverer spent with Fatigue by me, in a little
better Situation than myself.
But ah! thou'rt fled, and now exists no
more,
In mortal semblance! dearest shade, attend!
Ah! hover o'er me with thy angel wings!
And chase away the grief that hurts my soul;
Grief, endless grief, for thy untimely fate!
Could rocks and sands, or warring waves,
conjoin'd,
With howling winds, or all the hideous tribe
Of savages, that prowl the desart waste;
Could these and more have wing'd thy latest
hour,
We jointly then had render'd up our breath,
Happy to fall united!
Now alone, I wander comfortless from place to
place,
And, like the shipwreck'd mariner, aghast,
On some curs'd barren shelve, I seek in vain,
With wandering eyes for help in my despair.
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The first Emotion I experienced, was that of the
most lively and piercing Gratitude to Providence, and
the Arm that saved me from the deep Abyss; that Cave
of continued Destructions .
In two or three Days we embark'd, being perfectly
recover'd, and address'd ourselves once more to the
Passage; and here, how can I help sketching out the
various Beauties and Adornments of Nature, that
elucidated our pleasing Voyage? Suppose us now near
ten Miles from either Shore, about the Meridian of one
of the most transporting Days, that could have
occurred for us, whilst every storm
Is hush'd within its cavern, and a
breeze,
Soft-breathing, lightly with its wings, along
The slacken'd cordage glides; the sailors ear
Perceives no sound, thro'out the vast expanse,
None but the murmurs of the sliding prow,
Which gently parts the smooth and azure main.
-- GLOVER
The golden Rays of the Sun darting thro' the Gloom
of the surrounding Woods, and reflected upon the
translucent Face of the watry Plain, gave so lively a
Perspective Draught of the circumjacent Country, that
we were at a Loss whether to fix our admiring View
upon the Reality, or the Representation. These Woods,
every where diversify'd with interspersed Plantations,
by their reverend Gloom, seemed the Retreat of some
antient Druids; nor could I forbear a kind of
Reverence for so awful a Scene, really much calculated
for a Seat of superstitious Rites and Ceremonies;
where not a Sigh of the softest Zephyr but in a
mournful, melancholy Whisper, is heard thro' the whole
Forest, and seems even to form articulate Sounds:
Whilst now and then the long pausing Scream of the
Turky, or the quick, smart Cry of the Paroquet,
interrupts the responsive Lays of the Turtle, and the
rest of the musical Choir, and passes
===== ITINERANT OBSERVATIONS IN
AMERICA 61
in thrilling Chorus from Grove to Grove, from Brake
to Brake; whilst imitative Echo fondly retains the
Sound. Who can, here, help recalling to his Mind, the
Fauns and Satyrs of the Antients; their Fables of
Diana and her Virgin Train, and their whole beautiful
Decoration of the Sylvan Scene? When these Fables were
first sung, even the now despoiled and desart regions
of Achaia, and the Territories of Italy, Gaul and
Britain bore just such an Aspect; so buried in the
Depth of almost unpassable Woods, and the Inhabitants
of some of them little more civiliz'd than the Indian
Natives of these Regions. And no doubt, but in
Proportion to the Increase of our Colonies, the
Manners of the antient Possessors may be polish'd, and
their brutal Fierceness tam'd; seeing so many potent
Nations are exhausted, already, by their intestine
Wars, or Broils with the Europeans, that they are in
the whole America not of half so much Importance as
they were 100 Years ago. Nay, many Nations live
amongst the English, there being several Settlements
of them in New-England, Maryland, Georgia, &c. and
in the first nam'd Place, whole Tribes who have
embrac'd the Christian Religion, and have Teachers of
their own set apart to the Ministry. Like our
Preoccupiers, the Antient Britons, the Indians perform
all religious Ceremonies and Mysteries in the deepest
Retreat of the Woods; and inur'd from their Infancy to
heroic Idleness, and Hunting for Subsistance, they
esteem the open Savannah or the Corn-Field, no farther
than for Profit, whilst their choice Hours of Pleasure
are generally sought in the Shade. I remember to have
ask'd the famous Toanahowi, so caress'd in England
some Years ago, by the Royal Family, how he liked that
Country? He told me, they were good People, but that
it was a poor Country, and he could not live in it,
because they had no Woods nor Deer, but what were kept
in some Gardens; for so he stil'd the Parks of
England. But to return: The Infinity of Sloops and
Barks that appeared every where around, the fine
Vista's up York and James Rivers, and other navigable
Streams, the prodigious Flights of Wild Fowl, that
darken'd the Air, all in their native Strains hymning
the Great Creator; the Albicores, Dolphins and
Porpoises wantoning on every Side, and a long, long
View of the Wide Ocean, with a whole Fleet of Vessels
in the Offing, tumbling in the Calm, and reeling their
lofty, unsteady Heads; the Lowing of the goodly Kine,
the Bleating of the Sheep, the Neighing of the useful
Steed, and the Cries of the laborious Husbandman,
plung'd us into an admiring Extasy: Nor could we
forbear to
62 ===== ITINERANT OBSERVATIONS IN
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exclaim, How manifold are thy Works, 0 Lord! In
Wisdom hast thou made them all! The Earth is full of
thy Riches: So is this great and wide Sea, wherein are
Things creeping innumerable, both small and great
Beasts: There go the Ships, &c. A delicious
Moon-light Night succeeded this brilliant Day, and
exhibited still new and more delectable Scenes of
Wonder, and Millions of unknown Regions, the Work of
an eternal, unbounded Creation. Lost in the
Contemplation of these Blessings! Struck with such a
Field of Magnificence! Exclamation and Rapture is
succeeded by the lowest Adoration, and the most
unfeigned Praises!
Where'er we stir, where'er we look or
move,
All, all is him, and every where is Jove
-- LUCAN.
At Eight the succeeding Morning, we discover'd the
red Clifts of York Town, and the Opposite Town of
Gloucester; and sure, nothing could form a more
romantick Sight. The Place being somewhat situated
like Dover and the Town standing on a Descent, you can
only perceive 3 or 4 Houses at first View, and scarce
any Thing presents itself but these steep, sandy
Banks, dug into an infinite Number of Holes and
Caverns, and the Battery of Guns before the Town upon
the Pitch of the Bluff.
York-Town, Capital of the County of that Name, is
situated on a rising Ground, gently descending every
Way into a Valley, and tho' but stragglingly built,
yet makes no inconsiderable Figure. You perceive a
great Air of Opulence amongst the Inhabitants, who
have some of them built themselves Houses, equal in
Magnificence to many of our superb ones at St.
James's; as those of Mr. Lightfoot, Nelson, &c.
Almost every considerable Man keeps an Equipage, tho'
they have no Concern about the different Colours of
their Coach Horses, driving frequently black, white,
and chesnut, in the same Harness. The Taverns are many
here, and much frequented, and an unbounded
Licentiousness seems to taint the Morals of the young
Gentlemen of this Place. The Court-House is the only
considerable publick Building, and is no unhandsome
Structure. The amiable Hospitality I have just pass'd
an Eulogium upon, on the other Side the Bay, seems on
this Shore to have found no great Footing: Schemes of
Gain, or Parties of Gaming and Pleasure, muddy too
much their Souls, and banish from amongst them the
glorious Propensity to doing good. The most
===== ITINERANT OBSERVATIONS IN
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considerable Houses are of Brick; some handsome
ones of Wood, all built in the modern Taste; and the
lesser Sort, of Plaister. There are some very pretty
Garden Spots in the Town; and the Avenues leading to
Williamsburgh, Norfolk, &c. are pro digiously
agreeable. The Roads are, as I said before, some of
the best I ever saw, and infinitely superior to most
in England. The Country surrounding is thickly
overspread with Plantations, and the Planters live, in
a Manner, equal to Men of the best Fortune; some of
them being possess'd of 500 or 1000£ a Year
Sterling.
Gloucester Hampton, and Norfolk, are Towns of near
the same Structure, there being little Difference,
save that at the last mention'd Place, a Spirit of
Trade reigns, far surpassing that of any other Part of
Virginia. A great Number of Vessels are fitted out
from thence, to trade to the Northward and the West
Indies; and the Inhabitants are, from their great
Intercourse with Strangers, abundantly more refin'd.
But before I leave York entirely, I should just
mention the Battery, that is the Defence of the Town,
which at this Time was under the Direction of an
aukward Engineer, by Trade a Barber, and is as
despicably contriv'd for the Safety of the Place, as
it, no doubt, would be conducted in a Time of Danger.
Indeed, Virginia is quite an open Country to the
Incursions of an Enemy, having little to resist an
Attack by Sea, but the Men of War station'd there,
which are generally two or three. In a Land Expedition
from the Natives, or French and Spaniards, indeed,
their Numbers, 'tis hop'd, will always protect them,
seeing that they could assemble at the shortest
Warning, a Militia of 18 or 20,000 Men. They have also
some Forts towards the Apalaches, which bridle the
Indians, and secure Trade with them.
Williamsburgh is a most wretched contriv'd Affair
for the Capital of a Country,.being near three Miles
from the Sea, in a bad Situation. There is nothing
considerable in it, but the College, the Governor's
House, and one or two more, which are no bad Piles;
and the prodigious Number of Coaches that croud the
deep, sandy Streets of this little City. It's very
surprizing to me, that this should be preferr'd to
James-Town, Hampton, or some other Situations I could
mention. Here the Courts of Justice are held, and with
a Dignity and Decorum, that would become them even in
Europe. The present Lieut. Governor Gooch is much
beloved by every one, and by his mild and agreeable
Disposition, diffuses Content every where
64 ===== ITINERANT OBSERVATIONS IN
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around. The Posts that are most stickled for here,
are the Office of the Secretary, which is said to be
worth 900£ per Annum; and the being Naval
Officers to the several Counties, which are Places of
good Profit.
-We embark'd at York, in a Sloop bound for
Frederica in Georgia, immediately weigh'd, and past
Cape Henry with a brisk and favourable Gale; but when
we were abreast of Cape Hatteras, the Wind chop'd
about, and drove us for 8 Days successively off the
Coast, in the most violent Storms that ever I
experienc'd; and having reckon'd it as only a Run of 3
or 4 Days, our Provisions were too small in Quantity
for the Time we were likely to remain in this
Situation. Add to this, a Vessel that could hardly
keep above Water, she was so foul and rotten, and no
Hands that could be of Service, but the Master, a
Negro Fellow, and a Boy: For our Lading consisted of
all the Scum of Virginia, who had been recruited for
the Service of Georgia, and who were ready at every
Turn to mutiny, whilst they belch'd out the most
shocking Oaths, wishing Destruction to the Vessel and
every Thing in her; nor would offer the least Hand to
help in this Distress: Nay, they were not to be
persuaded even to go upon Deck for the Discharge of
Nature; but performing all those Offices below, we
began to fear a Plague, as well as Drowning. The
Master, on the other Side, in a superstitious Fit, was
casting Lots who should be the Jonah of the Ship,
being sure, he said, there was some Murderer on board;
and 'twas with Difficulty we kept him to his Duty,
upon not complying with his Request. I shall never
lose the Idea of this Creature and his Absurdities!
Thus then we pass'd so many Nights and Days in
miserable Want and Distress, expecting every Minute
when the Sloop would part and founder in the drear
Abyss.
see forked glare The livid lightning thro' the vast
expanse, And hark hoarse thunder growls with deaf'ning
roar. See, born aloft, our mast pervades the skies,
And now we're bury'd in the gulph below, Dreadful
vicissitudes!
On the Ninth Day in the Morning the Wind happily
subsided, and on the Eleventh we found ourselves
a-breast of Cape Fear; and then, to our great
Satisfaction, a Wind sprung up, that in four Days more
brought us to the End of our Voyage, weaken'd
===== ITINERANT OBSERVATIONS IN
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with Fatigue, and almost dead with Hunger, having
liv'd for some Time on Biscuit and Indian Pease in
small Quantities. We cast Anchor in St. Simon's
Harbour, and immediately debarking, set out for
Frederica.
Ours is the useful life, tho' want and
anguish,
Famine, and all the various train of Evils,
That human nature shrinks at, of conspire
To check our frailty in the glorious race.
..