carbonic acid gives, however, the waters a briskness, productive of a very different effect on the palate from what an imperfect mixture of the earths would produce. The first effects of this water, due to its temperature and gaseous contents, when drunk, are a feeling of warmth at the stomach, with a sensation of fulness at the head and some giddiness. Taken at stated intervals in moderate quantity, it will produce a moisture on the skin and increase the flow of urine. If the stomach be in a good state, it gives additional appetite and imparts fresh vigor to the system. The Sweet Spring water is serviceable in the varieties of dyspepsia accompanied by gastrodynia or spasm, with pains occurring at irregular intervals, and heart-burn-when the extremities are cold, and the skin torpid. In secondary debility of the digestive canal, from the exhausting heat of summer, or in chronic diarrhoea, and dysentery without fever, or not sustained by hepatic inflammation, much good will be produced by the internal use of these

waters.

The harassing cough to which young persons are occasionally subject, and which often has its origin in an enfeebled state of the stomach, or in scrofulous habits from enlargement of the bronchial glands, as also the tussis humoralis of old people, will all be materially benefited by the use of these waters. The relief afforded in such cases as these has usually given Bristol hot wells its reputation in the cure of pulmonary consumption. Females of what are termed a nervous habit of body, will find their strength and health restored by drinking these waters, as well as bathing in the manner to be soon mentioned. Irregularity in the uterine functions will often soon disappear after the restoration of the digestive system to its former energy. As we should have inferred from the excess of carbonic acid, and the presence of the earthy carbonates in the water, it is useful in calculus and nephritic complaints.

About a mile north of the Sweet Spring, is the RED SPRING of Alleghany. This spring is a popular one, and the waters are said to be peculiarly efficacious in rheumatic complaints.

MONTGOMERY.

MONTGOMERY was formed in 1776, from Fincastle county,* and named from Gen. Montgomery: it is about 23 miles long, and 22 broad. New River runs on its southwestern border, which, with the head-waters of Roanoke River, drain the county. The face of the county is broken and mountainous, though the streams are bordered with excellent soil, which yield heavy crops of corn and wheat. Pop. in 1840, whites 5,825, slaves 1,473, free colored 87; total, 7,405.

Christiansburg, the county-seat, lies 203 miles southwesterly from Richmond, 46 miles from Fincastle, and 47 from Wytheville, on the main stage-road from Richmond to Nashville, Tenn. It was established by law Oct. 10, 1792, and the following gentlemen appointed trustees: Christian Snido, Byrd Smith, James Barnett, Hugh Crockett, Samuel Eason, Joseph Cloyd, John Preston, James Charlton, and James Craig. It contains 4 stores, 1 Presbyterian and 1 Methodist church, and a population of about 400. Blacksburg, 9 miles north of the C. H., contains 1 Presbyterian and 1 Methodist church, and a population of about 250. Lafayette, in the north part of the county, at the junction of the two forks of the Roanoke, contains a Methodist church, and about 45 dwellings.

* Fincastle county was formed in 1772 from Botetourt, and extinguished in 1776 by the formation of Washington, Montgomery, and Kentucky counties from its territory.

MORGAN.

MORGAN, named from Gen. Daniel Morgan, was formed in 1820 from Hampshire and Berkeley: its mean length is 22 miles, mean width 16 miles. Great Cacapon and Sleepy creek flow northwardly through the county, and empty into the Potomac. The Baltimore and Ohio rail-road passes through the northern part. Much of the surface is broken and rocky; but there is considerable good soil upon the streams. Pop. in 1840, whites 4,113, slaves 134, free colored 6; total, 4,253.

Bath, or Berkeley Springs, the county-seat, is a small village near the Potomac, and on the line of the Baltimore and Ohio rail-road, 180 miles from Richmond, 93 from Washington, 45 w. of Harper's Ferry, and 40 N. of Winchester. The springs at this place are much frequented by invalids, and others in search of health or pleasure. Though the waters are but slightly impregnated with the mineral ingredients, they are in high repute, and are said to be very beneficial in many diseases.

NANSEMOND.

THIS County was in existence as early as 1639-40; at which time an act was passed defining its boundaries. It bore at first the name of Upper Norfolk. In 1645-6 its name was changed to Nansimum, which word is spelt by Capt. John Smith, Nandsamund. It is 35 miles long, with an average breadth of 15 miles. The rail-road from Portsmouth to Weldon, N. C., passes through the county. The Dismal swamp extends along the eastern edge of the county, and a small part of Lake Drummond is within its limits. A good portion of the land belonging to the Dismal Swamp Company, is situated within the county. The growth of the swamp consists of juniper, cypress, gum, ash, maple, and pine. The company manufacture and export large quantities of shingles. Agriculture is not so thriving in this county as in many others. Marl is found in many places. The leading articles of trade are tar, turpentine, and staves. Pop. in 1840, whites 4,858, slaves 4,530, free colored 1,407; total, 10,795.

Chuckatuck, on the stage-road from Suffolk to Smithfield, and Somerton, near the northern line, contain each a few dwellings. Suffolk, the county-seat, is on the Nansemond River, on the line of the Portsmouth and Roanoke rail-road, 18 miles sw. of Norfolk, and 85 from Richmond. This town was established by law in 1742, and has generally been thriving, and a place of considerable business. Vessels of 100 tons come up the river to this town. contains 1 Episcopal, 1 Baptist, and 2 Methodist churches, and a

It

population of about 1,200. Smith, an English traveller, who was through here in 1784, forty-two years after the town was established, thus describes it:

Suffolk contains about a hundred houses, and carries on a pretty brisk trade, having a considerable share of the commerce of the northern counties of North Carolina. Suffolk stands on a soil so very sandy, that in every step in the street the sand comes above your ankles, which renders it extremely disagreeable. To remedy this inconvenience in some small degree, near their doors they have emptied barrels of tar or pitch, which spreads wide-the sand incorporating with it, and forming a hard, solid consistence, some kind of apology for pavement, and thereby renders walking much more tolerable. The houses in Suffolk are low, being generally not more than one story high, which is indeed the ground story only. The trade of this place consists chiefly of turpentine, tar, pitch, tobacco, and pork, which is killed, salted, and barrelled up here; also lumber, Indian corn, and some wheat.

In the year 1779, Sir Henry Clinton projected a plan to humble the pride and destroy the resources of Virginia. He sent a powerful fleet, which anchored in Hampton Roads, landed a heavy force under Gen. Matthews, which took possession of Portsmouth and Norfolk, and committed extensive devastations. It was on this expedition, May 13th, that Suffolk was burnt, the account of which here given, is from Girardin:

No sooner was intelligence received of the arrival of the British in Hampton Roads, than the militia of Nansemond county were called to arms. Suffolk was the place of general rendezvous. About two hundred men assembled there, with such weapons as they could procure from their own homes. Few of them had muskets, and still fewer ammunition. This, however, they obtained from Capt. Bright, who commanded the letter of marque, the brig Mars. Bright also furnished two pieces of ordnance, which were immediately mounted upon the carriages of carts. The whole of this little army, headed by Col. Willis Riddick, proceeded about eight miles on the Norfolk road, and, on the evening of the 11th of May, encamped in a large uncultivated field, in front of Capt. James Murdaugh's house. Before this movement, three well-mounted young Virginians, Josiah Riddick, Thomas Granbury, and Thomas Brittle, had been dispatched to reconnoitre the enemy. They were surprised and made prisoners, just below Hall's mills, in Norfolk county-conveyed to New York, where they remained for eighteen months in a state of captivity. Thus did the party under Col. Riddick continue in entire ignorance of the numbers and motions of the enemy.

To a tavern, about a mile below the encampment of the militia, Captains King and Davis had repaired for the night. In front of this tavern was a lane with draw-bars at its extremity. These were soon heard to rattle; alarmed at this noise, King and Davis seized their muskets, and flew to the door. King leaped out, and fired to give the alarm. The British platoon discharged, and shot Davis through the heart. King, well acquainted with the country, soon reached the Virginian camp, and informed his comrades of approaching hostility. The violence of the wind, blowing in an unfavorable direction, had prevented them from hearing the report even of the British musketry, discharged so near them. Col. Willis Riddick, not suspecting the approach of the foe, had retired to his own house. The command, therefore, devolved upon Col. Edward Riddick. The militia retraced their steps to Suffolk, which they reached before the dawn. Two offi. cers, mounted on fleet horses, were then dispatched to ascertain the situation and force of the enemy. Four miles below Suffolk they halted, and immediately after sunrise, in the entrance of a lane, about one quarter of a mile long, had a full view of the advancing foe, and distinctly counted 600 infantry. They rode back in full speed, and, upon calling the militia to arms, about one hundred only obeyed the call. The others had dispersed. A retreat became unavoidable-every man was admonished to take care of himself. Most of the inhabitants had already left their homes. Few could save their effects. Such as delayed their flight, in attempting to secure their property, were taken prisoners. Ruthless devastation attended the British. They set fire to the town, and nearly the whole was consumed. Several hundred barrels of tar, pitch, turpentine, and rum, had been deposited on lots contiguous to the wharves. The heads of the barrels being knocked out, and their contents, which flowed in a commingled mass, catching the

blaze, descended to tae river, like torrents of burning lava. As the wind blew from the wharves with great violence, these substances, with difficulty soluble in water, rapidly floated to the opposite shore in a splendid state of conflagration, which they communicated to the thick and decaying herbage of an extensive marsh, the growth of the preceding year. This immense sheet of fire, added to the vast columns of undulating flames which ascended from the burning houses in the town-the explosion, at intervals, of the gunpowder in the magazines-the consequent projection through the air of large pieces of ignited timber, which flew, like meteors, to an astonishing distance-all contributed to form a collective scene of horror, and sublimity, and desolation, such as could not be viewed without emotions not to be described.

NELSON.

NELSON was formed in 1807, from Amherst, and named from Thomas Nelson, governor of Virginia in 1781. It is about 26 miles long, and 20 broad. The face of the country is broken and mountainous, particularly as it approaches the Blue Ridge. The mountains contain generally a fine rich soil; and their intervening valleys, and the low grounds upon the streams, are fertile. Tobacco was formerly more cultivated than at present, but the less land-exhausting crops of wheat and rye have succeeded. An increased attention is being paid to husbandry, and the old injudicious modes of culture are being done away with. As a whole, the county is a fertile and wealthy one. Population in 1840, whites 6,168, slaves 5,967, free colored 152; total, 12,287.

Lovingston, the county-seat, is on a branch of the Tye River, near the centre of the county, on the stage-road from Lynchburg to Charlottesville, 105 miles northwesterly from Richmond. It is beautifully situated in a cove surrounded by romantic mountainous scenery. The religious denominations are Methodist, Baptist, and Presbyterian. It has several mercantile stores, and a population of about 300. At New Market, at the influx of the Tye River into the James, in the southern part of the county, there is a tobacco inspection, where several hundred hogsheads of tobacco are annually inspected. The annual amount of tobacco produced in the county, is over two millions of pounds. Faber's Mills, in the west part, contains a Baptist church and a few dwellings.

NEW KENT.

NEW KENT was formed in 1654, from York. The boundaries were then defined as follows: "It is ordered that the upper part of York county shall be a distinct county called New Kent, from the west side of Scimino creek to the heads of Pamunkey and Mattaponie River, and down to the head of the west side of Poropotanke creek." The Pamunkey runs on its northern and the Chickahominy on its these the respective

portions of the county incline. New Kent is about 26 miles long and 9 broad. Population in 1840, whites 2,472, slaves 3,385, free colored 373; total, 6,230.

New Kent C. H., or Bassettville, is 30 miles E. of Richmond, and 3 miles s. of the Pamunkey. It contains several stores and taverns, and about a dozen dwellings.

Beautifully situated on the banks of the Pamunkey, is the mansion known as "the White House." It stands on the site of the one in which Washington was married. From Custis's Life of Mrs. Martha Washington, we extract the account of his courtship and marriage:

It was in 1758 that Washington, attired in a military undress, and attended by a body servant, tall and militaire as his chief, crossed the ferry called Williams's, over the Pamunkey, a branch of the York River. On the boat touching the southern or New Kent side, the soldier's progress was arrested by one of those personages who give the beau idéal of the Virginia gentleman of the old régime, the very soul of kindness and hospitality. It was in vain the soldier urged his business at Williamsburg, important communications to the governor, &c. Mr. Chamberlayne, on whose domain the militaire had just landed, would hear of no excuse. Col. Washington was a name and character so dear to all Virginians, that his passing by one of the castles of Virginia, without calling and partaking of the hospitalities of the host, was entirely out of the question. The colonel, however, did not surrender at discretion, but stoutly maintained his ground till Chamberlayne, bringing up his reserve, in the intimation that he would introduce his friend to a young and charming widow, then beneath his roof, the soldier capitulated, on condition that he should dine-only dine-and then, by pressing his charger and borrowing of the night, he would reach Williamsburg before his excellency could shake off his morning slumbers. Orders were accordingly issued to Bishop, the colonel's body servant and faithful follower, who, together with the fine English charger, had been bequeathed by the dying Braddock to Major Washington, on the famed and fated field of Monongahela. Bishop, bred in the school of European discipline, raised his hand to his cap, as much as to say, "Your orders shall be obeyed."

The colonel now proceeded to the mansion, and was introduced to various guests, (for when was a Virginia domicil of the olden time without guests?) and, above all, to the charming widow. Tradition relates that they were mutually pleased, on this, their first interview-nor is it remarkable; they were of an age when impressions are strongest. The lady was fair to behold, of fascinating manners, and splendidly endowed with worldly benefits. The hero was fresh from his early fields, redolent of fame, and with a form on which "every god did seem to set his seal, to give the world assurance of a man."

The morning passed pleasantly away, evening came, with Bishop, true to his orders and firm at his post, holding the favorite charger with one hand, while the other was waiting to offer the ready stirrup. The sun sunk in the horizon, and yet the colonel appeared not. ""Twas strange, 'twas passing strange ;" surely he was not wont to be a single moment behind his appointments-for he was the most punctual of all men.

Meantime, the host enjoyed the scene of the veteran at the gate, while the colonel was so agreeably employed in the parlor; and proclaiming that no visitor ever left his home at sunset, his military guest was, without much difficulty, persuaded to order Bishop to put up the horses for the night. The sun rode high in the heavens the ensuing day, when the enamored soldier pressed with his spur his charger's side, and speeded on his way to the seat of government, where, having dispatched his public business, he retraced his steps, and, at the White House, the engagement took place, with preparations for marriage.

And much hath the biographer heard of that marriage, from the gray-haired domestics who waited at the board where love made the feast and Washington the guest. And rare and high was the revelry at that palmy period of Virginia's festal age; for many were gathered to that marriage, of the good, the great, the gifted, and they, with joyous acclamations, hailed in Virginia's youthful hero a happy and prosperous bridegroom.

"And so you remember when Colonel Washington came a courting of your young mistress?" said the biographer to old Cully, in his hundredth year. "Ay, master, that