force; the horse instantly reared up, and sprung forwards, leaving poor R- upon the ground, at the door, flat on his back, with his skull almost fractured. By this means the mistake in the change of our horses was discovered and rectified; but Mr. R- was so much hurt, that he

was obliged to be blooded, and carried into the Raleigh again, where I left him; and was thereby reduced to the necessity of returning alone to the ship.

On the ninth of August the ship got under weigh, and proceeded up the river, passing the delightful situations of Sandy-Point, Cabin-Point, Brandon, Flower de Hundred, Maycox, &c. on the south side; and Swine-Yards, belonging to Mr. Cole, Colonel Byrd's beautiful seat of Westover, Colonel Harrison's of Barclay, &c. on the north side: we anchored opposite to City-Point, at the confluence of the Appamatox River and the James, and about an hundred and thirty miles within land, from the ginia.

capes of Vir

Here the second mate was carried on shore to the house of a Mrs. Brown, having been for a considerable time languishing, and in great pain, occasioned by a violent contusion he received by a fall on the deck from the main-yardarm, reefing the main-sail in a gale of wind; and soon after he ended his days there.

As the ship was not to go much farther up, and was to receive great part of her cargo at this place, I hired a boat and four negroes, for one dollar and a half per day (about six shillings and ninepence sterling); and on the tenth I left the ship moored, and. proceeded up the river in the boat; proposing to land at every place, whose beauty of perspective, or singular appearance of any kind, might strike the attention, or excite my curiosity.

I had almost omitted to mention an unfortunate accident that happened at this place, before I left the ship. A young

sailor, having killed and cut up a fine large sturgeon, that had leaped out of the water and fallen into the boat, along side of the ship, which happens frequently here; bringing in the last piece himself, in his hand, his foot slipped off the gunwale of the boat, between which and the ship he fell into the river, and was never seen or heard of more.

The principal situations that commanded my notice and admiration, were Shirley Hundred, a seat of Charles Carter, esq. at present in occupation of Mr. Bowler Cock: this is indeed a charming place; the buildings are of brick, large, convenient, and expensive, but now falling to decay; they were erected at a great charge, by Mr. Carter's father, who was secretary of the colony, and this was his favourite seat of residence. The present proprietor has a most opulent fortune, and possesses such a variety of seats, in situations so exceedingly delightful, that he overlooks this sweet one of Shirley, and suffers it to fall to ruin, although the buildings must have cost an immense sum in constructing; and would certainly be expensive to keep in repair, which expence, however, must be greatly increased by this neglect..

Varina, the seat of Ryland Randolph, esq. a most lovely and delightful spot: an elegant building, but unfinished, occasioned by the owner's versatility of taste, and perpetual alterations.

Chatsworth, the seat of William Randolph, esq. whose father was surveyor-general of the southern district of North-America, &c., is a very good house, with an agreeable perspective.

A Mr. Mayho's; a very pretty place also.All on the north side of the James.

On the south side are the beautiful little towns of Bermuda Hundred, Usborn's, and Warwick: and a seat belonging to a Mr. Cary, a lovely situation, who has also

erected some extremely valuable mills, iron-works, &c. of equal emolument and importance to himself and the community. They are situated near the town of Warwick, about five miles below Richmond, and the falls of JamesRiver.

I slept on board the boat; and on the eleventh, in the forenoon, landed at the town of Shokoes, at the falls of James-River, and immediately discharged the boat.

I then waited on Mr. - a merchant, at that place, on whom I had been furnished with letters of credit, &c. He was at home, and received me with kindness, attention, and friendship. He offered me apartments in his house, which I accepted, and he seemed studious to serve and

amuse me.

THE VIRGINIA GAZETTE.

[The first newspaper established in our Colony was the "Virginia Gazette," a small weekly sheet published at Williamsburg, then the seat of government for the Colony; and the first number came out on Friday, August 6, 1736. It was edited by W. Parks, who announces his new undertaking with an "Introduction" characteristic of the times in which he lived, and containing me thoughts and hints which might be useful to his successors of the craft at the present day. This paper was continued with some changes, and perhaps some suspensions, for about fifty years; through the period of our subsequent colonial history, and to the end of our Revolutionary War. A complete file of it would be extremely valuable; but we suppose is not to be had. We have several volumes of it in the Library of our Virginia Historical Society, covering the period from the beginning in 1736, to the close of the year chasms which we can hardly hope to fill. are several other volumes of the work in

1776, but with long Besides these there our State Library,

from 1768 to 1776 inclusive.

And there were also some vol

umes of it which had been collected by the care of Mr. Jefferson, in the Congressional Library at Washington; but these, we understand, were all unfortunately destroyed by the recent fire in the Capitol-an irreparable loss. All these papers contain the most lively illustrations of the times in which they appeared, and furnish of course invaluable materials for any future history of our State. In the mean time, we propose to submit, from time to time, a few extracts from them which we think our readers will find both instructive and amusing.]

GAZETTEIANA.

NO. I.

THE

VIRGINIA GAZETTE.

Containing the freshest Advices, Foreign and Domestick.

Friday, August 6, 1736. [To be continued Weekly.]

The PRINTER'S INTRODUCTION.

THE Usefulness of News-Papers is very evident, by the great Demand there is for them, and the vast Numbers printed Monthly, Weekly, and Daily, in England, and other Polite Countries in Europe: And since Presses have been set up in some of the American Plantations, News-Papers have been printed in New-England, New-York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and South-Carolina; and in some of the Islands, as Jamaica, Barbadoes, &c. in all which Places I conceive the Undertakers find Encouragement, or they would not continue them.

From these Examples, the Encouragement of several Gentlemen, and the Prospect I have of Success, in this antient and best-settled Colony, VIRGINIA, I am induc'd

to set forth Weekly News-Papers here; not doubting to meet with as good Encouragement as Others, or at least such as may enable me to carry them on.

The Design of These Papers, is to inform the Readers, of the most material Occurrences, as well of Europe, and other Foreign Parts of the World, as of these American Plantations; which relate to Peace and War, Trade and Navigation, Changes of Government, Parliamentary Affairs, Births, Marriages, Promotions and Deaths of Persons of Distinction, with many other Transactions of Consequence; by which the Readers may be improv'd, amus'd or diverted which I shall faithfully collect, as well from the Public Prints, which I have ordered to be transmitted to me, from several Parts of England and the American Plantations, by all Opportunities, as from the private Accounts I may receive from my Correspondents. AND if any Ingenious, Public-spirited Gentlemen, who have Time to spare, will employ their leisure Hours in the Service of the Publick, by Writing any Speculative Letters, Poems, Essays, Translations, &c. which may tend to the Improvement of Mankind in general or the innocent Diversion or Entertainment of either Sex, without Offence to any in particular, they may depend on a Place in this Paper; and their names concealed if desir'd.

IT has been objected by some, that News-Papers are often pernicious, as they are instrumental in carrying on Party-Factions, and publishing Scandal and Detraction: It is true, some of them are too often abus'd that Way. But I beg Leave to assure my Readers, that I will, with the utmost Caution, avoid any thing of that Nature: For,

By the Liberty of the Press, we are not to understand any licentious Freedom, to revile our Governors and "Magistrates; to traduce the establish'd Laws and Reli"gion of our Country; or any Attempts to weaken and