Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1894-07-08


| to order four pioneers to clear the way
|. before the surveyors. We had now no
| other drink but what Adam drank In
| Paradise, though. to our comfort, We
| found the water excellent. by the help OF
| which we perceived our ,appetites to mend.
| our slumbers 70 sweetfn, the stream OF
| life TO run cool and ,peaceably In our
| veins, and IL ever we Dreamed OF women
! they were kind Our yden killed very
| fat buck and several tls-keys. These two
| kinds of meat boiled together, with the
| addition OF little rice or French barley
made excellent soup, and, what happens
rarely in other good things it never
| cloyed. no more than an engaging wife
would do by being constant dish.
INDIAN sUPERSTITToNs.
"Our Indians are very supersttious in
this matter. and told US with face full
| of concern, that IL one continued to boil
| venison and turkey together We should
for the future kill nothing, because
| the spirit that presided over the
woods would drive all the game out
Of sight"
Bannister river. Morris, Peters. and
| Jones creeks. in Halifax, were named
| for some of the men accompanying
the expedition.
! About one mile from the mouth Of
| the Hyco, Colonel y. says, lived Aaron
Pinston, upon Tewahoming now Aarons)
creek. "This man IS the highest IN
\ habitant on the south side or the
Dan. and yet reckons himself perfectly
| safe from danger"
! He first crossed the south branch OF
Roanoke near where the town Of Milton
N c.. Is now situated. This stream ne
! called the Dan, after a river mentioned IN
! the Bible Where he forded II was zOO
yards wide and the banks lined with
forest of tall canes. Ii ran about two
! miles an hour and was perfectly clear
The bottom was covered with a coarse
gravel, spangled thick with shining sub
stance that almost dazzled the eve, ana
the sand upon either shore sparkled with
the same splendid particles. AT first sight'
! the sunbeams giving yellow cast 10 the
| spangler, made US fancy them to be
pold-dust and that all our fortunes were
made. Such hopes as these were the less
extravagant, because several rivers lying
much about the same latitude with this
! have formerly aboun1ed with fragments
| OF that tempting metal. Witness me
| Tag1Is in Portugal. the Heber In Thrace'
and the Pactolus lin Asia not 10
| mention the rivers OFT the Hold coast OF
Africa. which lie in more southern ell
mate But we soon eDund oursslNos mis-
taken. and our goldAlust dwlndled into
small fakes of isinglass. However
though this did not make the river 50
rich as we would wish. yet it made 1t eX-
ceedlngly beautiful"
CANE CREEK
About two miles from this river he
came to Cane creek, so called from the
prodiglous quantity or tall canes tnst
fringed the banks OF II. The horses were
~nrhf oh "
l2 to 16 feet high, and some as thick as a
mans wrist. They continue green through
all the seasons during the space or six
years. and the seventh shed their seed,
wlther away. and die. The spring follow
Ing they begin TO sweat again, anu
reach their former stature the second or
third year after. They grow 80 thick
and their roots lace together so firmly
that they are the best guard that can
be Of the river bank. which would other
wise be washed away by the frequent
inundations that happen in this part of
| the world.
The next stream was called Sable, from
the dark color of its waters, caused by
its being shaded on both sides with
canes. Lowland creek, 50 named by rea-
son of the great breadth OF low GROUNDS
inclosed between that and the river.
In what Is now Pittsylvania county ne
1
Slippery fords.
He camped on a purling stream In thi:
! county which he called Cascade creek
/. hy reason Of the multitude OF waterfalls
, that are In II. Then the Irwin river
named for enc OF the surveyors.
, MATRIMoNY CREEK.
The next. about four miles beyond
the Irwin, he forded Matrimony creek,
so called by an unfortunate married
, man. because It was exceedingly noisy
and tempestuous. Then Miry creek
because several of the horses mlreo
= in its branches. Next stream, Mayo
; river in compliment 20 the other ol
his surveyors. Then Crooked creeF
(now in Patrick county,. 50 callel
: from its numerous meanders.
. Colonel Byrd was enthusiastic IN nj:
/ praise Of the lands and the climate
and on his return had 2OeO acres sur
veyed for himself in North Carolina
near where Ptt.yvania and Henry coun-
/ ties now unite, which he called inc
Land OF Eden.
GREAT FERTILITY.
, He saws: "I question not but there are
thirty thousand acres at least. lying alto
} gether, as fertile as the lands were SAID
To be about Babylon, which yielded, II
| Herodotus tells us right, an Increase or no
, less than two or three hundred for one
2 But there is no climate that produces
everything since the dcluge wrenchei the
poles of the earth out of their place, nor
= is il fit IL should be go, because IL Is 'he
mutual supply one country receives from
2 another which creates Il mutual trafne
: ard intercourse amongst men. And were
IL not So in order to make up each
: others wants the wars betwixt border
ing nations. like those Of the indians
and other barbarous people, would be
perpetual and irreconcilable.'
When he started on his Journey TO leave
his Eden he says: There the river Is
about eighty yards wide, always confined
within its lofty banks. and rolling down
|, its waters, as sweet as milk and as clear
/, as crystal. There runs charming level
of more than a mile square that Will
bring forth like the lands Of Egypt with
out being overfowed once q year. There
is scarce shrub in view to intercept
your prospect. but grass as high as a
, man on horseback. Towards the woods
there Is n gentle ascent, till your sight
is intercepted by an eminence that over
: looks the whole landscape. This sweet
place is so bounded by streams as to make
the whole a peninsula. l could not quit
, this pleasant situation without regret,
but. often faced about TO take parting
look at IL 9S far as | could see, ana SC
indeed did all the rest Of the company
But at last we left IL quite out OF sight
and continued our course down the river
until we took up our quarters at the same
camp where we had a little before been
alarmed with the supposed Indian whistle
However 1t did not spoil our rest; but we
dreamed all night of the delights Of Tempe
and the Elysian fields"
HAPPY PEOPLE
Happy" he says, 'will be the people
destined for so wholesome a situation,
where they may live TO fulness OF days
and. which is much better still, with muca
| content and galety OF heart" I. ID. J.
The Palmyra Propositions"
FORK UNION, VA, July 4. 1894.
To the Editor OF the Dispatch: