Mount Vernon, on the western shore of the Potomac, 15 miles from Washington, is worthy of attention, as the residence of Washington, and the spot which contains his tomb. The mansion house, a simple wooden building, still remains. The tomb, into which the body of the hero has been recently removed, is an excavation in the earth, with a plain brick front, but rendered more secure than that in which it was originally deposited, by being closed with an iron door.

Wheeling, on the Ohio, is a flourishing and rapidly increasing town, with 5,211 inhabitants. It is chiefly built in a single street, on account of the proximity of a ridge of steep hills, on which it stands, to the river. The hills contain inexhaustible quantities of coal. Wheeling is the highest point of the Ohio, to which navigation extends at low water, and many boats and steam vessels are built here. The great national road over the Alleghanies, called the Cumberland road, meets the Ohio at this place.

Other towns are Winchester, Shepherdstown, Martinsburg, Staunton, where there is a state lunatic asylum, Lexington, and Fincastle, in the central valley; Charlestown and Abingdon, to the west of the mountains, and Charlotteville, the seat of the state university. Two miles from the last place is Monticello, formerly the residence of Jefferson.

17. Agriculture. The agriculture of this state is various, but for the inost part badly conducted. The practice of clearing lands, cultivating them every year till exhausted, and then leaving them to recover by natural influences, prevails in many places. From the sea to the head of tide water, and south of the James river, up to the Blue Ridge, what is called the three-shift system prevails, that is, first a crop of Indian corn; second, of wheat, rye, or oats; and third, a year of rest, as it is called, while little attention is paid to the application of manure, or the cultivation of artificial grasses. On the north side of the James, and in the valley district, agriculture is prosecuted with more care and skill. Tobacco is extensively raised in Eastern Virginia, and sparingly in the southern part of the central valley. Cotton is planted to some extent in the southern and eastern parts, and hemp is raised to advantage on some of the best lands above tide water. Western Virginia affords excellent pastures, and is chiefly devoted to grazing. Wheat, maize, rye, oats and buck-wheat, are the principal grain crops on both sides of the' mountains. The eastern section is chiefly cultivated by slave labor; the lands in the valley, where the slaves are comparatively few, sell higher than those on the east of the Blue Ridge, and the general appearance of that section is more prosperous, although the soil and climate are inferior, and the communication with markets more expensive and difficult. Crop of tobacco in 1831, 44,529 hogsheads; of cotton, 33,900 bales; quantity of flour inspected, 540,000 barrels.

18. Manufactures. The state possesses great advantages for manufacturing operations in cheap labor, an inexhaustible supply of fuel, and immense water-power, yet planting and farming are the favorite pursuits. There are some manufactures of cotton and woollen goods, glass, iron, &c., in the northern and northwestern parts of the state. The Kenawha Salt Works produce, annually, 1,000,000 bushels of salt, and those of the Holston about 100,000.

19. Commerce. The commerce of Virginia is not extensive. The annual value of the exports amounts to $4,500,000, of which only $500 are in articles of foreign produce. The imports amount to about

half a million dollars. The shipping belonging to the state is about 36,000 tons.

20. Government. The Legislature, styled the General Assembly, consists of two houses; the Senate chosen every four years, and the House of Delegates chosen annually. The right of suffrage is restricted to whites, and the votes are given viva voce, or orally, and not by ballot. The Governor and an Executive Council, called the Council of State, are elected for the term of three years, by the General Assembly. 21. Religion. The most numerous sects are the Baptists and Methodists. The former have 370 churches, and 236 ministers; the latter have 131 ministers. The Episcopalians have 59, and the Presbyterians 105 churches. There are also some Friends, Lutherans, Roman Catholics, Unitarians, &c.

22. Education. William and Mary College, one of the oldest institutions in the country, was founded at Williamsburg in 1691. Hampden Sydney College, in Prince Edward County, and Washington College, at Lexington, are flourishing institutions. Randolph Macon College has recently been founded at Boydtown. The University of Virginia, at Charlotteville, has nine instructers, and 130 students. There are law schools at Williamsburg and Staunton, and theological seminaries in Prince Edward, Henrico, and Fairfax Counties. The interests of education have been much neglected in Virginia, but attempts have recently been made to improve and extend the means both of elementary and higher instruction. The state has a literary fund of upwards of one and a half million dollars, yielding a revenue of $75,000, out of which grants have been made, annually, to each of the counties, for the gratuitous education of poor children. A plan has been formed for introducing the New England system of free schools through the state.

23. History. Attempts were made by the English, during the reign of Queen Elizabeth, to form settlements on this part of the coast of North America, and the name of Virginia was given to it in honor of the virgin queen. The first colony which proved permanent was established in 1607, at Jamestown, near the mouth of James river, which names were given in compliment to King James. The early colonists suffered much from famine and the enmity of the natives, but the colony soon began to thrive and continued to advance in prosperity, although involved in the calamities of the French war of 1753. Virginia was one of the crown-colonies, having been governed, until the revolution, by a Governor appointed by the King of England. In 1776, a constitution was framed, which in 1830 underwent many and important changes.

XVI. NORTH CAROLINA.

1. Boundaries and Extent. North Carolina is bounded N. by Virginia; E. by the Atlantic ocean; S. by South Carolina and Georgia, and W. by Tennessee. It extends from 33° 50′ to 36° 30′ N. Lat., and from 75° 25' to 84° 30′ W. Lon. It is about 450 miles in length, by 185 in breadth, with an area of 50,000 square miles.

2. Mountains. The western part of the state is traversed by the three easternmost chains of the Appalachian system, the Southeast Mountain,

the Blue Ridge and the Kittatinny Mountains. The latter chain, under various local names, as the Stone Mountain, Iron Mountain, Bald Mountain, and Smoky Mountain, forms the western boundary of the state. Mount Ararat, or Pilot Mountain, is a lofty pyramidal peak, in Stokes County. King's Mountain is a hilly ridge, extending from Lincoln County, into York District in South Carolina.

3. Rivers. The Roanoke and Chowan, which rise in Virginia, empty themselves into Albemarle Sound, in this state. The latter is navigable for small vessels to Murfreesboro. The Roanoke has a course of 400 miles; it is navigable for small vessels 30 miles, and for boats to the head of the tide at Weldon, 75 miles. Above the falls at Weldon, it is navigable for boats, by the aid of canals, 244 miles, to Salem. The Tar, or Pamlico, and Neuse flow into Pamlico Sound. The former is navigable for vessels drawing nine feet of water, 30 miles, and for boats to Tarboro, 90 miles. Cape Fear River is the principal stream which has its whole course in this state. It rises in the north part, and, traversing the state in a southeasterly course of 280 miles, falls into the Atlantic at Cape Fear. It is navigable for vessels of 11 feet draft to Wilmington, and for boats to Fayetteville. The Yadkin traverses the western part of the state from north to south, and passes into South Carolina, under the name of the Great Pedee. The Catawba rises in the Blue Ridge and flows south into South Carolina. From the opposite slope of the mountains, descend the head streams of the river Ten

nessee.

4. Islands. The coast is skirted by a range of low, sandy islands, thrown up by the sea. They are long and narrow, and enclose several shallow bays and sounds. They are generally barren. 5. Sounds and Bays. The largest is Pamlico Sound, lying between the main land and one of the above mentioned islands. It is 86 miles in length along the coast, and from 10 to 20 broad. It communicates with the ocean by several narrow mouths, the most common of which for navigation is Ocracoke Inlet. A little to the north, is Albemarle Sound, which extends 60 miles into the land, and is from 5 to 15 miles wide. It communicates with Pamlico Sound, and with the sea, by several narrow and shallow inlets.

6. Shores and Capes. The shores are low and marshy, and the navigation along the coast dangerous, on account of the shoals. Cape Lookout and Cape Fear, indicate by their names the dread with which mariners approach them. But the most formidable, is Cape Hatteras, the elbow of a triangular island, forming the seaward limit of Pamlico Sound. Its shoals extend a great distance from the land, and render it one of the most dangerous headlands on the American coast.

7. Face of the Country. The eastern part of the state, for a distance of about 60 miles from the sea, is a low plain covered with swamps, indented by numerous shallow inlets from the ocean, and traversed by sluggish streams, which the low and level surface allows to spread out into broad basins. To this maritime belt, succeeds a fine undulating country, irrigated with fresh, running waters, and presenting a surface agreeably diversified with hills and valleys. The western part of the state is an elevated table-land, rising to a general elevation of about 1,800 feet above the level of the sea, independently of the mountainous summits.

8. Climate. The climate partakes of the diversified character of the

surface. The mountainous region or western plateau, experiences much of the rigor of the winters of the more northern states, though less long and not so severe. The air in this and the lower midland region is pure and healthy, and the summer heats are tempered by cool nights. But in the low country, the summers are hot and sultry, and the air is rendered unhealthy by the exhalations of the marshes, and stagnant waters.

9. Soil. In the level country, generally, the soil is poor and sandy, with large swampy tracts. The banks of some of the rivers are tolerably fertile, and there are some glades of moist land, possessing & black, fruitful soil. West of the hilly country, the soil is good, and re-sembles that of the states farther north..

The Great Dismal Swamp lies in the northeastern part of the state, and extends into Virginia. It is 30 miles in length, and 10 in breadth, and covers an extent of 150,000, acres; the soil is marshy, and the whole tract is overgrown with pine, juniper, and cypress trees, with white and red oak in the drier parts. In the centre, on the Virginia side, is Lake Drummond, 15 miles in circuit. Many parts of the swamp are impervious to man, from the thickness of the woods and bushes. A canal is carried through it from Norfolk to AlbemarleSound.

Between Albemarle and Pamlico Sound is another, called Alligator,. or Little Dismal Swamp, which also has a lake in the centre; this has. been partly drained by means of a canal, and the land rendered fit for the cultivation of rice.

It is estimated that there are 2,500,000 acres of swampy land within? the state, capable of being drained at a trifling cost, and fitted for the culture of cotton, tobacco, rice, and maize. These swamps have a claybottom, over which lies a thick stratum of vegetable compost. The drained lands are found to be exceedingly fertile.

10. Mineral Productions. Iron ore abounds, and is worked to considerable extent. The gold region, which extends from the Potomac, along the east of the Blue Ridge into Alabama, is broader and more productive in this state than in any other. The gold is obtained either by washing, that is by simply separating native gold from the sand in which it is found, or from mines. In the latter case, the gold is found in ore, which after undergoing the process of crushing, is mixed with quicksilver, for the purpose of separating the metal from the earthy parts. The value of the gold received from this state at the United States Mint, in 1832, was 475,000 dollars, and the whole production for that year is estimated at one million, about one half being exported or employed in the arts. The total value of the gold received at the mint from this state exceeds one and a half million dollars.

11. Vegetable Productions. A great part of the country is covered with forests of pitch pine. In the plains of the low country, this tree is almost exclusively the natural growth of the soil. It much exceeds in height the pitch pine of the Northern States. The tar, turpentine and lumber, afforded by this valuable tree, constitute one half of the exports of the state. The moisture of the air, in the swampy regions, loads the trees with long, spongy moss, which hangs in clusters from the limbs, and gives the forest a singular appearance. The mistletoe is often found upon the trees of the interior. This state also produces sev-eral valuable medicinal roots, as ginseng, snakeroot, &c. The rich in-tervals are overgrown with canes, the leaves of which continue green

through the winter, and afford good fodder for cattle. In the mountainous region of the west, the oak, elm, walnut, linne, and cherry trees abound.

12. Mineral Springs. There are thermal saline springs in Buncombe County, called the Warm Springs. The water is limpid and gives out nitrogen gas. It contains muriates and sulphates of lime and magnesia. Chronic rheumatism and paralysis, are among the diseases cured by drinking the water and bathing in it.

13. Divisions. North Carolina is divided into 64 counties.* Population 737,987, including 245,600 slaves, and 19,540 free blacks.

14. Canals. Dismal Swamp Canal lies partly in this state. The Northwest Canal is a branch six miles in length, connecting it with the Northwest River which empties into Currituck Sound. Weldon Canal, 12 miles in length, extends round the falls of the Roanoke. Clubfoot and Harlow Canal, opens a communication between the Neuse, below Newbern, and the harbor of Beaufort. Other canals have been constructed for the improvement of the navigation of Cape Fear, Yadkin, Tar, and Catawba Rivers.

15. Railroads. Several companies have been incorporated for constructing railways. The Central Railroad from Beaufort, by the way of Raleigh and Salisbury, to the western part of the state; and a road from Wilmington, on the Cape Fear River, by way of Fayetteville and Salisbury, to the Catawba, have been projected. The Petersburg Railroad extends to Weldon, in this state; and the Portsmouth and Weldon road is to extend from Weldon to Norfolk, in Virginia.

16. Towns. There are no large towns in this state. Raleigh, the seat of government, is pleasantly situated, near the centre of the state, and contains several public buildings, two academies, &c. The capitol was destroyed by fire in 1831; a new one is to be erected, 160 feet long, by 64 wide.

Newbern, on the south bank of the Neuse, 30 miles from Pamlico Sound, is a place of some commerce, and is one of the most flourishing towns in the state. It was formerly the capital. Tar, pitch, turpentine, and lumber, are the chief articles of export. Population 3,762, more than half of whom are blacks.

Wilmington, on Cape Fear River, 35 miles from the sea, is the most commercial town in North Carolina. Vessels of 300 tons can come up to the town, and the shipping belonging to the port amounts to upwards of 9,000 tons. Here are the county buildings, two banks, and three