A Ramble of Six Thousand Miles through the United States of AmericaFerrall, S. A. (Simon Ansley)
History
A Ramble of Six Thousand Miles through the United States of America
Ferrall, S. A. (Simon Ansley)
United States -- Description and travel
support the constable's authority, but actually felt a strong inclination
to do so. Because they _knew_ that the authority he exercised was only
delegated to him by themselves, and that, in resisting him, they would
resist their own sovereignty. Even in large towns in the western country,
the constable has no men under his command, but always finds most powerful
allies in the citizens themselves, whenever a lawless scoundrel, or a
culprit is to be captured.
At Flemingsburg I saw an Albino, a female about fourteen years old. Her
parents were clear negros, of the Congo or Guinea race, and in every thing
but colour she perfectly resembled them. Her form, face, and hair,
possessed the true negro characteristics--curved shins, projecting jaw,
retreating forehead, and woolly head. The skin was rather whiter than that
of the generality of Europeans, but was deficient in glossiness, and
although perfectly smooth, had a dry appearance. The wool on the head was
of a light flaxen colour, and the iris of the eye was of a reddish-blue
tinge. Her eyes were so weak as to bear with difficulty the glare of day.
Most Albinos are dim sighted until twilight, when they appear to have as
perfect vision as persons with the strongest sight, and in many cases,
even more acute. This individual had evidently weak sight, as the eyelids
were generally half closed, and she always held her head down during day
light.
Near the banks of the Ohio, full three hundred miles from the sea, I found
conglomerations of marine shells, mixed with siliceous earth; and in
nearly all the runs throughout Kentucky, limestone pebbles are found,
bearing the perfect impressions of the interior of shells. The most
abundant proofs are every where exhibited, that at one period the vast
savannahs and lofty mountains of the New world were submerged; and perhaps
the present bed of the ocean was once covered with verdure, and the seat
of the sorrows and joys of myriads of human beings, who erected cities,
and built pyramids, and monuments, which Time has long since swept away,
and wrapt in his eternal mantle of oblivion. That a constant, but almost
imperceptible change is hourly taking place in the earth's surface,
appears to be established; and independent of the extraordinary
_bouleversements_, which have at intervals convulsed our globe, this
gradual revolution has produced, and will produce again, a total
alteration in the face of nature.
FOOTNOTES:
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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