The country between Philadelphia and the Susquehanna is one of the richest and most fertile regions in the world. Most of it is low, with gently rolling fields and a few higher hills. One fine farm joins another, and the great stone houses look as strong and as solid as if they had grown up out of the ground. Huge chimneys rise from the roofs and make one think of the warm fire-places and well-spread tables of the thrifty German farmers who built these houses and lived in them. The barns, like the houses, are large; they are often built of stone and whitewashed, and they still hold great harvests. One side of the barn usually reaches several feet beyond the high foundation, and is called an “overshoot.” As the doors to the stables are under this, it seems to have been planned as a protection against storms. An English traveler went over the Lancaster pike in 1796 and found it worthy of praise. He said that it was paved with stone, covered with gravel, and could be traversed in any season of the year. About one mile east of the public square in Lancaster a fine old arched bridge of stone carries the turnpike across Conestoga creek, a stream flowing southward into the Susquehanna. It takes its name, which has become famous in American history, from a small tribe of Indians who lived on its borders. The early inhabitants made the water deeper by building dams with locks, and sailed their boats with loads of produce down to the Susquehanna. In the common phrase of that time, they spoke of it as the “Conestoga navigation.” [Illustration: FIG. 22. BRIDGE ON THE “PIKE” CROSSING CONESTOGA CREEK ONE MILE EAST OF PENN SQUARE, LANCASTER, PENNSYLVANIA] But the most interesting thing to which the name Conestoga was given was a wagon that was invented in this region. It was made very large and strong, to carry freight, and was drawn by four, seven, or even a dozen horses. Hundreds of these wagons were to be seen on the Lancaster pike and on the other great roads of that time. They were built, as freight cars are now, to carry heavy loads long distances in safety. [Illustration: FIG. 23. TOLLHOUSE EIGHT MILES EAST OF LANCASTER, PENNSYLVANIA] These wagons were unusually long, and the boxes curved upward at the ends, so that inside and out they were shaped somewhat like a canoe. The advantage of this was that the loads did not slide, but rode steadily when the wagons went up and down steep hills. The wheels were big and had wide tires, so that the heavy loads would not cut the roads. The story is told that one of these wagons with its load of tobacco weighed more than thirteen thousand pounds, or almost seven tons.