I shall here present you with a continuation of my Remarks on the River, Soil, and Plants of _Virginia_. And first, as to the River on the other side the Mountains, said to Ebb and Flow. I have been assured by Col. _Bird_, who is one of the Intelligentest Gentlemen in all _Virginia_, and knows more of _Indian_ Affairs than any Man in the Country, that it was a Mistake; for that it must run into a Lake, now called _Lake Petite_, which is fresh Water; for since that time a Colony of the _French_ are come down from _Canada_, and have seated themselves on the back of _Virginia_, where _Fallam_ and the rest suppos'd there might be a Bay, but is a Lake, to which they have given the Name of _Lake Petite_, there being several larger Lakes 'twixt that and _Canada_. The _French_ possessing themselves of these Lakes, no doubt will in short time be absolute Masters of the Beaver Trade, the greatest number of Beavers being catch'd there. The Colonel told me likewise, that the common Notion of the Lake of _Canada_, he was assured was a Mistake, for the River supposed to come out of it, had no Communication with any of the Lakes, nor the Lakes one with another, but were distinct. But not to ramble after hear-say, and other matters; but to return to the Parts of _Virginia_ inhabited by the _English_, which in general is a very Fertile Soil, far surpassing _England_, for there _English_ Wheat (as they call it, to distinguish it from _Maze_, commonly called _Virginia_ Wheat) yields generally 'twixt Fifteen and Thirty fold, the Ground only once plow'd; whereas 'tis a good Crop in _England_ that yields above Eight fold, after all their Toil and Labour. And yet in truth 'tis only the barrennest Parts that they have cultivated, Tilling and Planting only the High-Lands, leaving the Richer Vales unstirr'd, because they understand not any thing of Draining. So that the Richest Meadow-Lands, which is one third of the Country, is Boggy, Marsh, and Swamp, whereof they make little Advantage, but loose in them abundance of their Cattle, especially at the first of the Spring, when the Cattle are weak, and venture too far after young Grass. Whereas vast Improvements might be made thereof; for the generality of _Virginia_ is a Sandy Land with a shallow Soil. So that after they have cleared a fresh piece of Ground out of the Woods, it will not bear Tobacco past two or three Years, unless Cow-pen'd; for they Manure their Ground by keeping their Cattle, as in the South you do your Sheep, every Night confining them within Hurdles, which they remove when they have sufficiently dung'd one spot of Ground; but alas! they cannot Improve much thus, besides it produces a strong sort of Tobacco, in which the Smoakers say they can plainly taste the fulsomeness of the Dung. Therefore every three or four Years they must be for clearing a new piece of Ground out of Woods, which requires much Labour and Toil, it being so thick grown all over with Massy Timber.