Being at a merchant’s house, in comes a tall country fellow, with his alfogeos [_cheeks_] full of tobacco, for they seldom lose their cud but keep chewing and spitting as long as their eyes are open. He advanced to the middle of the room, makes an awkward nod, and spitting a large deal of aromatic tincture, he gave a scrape with his shovel-like shoe, leaving a small shovel full of dirt on the floor, made a full stop. Hugging his own pretty body with his hands under his arms, [_he_] stood staring round him like a cat let out of a basket. At last, like the creature Balaam rode on [_an ass_], he opened his mouth and said: “Have you any ribbon for hatbands to sell, I pray?” The questions and answers about the pay being past, the ribbon is brought and opened. Bumpkin Simpers cries, “It’s confounded gay, I vow,” and beckoning to the door, in comes Joan Tawdry, dropping about 50 curtsies, and stands by him. He shows her the ribbon. “Law you,” says she, “It’s right gent; do you take it; ’tis dreadful pretty.” Then she inquires: “Have you any hood silk, I pray?” which being brought and bought, “Have you any thread silk to sew it with,” says she, which being accommodated with, they departed. They generally stand, after they come in, a great while speechless and sometimes don’t say a word till they are asked what they want, which I impute to the awe they stand in of the merchants, who they are constantly almost indebted to and must take what they bring without liberty to choose for themselves; but they serve them as well, making the merchants stay [_wait_] long enough for their pay. Life in the South A century after Jamestown was founded, Virginia was a prosperous, flourishing colony. The capital was moved a few miles away to Williamsburg, which today has been rebuilt to look much as it did in colonial times. Along the James River were large plantations, operated by gentleman farmers. These men lived much as their land-owning cousins did in the old country. Lower on the social scale, of course, were white indentured servants, who had bound themselves to years of labor in return for their passage to Virginia, and slaves. William Byrd 1674-1744 The culture of the colony, however, was dominated by prosperous planters like William Byrd, ancestor of the present Byrd family of Virginia. His estate occupied the present site of Richmond. He was educated in England and active in the affairs of the colony. In 1728, he was appointed to help survey the boundary between North Carolina and Virginia. The boundary, which was disputed, ran through virgin forests and over mountains. During the arduous weeks that the commissioners were making their survey, Byrd kept notes. His account of this experience is given in _The History of the Dividing Line_. You can see that Virginia gentlemen did not think much of the poor farmers in North Carolina.