I experienced every where at the South, and must ever remember with gratitude. Under the guidance of a servant, I traversed a private road, to the public one leading to Annapolis. The highway passes through a barren region until within two miles of the town, relieved, occasionally, by a few cultivated spots; and so sinuous was its course, that I crossed the Baltimore and Annapolis rail-way seven times in a distance of thirteen miles. The deep sand made the journey toilsome, and extended its duration until almost an hour past meridian. Annapolis is apparently and really an old town. Many of its houses are of the hip-roofed style of an earlier generation, with the distinctive features of Southern houses, so odd in appearance to the eyes of a Northern man--the chimneys projecting from the gable, from the ground to their tops. The city is beautifully located on the south branch of the River Severn, upon a peninsula formed by Acton's and Covey's Creeks, which rise within half a mile of each other. It commands an extensive view of the Chesapeake Bay and the surrounding * This gentleman was Mr. Poe. His widow, the lady who cut out the garments, was living when La Fayette visited Baltimore in 1824. The two patriots met, and the scene was one of peculiar interest.--See Niles's Register, 24th October, 1824. [[[Founding of Annapolis.--First Lord Baltimore.--Exploration of the Chesapeake.--Maryland Charter]]] {395}country, where almost every diversity of picturesque scenery is exhibited, except the grandeur of lofty mountains. Annapolis was erected into a town, port, and place of trade in 1683, under the name of the "Town land at Proctor's," or "The Town land at Severn." Eleven years afterward it received the name of "Anne Arundle Town," and was made the naval station of the infant colony, and the seat of government. It received the name of Annapolis (Anne's city) in 1703, which was given in honor of Queen Anne, the reigning sovereign of England. Before noticing the associations which give peculiar interest to the history of Annapolis, let us consult the chronicles of the state.