The house was of moderate size, with the necessary farm outbuildings nearby. There were open fields and some woodland. The property was on the Rappahannock and at this part of the River it had dwindled to a small stream. It was not much of a river here when compared with the Potomac which the Washingtons had just left. The ferry which was operated not very far from the house must have been of especial interest to the children. Ferry Farm was by no means luxurious, but it was adequate for the needs of the Washingtons. Here they lived a simple farm life. The meals were probably served in the hall, as the custom had been in the seventeenth century. The china and linen were ample but in keeping with farm-living. There were twenty-six silver spoons but no silver plate. The family doubtless arose early, maybe at dawn. After grace was said a simple breakfast was served. The main meal was served in the middle of the day and it was called dinner. Game, fowl, fish or hot meat and greens, vegetables and hot breads were included in this meal. The hominy may have been made in the Indian fashion with a pestle and a hollowed-out tree stump. Supper was a light meal. The objects which were probably of the most interest to George were his father's surveying instruments, rifle and axe. Mary's chamber, it was said, was directly in the rear of the hall downstairs. There were two beds in it, the trunk, a chest of drawers, four rush-bottomed chairs, and a tea table before the fireplace. The two windows had hangings. It was probably in this room that another baby girl was born in June, 1739. She was the last child born to Mary and Augustine. October, 1740, was a sad month for the Washingtons. The baby died that month, and Lawrence sailed from the Chesapeake to a far-off war in Cartagena. _FREDERICKSBURG_ The town of Fredericksburg was just across the Rappahannock from Ferry Farm. To the Washington children, straight from the wilderness, it must have been a source of delight. Sloops lay at the wharf there, close to the public warehouses which were built in the shape of a cross. Near the wharf there was a quarry of white stone, and there were several other quarries in the river bank. There was one building in the town that was built of the stone, and that was the prison. Most of the buildings were of wood with wooden chimneys. In a few years the wooden chimneys were to be outlawed by the Burgesses. Fredericksburg was a new town, and it was "by far the most flourishing town in that part of Virginia." It was "pleasantly situated on the South Shore of Rappahannock River, about a Mile below the Falls." It had been established in 1727 on a fifty-acre tract of land known as the Lease-Land.