The houses in Norfolk were about five hundred in number; but most of them were of wood, and meanly built. These had all been erected since the year 1776; when the place had been totally burnt, by order of lord Dunmore, then the British governor of Virginia. The losses sustained, on this occasion, were estimated at three hundred thousand pounds sterling. Near the harbour the streets are narrow and irregular: in the other parts of the town they are tolerably wide. None of them, however, are paved, and all are filthy. During the hot months of summer, the stench that proceeds from some of them is horrid. There were, at this time, two churches, one for episcopalians, and the other for methodists; but, in the former, service was not performed more than once in two or three weeks. Indeed, throughout all the lower parts of Virginia, that is, between the mountains, and the sea, the people seemed to have scarcely any sense of religion; and, in the country districts, all the churches were falling into decay. From Norfolk Mr. Weld went to the _Dismal Swamp_. This commences at the distance of nine miles from the town, extends into North Carolina, and occupies, in the whole, about one hundred and fifty thousand acres. The entire tract is covered with trees, some of which are of enormous size; and between them, the underwood springs up so thick, that the swamp is, in many parts, absolutely impervious. It abounds also with cane-reeds, and with long rich grass, on which cattle feed with great avidity, and become fat in a short time. In the interior of the swamp, large herds of wild cattle are found; the offspring, probably, of animals which have at different times been lost, or turned out to feed. Bears, wolves, deer, and other wild indigenous animals, are also found here. As the Dismal Swamp lies so very near to Norfolk, where there is a constant demand for timber, staves, and other similar articles, for exportation; and, as the best of these are made from trees grown upon the swamp, it of course becomes a valuable species of property. A canal, which the inhabitants of Norfolk were, at this time, cutting through it, would also tend to enhance its value. From the Dismal Swamp to Richmond, a distance of about one hundred and forty miles, along the south side of _James River_, the country is flat and sandy, and, for many successive miles, is covered with pine-trees. In some parts there are peach-orchards, which are very profitable. From the peaches, the inhabitants make brandy, which, when properly matured, is an excellent liquor, and much esteemed: they give it a delicious flavour by infusing dried pears in it.