Beyond this place the road divided into two branches, both of which led to Jonesborough; and, as M. Michaux was desirous of surveying the banks of the _river Nolachuky_, renowned for their fertility, he took the branch which led him in that direction. As he proceeded he found many small rock crystals, two or three inches long, and beautifully transparent. They were loose, and disseminated upon the road, in a reddish kind of earth. On the twenty-first he arrived at _Greenville_, a town which contained scarcely forty houses, constructed with square beams, and somewhat in the manner of log-houses. The distance between this place and Jonesborough, is about twenty-five miles: the country was slightly mountainous, the soil was more adapted to the culture of corn than that of Indian wheat; and the plantations were situated near the road, two or three miles distant from each other. _Jonesborough_, the last town in Tenessee, consisted, at this time, of about a hundred and fifty houses, built of wood, and disposed on both sides of the road. Four or five respectable shops were established there, and the tradespeople, who kept them, received their goods from Richmond and Baltimore. On the twenty-first of September, M. Michaux set out from Jonesborough to cross the _Alleghany Mountains_, for North Carolina. In some places the road, or rather the path, was scarcely distinguishable, in consequence of the plants of various kinds that covered its surface. It was also encumbered by forests of rhododendron: shrubs, from eighteen to twenty feet in height, the branches of which, twisted and interwoven with each other, greatly impeded his progress. He had also to cross numerous streams; particularly a large torrent, called Rocky Creek, the winding course of which cut the path in twelve or fifteen directions. On the twenty-third this gentleman proceeded twenty-two miles, through a hilly country; and, in the evening, arrived at the house of a person named Davenport, the owner of a charming plantation upon _Doe River_. M. Michaux staid here a week, in order to rest himself and recruit his strength, after a journey of six hundred miles which he had just made. On the second of October, he again set out, and proceeded towards Morganton. About four miles from Doe River he passed the chain of the _Blue Ridges_, and afterwards that of the _Linneville Mountains_. From the summit of the latter he observed an immense extent of mountainous country, covered with forests. Only three small places appeared to be cleared, which formed as many plantations, three or four miles distant from each other. From the Linneville Mountains to Morganton, the distance is about twenty-five miles: in this interval the country was slightly mountainous, and the soil extremely bad.