“Along the road from Leesburg towards Fredericksburg there was not a little difference to be remarked between the appearance of the country and the thickly settled regions of Piedmont Maryland and Pennsylvania, through which we had just passed. It was strange to see so much wild and newly cleared ground, due not to any unfertility of the soil, but to the large estates whose owners were unwilling to sell and found it difficult to secure tenants where there is so much land to be had almost for the asking. And the contrast in the appearance of the plantations, after the Potomac is crossed, is rather striking. In this part of Virginia, as in lower Maryland, the farmer builds a small village about him. In some cases, however, all of his buildings would scarcely make one comfortable house. From the time of his first clearing he is continually adding, and his plan may be not a very good one. We passed Moore’s Tavern and the Red House (30 miles from Goose Creek), and skirting the Bull Run Mountains, approached the strictly tobacco country. Fairly good tobacco is raised to the west along the foothills, but the profit is trifling on account of the heavy expense of carriage to warehouses whence it can be taken off by the European ships. In this region the crop had been greatly damaged by an August frost. The loss was the greater because many of these planters raise only the Sweetscented, a tender variety, but more profitable by 2-1/2 shillings the hundred, or 25 shillings Virginia currency the hogshead. “We spent a night at a plantation where, although no tavern is kept, the traveler is entertained for pay. There are disadvantages about this sort of inn, but on the one hand the proprietor escapes the payment of a liquor license and the trouble of catering to a crowd of idlers, and on the other hand the guest must answer only a few times the usual questions as to where he is going, where he came from, and what his business is. The captain had a large family, and wished to sell some of his land, of which he owned 4,000 acres. Land hereabouts can be bought for from 25 to 50 or 60 shillings Virginia currency. The captain would sell his for 40 shillings cash, and with the proceeds move to Kentucky. The people throughout are bent on providing for their children. This is difficult to do in the East, and hence the steady emigration to Kentucky.