“The falls of James River, which obstructed its navigation from the distance of seven miles above Richmond, heretofore imposed the necessity of employing land carriage for that space. At present a canal, running parallel with the course of the river for those seven miles, connects the communication by water, and opens a navigation which extends without interruption 200 miles above Richmond. I have seen one of the two mills at Richmond. It stands below the falls of the river, receives a great power of water, and turns six pair of stones. It is a fine mill, and unites the advantages of all the new inventions: the cogs of the wheels are clumsily executed. It costs a yearly rent of near $6,000 to Monsieur Chevalier, a Frenchman from Rochefort, heretofore director of the French paquets to America, and now settled in Virginia. Flour mills are more numerous at Petersburg than at Richmond, and the mills there are also upon a good construction. The exportations of Petersburg are more considerable than those of Richmond, although generally speaking, the produce it receives is inferior in quality. Tobacco, for instance, which sells at Richmond for $6 or $7 the hundred weight, does not fetch quite $5 at Petersburg. City Point, or Bermuda Hundred, is the spot where the custom house is established for these two places. At half a mile from the custom house stands the habitation of Mr. D. Randolph, who is fully entitled to the reputation which he enjoys of being the best farmer in the whole country. “The inspection of tobacco in Virginia, and especially on James River, is esteemed to be conducted with a degree of exactness and severity, which contributes as much as the real superiority of the article itself to keep up its price in the market. The hogsheads are broken at the warehouse, and examined in every direction and in every part. The tobacco is then repacked in its hogshead, which is branded with a hot iron, marking the place of inspection and the quality of the contents. The planter receives a certificate of the particulars. It is by selling this ‘tobacconote’ to the merchant that the planter sells his tobacco. The civil laws of Virginia have struck me as wisely ordained. The State of Virginia has no public debt, except $100,000, in which she was found debtor to the Union on the settlement of the accounts of the States with the general government; and a claim made on the part of France for arms and military stores furnished during the war. From the condition of the finances of the State of Virginia it follows that the taxes are by no means heavy. The counties impose no taxes, unless when they have bridges, prisons or courthouses to build. The slave laws are much milder here than in any of the other countries through which I have hitherto traveled.