table disposition. The population may be put down at four thousand.

Yorktown, in York County, ever memorable for the surrender of Cornwallis, is about thirty-five miles from this city. There are only a few buildings, many of which are in a decayed and dilapidated state. "The water scenery at York is fine. The river, full a mile wide, is seen stretching away until it merges in Chesapeake Bay—an object of surpassing beauty, when rolling in the morning light, its ripples sparkling in the sun; or when its broad bosom is tinged with the cloud-reflected hues of an autumnal sunset. On its banks stand the ruins of the old church. Silence reigns within its walls, and the ashes of the illustrious dead repose at its base."

"Long before the Revolution, the commerce of Yorktown had much declined, notwithstanding the wealth and power located in its immediate vicinity; and the Virginia trade was, in a great measure, diverted to our harbour, owing to its greater safety and facilities for business.

"The view from the ancient ramparts on the hill," says one who recently visited the place, "excited general admiration, while the locality of the venerable city, now suffering under the heavy yoke of time and legislative neglect, induced the hope that, under the new state of things, of which a faint beginning seems to have dawned upon our good old commonwealth, Yorktown might yet retrieve her former position among cities. The good people of the place are fully awake to her interests, and will leave no effort untried to advance her prospects. Captain Anderson, a wealthy and enterprising citizen, has built a strong and commodious wharf, and taken other steps towards that object.

"Leaving Yorktown, we pursued our course up the river, a distance of forty miles-its entire length-and a more majestic sheet of water we do not believe exists, nor one uniting so completely all the facilities of navigation. It preserves its breadth, say two miles, from its source to its mouth, and presents not the least obstruction to navigation by vessels of any size, in any weather. At West Point-the extreme end of King William County, and once advocated as the site for the capital of the

State, -a single vote decided in favour of Richmond-the Pamunky and Mattaponi form a junction with the York.

"The York River is, properly speaking, an arm of the bay, from its mouth to the point where the Pamunky and Mattaponi unite. In the early period of our colonial history, the attempt was made to build up at Yorktown a large commercial city; but long before the Revolution it proved abortive, notwithstanding its contiguity to Williamsburg, then the seat of royal authority in Virginia. Its magnificent water prospect is well calculated at first view to encourage the idea; and the ever-glorious reminiscences connected with its hallowed soil, even now, at times, engender such a hope."

"We were shown," says another writer, "the spot where Cornwallis delivered up his sword to Washington-the 'Moore House,' where the articles of capitulation were drawn up-the identical redoubts which were carried by Lafayette and Washington, sword in hand-the cave called 'Cornwallis's Cave,' and the old burial-ground, where some of the most ancient tombstones in Virginia can be found. One especially attracted our attention, which was inscribed to the memory of Hugh Nelson, buried 1745. The inscription is in Latin, with the family coat of arms cut upon the wall of the sides of the tomb. He was, doubtless, the ancestor of the Nelson family, and occupied a respectable position in the then colony. The ancient brick mansion of the Nelson family is also here; and in the eastern gableend is a hole about eight inches in circumference, which was made by a cannon-ball from the American army, during the siege. The house must be at least one hundred years old, and is in tolerably good preservation."

Northampton and Accomac Counties, which embrace a small peninsula, with the wide Atlantic on the east, and the Chesapeake on the west, and reaching from the Maryland line south to Cape Charles, generally called the Eastern Shore, may certainly be regarded as comprising one of the most delightful and agreeable portions of our State. The land is level, the soil good, though light, and generally kept in an excellent state of cultivation. There is, in almost every direction, an appearance of thrift, industry, good husbandry, and good society. Some

of the inhabitants are very wealthy, while a large proportion are in easy and prosperous circumstances. Taking them, generally, we may say, without adulation, we have rarely met with a more liberal, gentlemanly, and intelligent community. They appear contented, and, withal, greatly attached to their native place. The roads are excellent, living cheap, the climate salubrious, fine horses and vehicles are exceedingly numerous, and, with the deep and ever musical roar of the ocean always within hearing distance, it is truly delightful to make a visit to our Eastern Shore.

Northampton is a part of the territory originally called Accawmacke, which was the name of the tribe of Indians that held. possession of the soil. In 1643, a division was made, and the southern portion was called Northampton. Eastville, a pleasant and flourishing village, is situated about the centre of the county. Capeville, Johnsontown, and other pleasant villages, are also located in Northampton.

This county has produced some eminent men, among whom we should mention Hon. Abel P. Upshur, formerly Secretary of State. He was a powerful orator, a brilliant writer, and an accomplished gentleman. His sudden death, while Secretary of State, occasioned by the explosion of a gun on one of the national vessels, is well recollected.

Accomac County, the northern division of the original Accawmacke, embraces a level space of country, forty-eight miles long and ten wide. This county is celebrated as the native place of Hon. Henry A. Wise, one of Virginia's greatest orators, whom we have already partially described. Drummondtown, a beautiful village, is the county seat. There are several other pleasant and handsome villages. Chincoteague is one of the beautiful islands on the coast, the view from which is sublimely interesting, and seldom surpassed in interest by ocean scenery.

A gentleman who recently visited Cape Charles, says: "We found the situation a delightful and commanding one; the broad Atlantic on the one side, rolling in all its grandeur, and the noble Chesapeake on the other. The point is susceptible of the most enlarged improvement, and far surpasses in advantages the celebrated watering-place at Cape May. It is in contemplation to

purchase the place by a joint stock company, and we know of no enterprise that affords a better chance for a judicious investment. We trust the design will be speedily carried out, and suitable buildings established there before the next season. Every variety of fish can be taken in the water, and the adjacent country is fertile and abounds with game. The party met with a cordial reception from the citizens of the County of Northampton, deservedly famed for its generous hospitality."

Cape Charles is thirty-five miles from Norfolk, equal to an ordinary run of three hours. A steamboat would be profitably employed in making the run daily, touching at Old Point and Hampton; for the establishment at the Cape will rather add to than diminish the resort to these places, where the best table fare of our climate and waters is to be found, and the bathing is so generally approved. The distance from Old Point to Cape Charles is twenty-two miles.

CHAPTER LXIII.

Jamestown-First Settlement in British America-Situation-Old Graveyard and Ruins-John Smith-Settlement-Old Church-Battle with the Indians -Plan and Fortifications-Destructive Fire-Public Records DestroyedSeat of Government Removed to Williamsburg-Yankee Monopoly-The Landing of the Pilgrims-Williamsburg-Situation-Capital-Population— Lunatic Asylum-William and Mary College-Trustees, President, and Chancellor-Endowment-Magazine-Dunmore-Statue-Old BuildingsChurches, College, Military Academy, &c.-Centre of Fashion and Learning -Society-Plan of the Town-Old Almanac.

THE site of Jamestown, the first settlement in British America, and the first seat of colonial government, is on a small peninsula, or projecting piece of land, on the north side of James River, about eight miles south-southwest of Williamsburg. It is a sacred and melancholy spot. The old graveyard, and a portion of the steeple of the old church, are nearly all that remain to remind the traveller of those days long departed, when Captain John Smith

and his company first landed on the banks of the noble James, and amid the dangers and privations to which they were subjected, commenced the foundation of the most powerful and flourishing of the colonies.

"Here stand the remnants of the first church built in America. Within its walls, nearly three hundred years ago, while the red man roamed the wild forest, a savage, in human form, was promulgated that gospel which assimilates man to his Maker. Here went up solemn hymns of praise, from those who braved the tempest, endured hardships, and planted the standard of liberty upon our native soil-those who, while they held the shield of Christianity in one hand, grasped the gun or sword in the other those who suffered, that we, their offspring, might be happy, while they sleep mouldering in the silent sepulchre of death. Knowing these things, how deep a debt of gratitude do we owe our venerated sires.

"There are now but this old, lonely, dilapidated church, and the ruins of an old magazine, remaining to mark the spot where once stood the beautiful little village of Jamestown, so renowned in history. Like Jerusalem of old, one stone has not been left. upon another, and the ploughshare and pruning-hook may be seen where was once heard the busy hum of a sprightly town."

According to the account of John Smith, "on the 13th of May, 1607, after a search of seventeen days, they (Smith, Gosnold, Newport, Ratcliff, Martin, and others), fixed upon a peninsula on the north side of the James River, about fifty miles from its mouth, and then in the possession of the Paspaheghs. This they pronounced a very fit place for a very great city; but there was some contention about it between Captain Gosnold and Wingfield, even after the provisions were landed. Here they commenced the settlement of Jamestown, which was, as it proved, the small beginning of our now great and prosperous confederacy."

Shortly after, the unprotected settlers were attacked by four hundred Indians: "a boy was slain, and most of the council, and thirteen others wounded. Had not a crossbar, fired from one of the ships, striking down a bough from a tree, frightened the savages, there would have been an end of that plantation."