Page:Early western travels, 1748-1846 (1907 Volume 3).djvu/155

 Its roots, of a citron colour, do not divide, but extend horizontally to a great distance, and give birth to several shoots, which very seldom grow more than eighteen inches high. The roots and the bark rubbed together, produce an unpleasant smell. I commissioned my landlord to gather half a bushel of seed, and send it to Mr. William Hamilton, giving him the necessary precaution to keep it fresh.—On the banks of the creek where Mr. Archibald's mill is erected, and along the rivulets in the environs, grows a species of the azalea, which was then in full blossom. It rises from twelve to fifteen feet. Its flowers, of a beautiful white, and larger than those of the other known species, exhale the most delicious perfume. The azalea coccinea, on the contrary, grows on the summit of the mountains, is of a nasturtium colour, and blows two months before.

Ligonier Valley is reckoned very fertile. Wheat, rye, and oats are among its chief productions. Some of the inhabitants plant Indian corn upon the summit of the mountains, but it does not succeed well, the country being too cold. The sun is not {51} seen there for three quarters of an hour after it has risen. They also cultivate hemp and flax, and each gathers a sufficient quantity of it to supply his domestic wants; and as all the women know how to spin and weave, they supply themselves and family, by this means, with linen. The price of land is from one to two piastres an acre. The taxes are very moderate, and no complaints are ever made against them. In this part of the United States, as well as in all mountainous countries, the air is very wholesome. I have seen men there upward of seventy-five years of age, which is very rare in the Atlantic states situated south of Pennsylvania. During my travels in this country the