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 merchants, who received me very politely; then leaving our boat with our landlord to be disposed of, we set out on foot for Lexington, at half past eleven o'clock.

CHAPTER XXIV

Delightful country—Beautiful fields of maize—Washington—A philosophical butcher—An architectural wagonner—May's lick—Barren hills—Licking river—Dangerous ford—Blue licks—Good inn—Salt furnaces.

Our road led over a high hill but of easy ascent for about half a mile, with small cultivated spots here and there. When at the summit of the river hills, we entered on a fine country, consisting of hill {150} and dale, with very extensive farms, and some of the largest fields of Indian corn I had ever seen. Perhaps no plantation has a more beautiful appearance than a field of maize in that stage of vegetation in which we now saw it. It was in tassel and silk according to the country terms. The first of these is the flower or blossom, which grows on the top of the plant which is from eight to twelve feet high. It is of a light brown colour and resembles the feather of a quill stripped down and twisted round the stem, and nods and trembles with the slightest air of wind. The latter consists of a few silky and silvery threads, which issue from the end of each ear, from two to three of which grow at the height of about two thirds of the stalk. The leaves which grow luxuriantly from the stalk to from a foot to two feet long, are of a deep and rich green, and have their ends generally bent down by their own weight. It is impossible to convey an idea on paper of the beauty of a field of fifty or sixty acres in this state. A field of sugar canes in the West Indies, when nearly ripe, comes the nearest to it in beauty and appearance of any other species of cultivation I am acquainted with. It