Page:Early western travels, 1748-1846 (1907 Volume 4).djvu/188

 Our ride now was on a charming road finely shaded by woods, with now and then a good farm, five miles to Johnston's tavern, where we fed our horses and got some refreshment. Capt. Johnston is most comfortably settled on a fine farm, having a son married and settled on an equally good one, on one side, and a daughter equally well situated on the other. He and his wife are good looking, middle aged people, {159} and both in their persons, and in every thing around them, have the appearance of being possessed of the happy otium of life. He had a quantity of last year's produce in his granaries, and his wheat, his corn and tobacco fields, with a large tract of meadow, were smiling in luxuriant abundance around him.

The country continued fine, and more cultivated for the next six miles, hill and dale alternately, but the hills only gentle slopes: we then ascending a chain of rather higher hills than we had lately crossed, called Ash ridge, we passed a small meeting house on the right, and Mr. Robert Carter Harrison's large house, fine farm and improvements on the left, separated by the north branch of Elkhorn river from Jamison's mill. We then crossed that river, and soon after, on a fine elevated situation, we passed general Russel's house on the right, with a small lawn in front of it, and two small turrets at the corners of the lawn next the road. The tout ensemble wanting only the vineyards to resemble many of the country habitations of Languedoc and Provence. I have little doubt, but at some future period, that feature will also be added to it, as in this climate and soil grapes would grow most luxuriantly; when therefore the population of this country becomes adequate to the culture of the vine, it will assuredly not be neglected.

Overtaking a gentleman on horseback, who had been overseeing some mowers in a meadow, he joined company with, and civilly entered into conversation with us. It was