Page:Early western travels, 1748-1846 (1907 Volume 4).djvu/198

 owned by his widow, who rents it to a mulatto man named Daly, who has converted it into an excellent inn. With the house, Daly occupies as much cultivated land as nearly supplies his well frequented stables with hay, corn and oats. There is also a good kitchen garden in which are vast quantities of culinary sweet herbs, besides useful vegetables, and he has good stabling and other out offices—for all which he pays only forty pounds Virginia currency, or one hundred and thirty-six dollars and two thirds, per annum. We experienced the benefit of his spacious icehouse, in the fine butter we had at supper, where every thing was good, particularly the coffee, which was almost a la Française. Daly having a good violin, on which he plays by ear with some taste, he entertained us with musick while we supped, in return for which, we played for him afterwards some duets, by the aid {169} of another violin, borrowed of young Mr. Lee, who resides in the neighbourhood with his mother.

My good bed did not lull me to repose, partly from the strength of our host's coffee, and partly from a stomachick affection through indigestion.

After a sleepless night, the freshness of the morning air revived me, and we proceeded towards Frankfort, amusing ourselves by the way with talking over the vanity and egotism of Mr. Daly, who had entertained us with many little anecdotes, connected with some of the first and most celebrated characters in the United States, in which he was always a principal actor. His vanity however had met with a sad check, soon after our alighting at his house, from the abuse of a female negro slave from a neighbouring plantation, who he drove away with a cowskin, and she in return lavished on him the most opprobrious epithets, among which he seemed to be most hurt by her calling him "an Indian looking and a black son of a b—."