Page:Early western travels, 1748-1846 (1907 Volume 4).djvu/59

 Monday, 26th January, at half past ten; I proceeded towards Strasburgh, in preference to keeping the stage road to the left through Chambersburgh,[16] as I shortened the road eight miles in a distance of thirty-eight, to where the two roads again met.

The country to Strasburgh, eleven miles, is well inhabited, and the soil is tolerably good; and the Blue mountains are full in front, extending to the right and left as far as the eye can reach. Those mountains are not higher than the highlands on Hudson river above New York, about 2500 feet perpendicular from the plain below, from which they rise abruptly, and the road is seen winding up their side to a small gap near the top, which separates from the main ridge a pyramidal knob, which, apparently higher {36} than the ridge, seems to hang directly over Strasburgh. I met on the road, two wagons with six horses each, from Zanesville in the state of Ohio, going to Philadelphia for goods:—They had been a month on the road. At two miles from Strasburgh, I past a direction post on the left pointing to Cummins's mills, and at 1 o'clock I entered that town and stopt at Bell's, the last tavern on the left. As there was no beer in the house, they had to send for it to Merkel's, a