Back of us the woods with which one of the mountains was clothed was on fire. During the darkness of the night, the awfulness and sublimity of this spectacle were beyond description; terror mingled with it, for, as we were at no great distance, we feared that the shifting of the wind would drive the flames upon us.
{20} Monday, April 11
We resume our journey; cross the two branches of the Juniata, and arrive at Bedford, the chief town of Bedford County in Pennsylvania, to breakfast. It is regularly laid out, and there are several houses on the main street built with bricks; even the others, which are of hewn logs, have a distinguishing neatness in their appearance. The Court House, Market House, and Record Office, are brick; the Gaol is built of stone. The inhabitants are supplied with water brought in pipes to a large reservoir in the middle of the town. On the northerly skirt of the town flows Rayston creek, a considerable branch of the Juniata.
Bedford was made an incorporate town in 1795. The officers of police are two Burgesses, a Constable, a Town Clerk, and three Assistants. Their power is limited to preserve the peace and order of the place.
Upon quitting the plain, we left a fertile soil clothed with verdure, and a warm and pleasing climate; but, as we ascended the mountain, the soil appeared more barren, and the weather became colder. Yet here and there we met with a little verdant spot {21} around a spring, or at the bottom of a small indenture in the sides of the mountain. Climbing hence, the prospect widened. Deep vallies, embowered with woods, abrupt precipices, and cloud-capt hills, on all sides met the view.
