Page:Early western travels, 1748-1846 (1907 Volume 3).djvu/99

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page needs to be proofread.

grass which grows abundantly in many places which have not been settled, is destroyed when completely eaten by Cattle; Swine also destroy it by rooting in the earth and breaking the roots. The stalk is sometimes as thick as a goose quill, but in the rich lands bordering on the rivers and between the mountains, some stalks are as much as 2 and even three inches in diameter; the height is sometimes from 25 to 30 feet. This grass is ramose but it seldom bears fruit in the territory of Kentuckey, in that of Tenesee or in that of the Carolinas. This grass begins in the southern and maritime portion of Virginia. Further South as in the Carolinas, in the Floridas and in Lower Louisiana, this grass is found in abundance.[171]

Snow fell throughout the night and on the following morning my two Horses that had been tied had their legs swelled in consequence of the cold and of the continually muddy roads over which I had traveled the previous day.

The 1st of March 1796 arrived at Fort Blount situated on the Cumberland River.[172] Snow continued to fall during a part of the day.

The 2nd remained over in order to pull young Shoots of a new Sophora[173] I had remarked in the vicinity of Fleen's [Flinns] creek about 12 Miles from the Fort.—C. S. S.]