fifty shillings a thousand, a hamper of canary being thrown in.[1] At a later date, Fitzhugh transported six thousand two hundred and forty articles of the same kind to Barbadoes.[2] At still another time, he proposed to send to his merchant in London ten thousand, and expressed himself as ready to dispatch, if a fair profit could be secured, as many as seventy thousand trunnels.[3] In 1690, John Waugh of York gave a note to William Sedgwick, promising to deliver on a designated day, fourteen thousand pipe-staves, which were now valued at two pounds and ten shillings a thousand. Notes of this character were not uncommon, and they were frequently causes of suit.[4] Pitch and tar were produced in Virginia in small quantities during the administration of the Company, several Poles having been sent out to the Colony for that purpose. It was proposed that a number of apprentices should be set to learn the art of this manufacture under the foreigners.[5] There is no evidence that these articles were made on it scale of importance in the subsequent history of the Colony, although England was compelled throughout this period to import large quantities from Denmark, Norway, and Sweden.[6] In 1698, the only place where pitch and tar were produced in Virginia in a considerable quantity was in Elizabeth City County. The amount did not exceed twelve hundred barrels
- ↑ Letters of William Fitzhugh, May 22, 1683.
- ↑ Ibid.
- ↑ Ibid., June 5, 1682.
- ↑ Records of York County, vol. 1687-1691, p. 448, Va. State Library; Records of Lower Norfolk County, original vol., orders Sept. 19, 1694. Boards and staves were sometimes the consideration in the purchase of land. See Records of Lower Norfolk County, original vol. 1695-1703, f. p. 103.
- ↑ Abstracts of Proceedings of the Virginia Company of London, vol. I, p. 17.
- ↑ Anderson’s History of Commerce, vol. III, p. 2.
