be loose garments of cotton and woollen cloths,
girt round the waist with a small cord. I had ob-
served that this was a common dress of the work-
ing female Negroes in the fields; but, when engaged
in business in the house it seemed hardly sufficient
to cover them. In the yard, I observed a number
of slaves engaged in the management of a still,
employed in making spirits from cider. Here
again I had the curiosity to look into some of the
Negro huts, which like those I had before seen, pre-
sented little else but dirt and rags. In travelling
along, I saw several plantations of cotton, in some
of which the negro children were gathering the wool.
In the afternoon, as our road lay through the woods,
I was surprised to meet a family party travelling
along in as elegant a coach as is usually met with
in the neighbourhood of London; and attended by
several gaily dressed footmen: a sight not very
common in the back woods of this country. The
evening coming on, and no inn being near, we
took up our quarters at the house of a planter of
the name of Holiday, where we were well accom-
modated.

9th Month, 28th.

We came to Fredericksburg

and lodged at Fisher's Tavern. The next morning,
I was waked early by the cries of a poor Negro,
who was undergoing a severe correction, previously
to his going to York. On taking a walk on the
banks of the Rappahannock, the river on which