Page:American Historical Review vol. 6.djvu/110

lOO Documents cers, which is owing to the Americans taking sight when they fire, An instance of wl" I shall here give you. Col° Washington of this Collony being appointed Generalissimo of all the American Forces raised and to be raised, made a demand of 500 Rifflemen from the fronteers of this ColF. But those that insisted on going far exceeded the number wanted when in order to avoid giving offence, The commanding Officer chuse his Comp-:" by the following method Viz! He took a board of a foot squar and w! Chalk drew the shape of a moderate nose in the center and nailed it up to a tree at 150 yd" distance and those who came nighest the mark with a single ball was to go. But by the first 40 or 50 that fired the nose was all blown out of the board, and by the time his Comp was up the board shared the same fate. How or when these differences will [end] God onlv knows, But the Americans are determined to stand by one an- other to the last man and all exports and imports are intirely stopt also planting of Tobacco. On 26'." last M° wheat Hars-est was finised on this Plantation by getting the last of it brought home and stacked, the Amount of which will be about 3 thousand bushells, and now ten ploughs are at work every day ploughing wheat into the ground again for the next croop. It is sown here in the same field where the Indian corn is growing, so that both grow together untill the M° of Nov' when the corn is gathered and the field cleared of the stalks. Indian corn is planted at six feet distance each way as straight and regular as you do Cabbage in a garden and when it is sprung up only two stalks left in a hill ; It will grow from five to twelve or fourteen high and each stalk will have two if not three Ears on it and each Ear will have from five to Eight hundred grains on it, the size of which you know. But from Ap" the time it is planted untill now that the wheat is sown among it, It is kept as clean of grass and weeds as a garden by the Ploughs running continually betwixt the rows first the one way and then the other, and the Howers going round the hills with their hows, and without this work it wou'd come to no perfection. Of Corn there will be on this Plantation about 8 or 9 Hundred Barrells at five Bushells to the Barrell, about 350 Barrell will be used for the Nigers and Horses, the rest for sale, the price about 10/ per B". As for what the White ates of it is but triffling for three Barrell of Com is rather more than any one Man can use in a year let him ate no other bread, the value of which is only 30/. All the white people on the Plantation is the Col°, his Lady, five Children, a Housekeeper an Overseer and myself, But I think no more now of seeing 40 or 50 Nigers every day, than I did of seeing so many [Dabling ?] wifes at Johnsmiss' with single stockins, two or three of the best of which if I hade here I cou'd sell to Good Acco'. On casting my Eye out of the window I cannot help most heartily wishing you hade some of the most Charming Water- mellons I have now growing and some of them ripe within less 3 Yd' of where I sitt. Some of which will weigh from 20 to 30 lb. My Plan- tation for my Amusement consists of the following Articles Viz.' Water ' St. John's Day.