Part 5

Monday 1st of February 1796 passed by Dr Smith’s house 8 Miles from Beech fork and by Mackinsy 9 Miles from Beech fork. From Mac Kinsy to Long Lake 6 Miles. From Longlake to Sheperdston on Salt river 4 miles.[165] From Shepperdston to Standeford 9 Miles (good inn). From Standeford to Prince Old station 8 Miles. From Prince to Louisville 6 Miles.

The 2nd started from Prince’s and arrived at Louisville. 3½ Miles before arriving measured a _Liriodendron tulipifera_ on the left hand road whose size was twenty two feet in circumference, making more than seven feet in diameter. (Correspondent of Monsieur La Cassagne and St. James Bauvais at New Orleans Monsieur Serpe Trader at New Orleans.[166] Correspondent of Monsieur La Cassagne at Philadelphia Geguir and Holmes, Merchants, Philadelphia. Prices: Dinner 1 shilling 6 pence; Supper and Breakfast 1 shilling 6 pence; Lodging 9 shillings; ½ quart of Brandy 2 shillings 3 pence; Horse per day on hay and maize 3 shillings 9 pence.)

The 3rd, 4th and 5th remained at Louisville, being occupied in gathering together the Collections I had left with one La Cassagne.

The 6th I saw General Clarke and he informed me of the visit of Colonel Fulton who had come from France a few months previously.[167]

Sunday the 7th breakfasted with General Clarke’s Father whose house is 4 miles from Louisville. I wanted to obtain more ample information regarding Lieutenant-Colonel Foulton. I was told that he was to proceed to Philadelphia immediately after having gone to Georgia. That he was to embark for France and hoped to return to America at the end of this summer 1796. The same day, I started to return to Nashville. Slept at Standeford. 14 Miles from Louisville. (Supper 1 shilling, Bed 6 pence. Hay for the horse for the night 1 shilling. Maize 8 quarts 1 shilling 4 pence.)

Monday 8th of February 1796. (Breakfast 1 shilling) Passed by Sheperdston 9 Miles from Standeford. Maize for horse 3 quarts, 9 Pence, Virginia money, as in all parts of Kentuckey and Cumberland. Passed by Long lake, where Salt is made as well as at Sheperdston and slept at Mackinsy’s 7 Miles from Longlake.

In swampy places in the vicinity of Longlake: _Quercus alba_; _Quercus cerroides_; _Fraxinus_ ...; _Nyssa_; _Laurus benjoin_; _Sassafras_; _Mitchella repens_; _Fagus sylvatica americana_.

On the hills: _Pinus_[168] _foliis geminis conis oblongis minoribus squamis aculeis retrocurvis_. Saw planks of this tree at the house of an inhabitant; the wood seemed to me almost as heavy as that of the three leaved Pine of Carolina. Tar is also made of it in this part of Kentucky.

The 9th I started very early in the morning from Mackinsy’s. I had been very well received there that is to say he gave me a supper of boiled Pork; the same for breakfast. My horse fared very well on Maize fodder and in a Stable that was not muddy like all those in America when one lodges with Americans or with Irish.

I paid 3 shillings, being 1 shilling 6 pence for my horse and as much for myself. I had paid 5 shillings for my lodging the previous night and had not been so well satisfied. As the daughter of this house was the smartest of any I had ever seen in America I gave her a quarter of a Dollar and the old man offered me a stuffed Tongue but I thanked him, not being fond of salt meat.

It began to rain an hour after I started but I was fortunate enough to pass Beechford and Rollingford. 13 Miles from Mackinsy’s.

I was obliged to stop at the house of an inhabitant a Mile and a half from the crossing and the Rain compelled me to pass the night there.

In the neighborhood there is _Liriodendron_ with yellow wood and in some parts _Liriodendron_ with white wood. The inhabitants prefer the yellow variety.

Wednesday 10th of February 1796, I had supped the previous evening on Tea made from the shrub called Spice-wood. A handful of young twigs or branches is set to boil and after it has boiled at least a quarter of an hour sugar is added and it is drunk like real Tea. There was no Milk at the time and I was told that Milk makes it much more agreeable to the taste. This beverage restores strength and it had that effect for I was very tired when I arrived. This shrub is the _Laurus Benjoin Linn_. The Illinois French call it Poivrier and the hunters season their meat with some pieces of its wood.

In the vicinity grows a plant[169] of the _Orchis_ family whose leaf remains all winter. There are seldom two; the form is oval, furrowed, entire; the root bears two or three very viscous bulbs. It is used in the Country to mend broken crockery. It is called _Adam and Eve_. This plant is more common in the rich low lands of the territory West of the Allegany Mountains. I have also seen it in Lower Carolina but it is very rare there. It is not rare in Illinois.

Rain continued to fall all day and I was obliged to spend the night in a house near Nolin Creek because the river had overflowed its banks.

The 11th arrived at Huggins’s 12 Miles from Rollinford.

The 12th passed through a Country covered with grass and Oaks which no longer exist as forests, having been burned every year. These lands are called Barren lands although not really sterile. The grasses predominate: _Salix pumila_, _Quercus nigra_ and _Quercus alba_ called Mountain White Oak. _Gnaphalium dioicum_ also grows there in abundance. It is called by the Americans White Plantain.

The same day 12th of February 1796 passed by Bacon Creek, a new settlement 19 Miles from Huggins Mill and arrived at Green river 9 Miles from Bacon Creek. Slept 3 Miles further on at the house of one Walter.

The 13th of February traveled 37 Miles without seeing a House through the lands called Barren lands. The _Salix pumila_ that grows there in abundance is the same as that which is very common in the Illinois prairies as one leaves Vincennes Post to go to Kaskaskia. Slept beyond the Big Barren river.

Sunday the 14th traveled about 30 Miles. In all the Houses the children were suffering from Hooping Cough. This disease probably results from a simple Cold but the reprehensible system of living continually on salt and smoked meat fried in the pan produces those acrid humors that render expectoration more difficult.

The 15th traveled 27 Miles and arrived at Nashville. Supper, bed and breakfast 2 shillings.

The 16th started to go and visit Colonel Hays[170] a wealthy inhabitant to whom I had been recommended the previous year by Governor Blount, Governor of the Country known under the name of Western territories, South west of the Ohio. This Country, which is estimated to have 60 Thousand inhabitants, in consequence of the considerable annual immigration and of the rapid increase of population, has just been erected into a State governed by its own representatives under the new name of the _State of Tennesee_ from the name of a very large river that runs through the whole Houlston Country, the Cumberland Country, the Country of the Cheroquis Indians and other adjacent countries. This large river falls into the Ohio 9 Miles above fort Massac. It was known by the French, who were the first to discover the Countries in the interior of North America, under the name of Cheroquis River and it is so designated on the French Maps. I met at Colonel Hays’s several inhabitants of the neighborhood who came to confer upon current matters in connection with the election of new civil and military Officers.

The 17th and 18th of February 1796 remained at Colonel Hays’ on account of bad weather.

The 19th concluded the bargain for the purchase of a Horse to convey the baggage, Collections of Plants, Birds and other Things I had brought from Illinois and recently from Kentuckey. Returned the same day to sleep at Nashville.

The 20th spent the entire day in getting my collections together and in packing them. Saw some French voyageurs who spend all their lives in the Trade with the Savages and asked the Terms on which I could obtain a Guide to go up the Missouri river. One of them named ... told me he would willingly engage for a year for the sum of 500 dollars in furs that is to say 1000 dollars in money; another asked me 2000 dollars in money.

Sunday the 21st prepared for my journey.

The 22nd had my two horses shod.

The 23rd started and after making two Miles was obliged to return on account of....

The 25th started to return to Carolina and slept 10 Miles away at the house of Colonel Mansko, a declared enemy of the French because, he said, they have killed their King. Although I had not dined I would not accept his supper believing that a Republican should not be under obligations to a fanatical partisan of Royalty. I was greatly mortified that the night and the rain should compel me to remain in his House. But I slept on my Deer skin and paid for the Maize he supplied me with to cross the Wilderness.

The 26th

Sunday 28th of February 1796 stopped ten miles from the river on account of the Rain and because the Creeks had overflowed their banks.

The 29th in the evening crossed the Creeks and slept in the Wood near the road at a place where Reeds or Canes were growing in abundance. This species of 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. Snow covered the ground and I was unable to get any young Shoots but Captain Williams, the young [officer] stationed in the Fort cut down some trees and I found some good seeds.

I also pulled up some roots of those trees to replant them in my garden in Carolina.

The same day I had occasion to write to Governor Blount.

The 3rd of March continued my journey; crossed Fleen’s Creek several times. Saw again the small bulbous umbelliferous plant I had remarked some days previously. Toward evening the road was less muddy.

The 4th arrived at the Mountains called Cumberland mountains.

The 5th passed several Creeks and Rivers on which is an abundance of a climbing Fern of the genus....[174]

The land through which these rivers flow is less fertile than the territory of Nashville or Cumberland settlement and two-leaved Pines are found there in abundance.

Sunday 6th of March 1796 arrived at West Point on the Clinch River.

The 7th slept at a distance of 15 Miles near the junction of the Houlston river with that called Tenesee.

The 8th arrived at Knoxville.

The 9th Dined with Governor William Blount.

The 10th took my lodgings in the house of Captain Louné near the Cumberland river.[175]

The 11th herborised on the opposite bank bordered by steep rocks covered with _Saxifrage_, _bulbous umbellifera_ etc.

The 12th continued to herborise.

Sunday the 13th, Visited Captain Richard, Commandant of the garrison.

The 14th herborised; saw in bloom, _Anemone hepatica_; _Claytonia Virginica_; _Sanguinaria_.

Saw a new genus of Plant designated by Linnaeus _Podophyllum diphyllum_ and discovered some years ago in Virginia while passing by Fort Chissel. This Plant is less rare in the fertile lands of Kentuckey and Cumberland. It is found in the neighborhood of Knoxville. Dr Barton[176] called it _Jeffersonia_ in a description he gave of this Plant after seeing the flower of the Shoots I had brought back to Philadelphia in the hands of the Botanist Bartram.[177] The time when the plant flowers in the neighborhood of Knoxville is about the 10th of March.

The 15th received the Letter from Governor Blount in answer to that I had written him respecting the discovery of a new _Sophora_ in the neighborhood of fort Blount. Started the same day and slept at a distance of 7 Miles. Paid 2 shillings 3 pence for Supper and for Maize and fodder for the Horses. Bundle of fodder 2 pence.

The 16th of March 1796 slept a mile from Iron Works at the house of Mr Rice, Lawyer, 30 Miles from Knoxville. Observed in bloom: _Ulmus viscosa_, _Acer rubrum_ ♂ flower on one individual and ♀ flower on another tree.

The 17th slept near Bull’s gap 30 Miles from Iron Works.

The 18th passed by Lick creek and by Green court house 18 Miles from Bull’s gap.

The 19th passed by Johnsborough 25 Miles from Green [ville]. Several merchants are established at Johnsborough who obtain their goods from Philadelphia by land.

Sunday the 20th started from Johnsborough. Saw in passing Mr Overton of Kentuckey,[178] Major Carter of Wataga[179] at whose house I had lodged several years previously with my son, and Colonel Avery.

Sunday 20th of March 1796 saw in bloom _Corylus americana_, ♀ flower having the Styles or Stigmas of a purpurine color. _Ulmus viscosa geminis aureis floribus 4-5-6-andris_, _stigmatibus purpureis_. _Acer rubrum_ ♂ flower on one individual and ♀ flower on another. Slept at Colonel Tipton’s 10 Miles from Johnsborough.

The 21st remarked that the Mountains were covered in several places with _Sanguinaria_, _Claytonia_ and _Erythronium_ with spotted leaves. These Plants were in bloom. _Magnolia acuminata et auriculata_; _Rhododendron_; _Kalmia_; _Pinus abies canadensis_, _Pinus strobus_; _Azalea_ etc. etc. grow in abundance at the foot of those Mountains. Arrived at Lime Stone cove and slept at Charles Collier’s 18 Miles from Colonel Tipton’s.

The 22nd crossed Iron Mountain and arrived at night at David Becker’s, 23 Miles without seeing a house.

The 23rd started from Becker’s on Cane Creek to Rider’s 6 Miles; from Rider’s to Widow Nigh’s 7 Miles; from Nigh’s to Samuel Ramsey’s 2 Miles; from Ramsey’s to David Cox’s on Paper Creek 4 Miles and from Cox’s to Young’s 1 Mile; from Sam Ramsey’s to Davinport’s 8 Miles.[180] Total 23 Miles. Slept at Davinport’s. Remarked the _Salix capreoides_ in flower on the banks of the streams.

The 24th visited the high Mountains opposite Davinport’s house; pulled up several hundred Shoots: _Azalea lutea fulva_; _Anonymos azaleoides_. _Rhododendron minus_ etc.

The 25th of March 1796. Saw in flower the _Corylus cornuta_,[181] _amentis_ [male] _geminis quandoque solitariis squamis ciliatis_; _antheris apice ciliates_, _stylis coccineis_.

This species flowers about 15 days later than the species of _Corylus americana_ found in all the Climates of North America even in lower Carolina in the neighborhood of Charleston. The _Corylus cornuta_ is found only on the highest mountains and in Canada. _Corylus americana amentis_ [male] _solitariis squamis externe tomentosis margine nudâ_; _floris_ [female] _stylis coccineis_.

The 26th herborised and pulled Shoots of shrubs and fresh Shoots to transport them to the garden of the Republic in Carolina.

Sunday 27th of March....

The 28th prepared and packed my Collection of fresh Mountain Plants.

The 29th started from Davinport’s and slept at the house of ... Young. Violet with dentate reniform leaves, villous petiole and yellow flower in full bloom on the banks of streams and very cool places.

The 30th continued my journey and by mistake took a road to the right leading to Wilkes [County]. Another _Viole lutea scopus foliosus foliis hastatis_ in flower in cool places and also less damp places. This one is a little more tardy than the previous one.[182]

The 31st arrived at Colonel Avery’s and slept at Morganton or Burke Court house.

Friday 1st of April 1796, started from Morganton. Slept at Robertson’s, formerly Henry Waggner’s, 30 Miles from Morganton.

The 2nd of April _Epigea repens_ in full bloom as on previous days; on several individuals all the female flowers were without rudiments of Stamens while on other individuals all the flowers were hermaphrodites. Arrived at noon at the house of Christian Reinhart near Lincoln. Remained all day to pull shoots of the _Spiraea tomentosa_ that grow in swampy spots.

Sunday 3rd of April arrived at Bennet Smith’s 12 Miles from Lincoln; remained all day to pull shoots of a new Magnolia[183] with very large leaves, auriculate, oblong, glaucous, silky, especially the young leaves; the buds very silky; Flowers white Petals with a base of a purple color. Stamens yellow etc. Along the Creek on the bank of which this Magnolia grows I also saw the _Kalmia latifolia_, _Viola lutea_, _foliis hastatis_; _Ulmus viscosa_ then in process of fructification; _Halesia_; _Stewartia pentagyna_.

The 4th started and crossed Tuck-a-segee ford on the Catawba[184] river 10 Miles from Bennet Smith’s. Took the road to the left instead of passing by Charlotte and slept _11 Miles_ from Catawba river.[185]

The 5th of April 1796 at a distance of 12 Miles took once more the road leading from Cambden to Charlotte.[186]

Took Shoots of _Calamus aromaticus_ that grows in damp places in the neighborhood of Charlotte and of Lincoln. _Rhus pumila._ Slept near Waxsaw Creek in South Carolina about 35 Miles from Tuck-a-Segee ford.

The 6th at the house of Colonel Crawford near Waxsaw Creek: anonymous Plant with leaves _quaternate_, _perfoliate_, _glabrous_, _entire_. This same Plant grows in the Settlements of Cumberland and in Kentuckey. _Frasera foetida._[187]

Passed by Hanging Rock; the distance from Waxsaw to Hanging Rock is 22 Miles. To go to Morganton or Burke Court house one should not pass by Charlotte, but take the Road to the left 3½ Miles from Hanging Rock.

About 20 Toises after leaving the fork of the two roads (one of which leads to Charlotte) one sees the _Anonymous_[188] shrub with a red root which has the appearance of the _Calycanthus_. This shrub is the one I saw in the vicinity of Morganton. Slept near Hanging Rock.

Thursday 7th of April 1796 arrived at Cambden; five or six Miles before arriving there pulled Shoots of a new _Kalmia_ seen some years previously. The distance from Hanging Rock to Cambden is 26 Miles.

Friday 8th of April started from Cambden, passed by State’s borough 22 Miles from Cambden and slept at Manchester 30 Miles from Cambden.

The 9th my Horses strayed away during the night, having broken the Fence within which they were placed.

In the streams: _Callitriche americana_; _fructificatio simplex_, _axillaris sessilis_, _Calyx 2-phyllus_, _stamen unicum_; _filamentum longum_, _latere geminis germen duplex? styli duo longitudine staminis_, _stigmata acuta_.

_Silene ... calyx 5-fidus cylindricus_, _corolla Petala 5_ (or _5-partita usque ad basim_) _unguibus angustis_, _laciniis planis apice obtusis_; _Stamina 10 basi corolla inserta_; _Germen oblongum_. _Styli tres_; _stigmata acuta_; _Capsula unilocularis_, _semina plura numerosa_, _flores rosei_.[189]

Started in the afternoon and slept at 15 Miles having crossed 10 Miles of sand called Santee High Hills in the space of which observed _Phlox_; _Silene_ ...; _Dianthus_ ... in flower; _Lupinus perennis et pilosus_ in flower.

Sunday 10th of April 1796 arrived at the Santee River at the place called Manigault ferry; before arriving there observed _Verbena_ (_aubletia?_) and on the banks of the Santee, _arbor Anonymous_ whose fruit (_muricatis_) covered with soft points, was almost ripe.[190] Manigault ferry is 28 Miles from Manchester.

Two miles further on one takes the road to the right called Gaillard road which is shorter than the ordinary road but muddy in winter. Slept at the house of the Widow Stuard 18 Miles from Manigault ferry. Tavern dirty and without a supply of fodder for Horses.

The 11th started very early; at a distance of 5 Miles remarked _Lupinus perennis_ and _Lupinus pilosus_ in flower. Distance from Charleston 40 to 43 Miles. Arrived at the garden of the Republic 37 Miles from the Widow Stuard’s that is to say 47 Miles from Charleston.

Recapitulation of the journey from Illinois to Charleston.

From St Louis of the Illinois to Kaskias 4 Miles To the village of St Philippe 45 To the Prairie du Rocher 9 To Kaskaskias 45 To the junction of the Mississipi and Belle Rivière 95 To Fort Massac 45 To the Junction of the Cumberland and Belle Rivière 18 To Clark’s ville on the red river 120 To Nashville 60 To Bloodshed’s lick[191] 30 To Fort Blount on the Cumberland river 40 To West Point on the Clinch river 90 To Knoxville on the Houlston river 40 From Knoxville to Iron Works 30 To Bull’s gap 30 To Green’s ville 25 To John’s borough 25 To Colonel Tipton’s 10 To Limestone cove 18 To David Becker’s beyond the Mountain called Iron mountain 23 From Backer’s to Young’s 20 To Morganton or Burke 22 To Robertson’s 30 To Lincoln 16 To Tuck a Segee 22 To Wax Saw Creek 35 To Hanging Rock 22 To Cambden 26 To Manchester 30 To Manigault ferry 28 To Charleston 70 ---- Total 1123 Miles 374⅓ leagues

FOOTNOTES:

[1] Edmond Charles Genet (Genest) was born at Versailles about 1765. His father was a diplomat who was interested in English literature, and who welcomed the American coterie in Paris to his home. Henrietta Genet, later Madame Campan, was first lady of honor to Queen Marie Antoinette; her brother was chosen at the early age of twenty-four, secretary--later, _chargé d’affaires_--to the French embassy at St. Petersburg. His dispatches thence were of so republican a tone, that in 1792 he was commissioned minister of the new French republic, to Holland; but late in the same year was chosen for the mission to the United States, where he arrived April 8, 1793. His career in America is well known. After his commission was revoked, Genet became a naturalized American citizen, married a daughter of Governor Clinton of New York, and died at Jamaica, Long Island, in 1834.--ED.

[2] Humeau and Le Blanc appear to have been agents of Genet, assisting in this revolutionary movement. Nothing is known of the former. Le Blanc was a citizen of New Orleans, well-affected to the French revolutionary cause. He was to have been made mayor of New Orleans, when that city should fall into the hands of the revolutionists. See American Historical Association _Report_, 1896, pp. 1049, 1050.--ED.

[3] For a description of the left-hand or southern branch of the road, known as “The Old Glade,” see Harris’s _Journal_, _post_.--ED.

[4] Evident error; perhaps 320 was intended.--C. S. S.

The distance in reality by this route was somewhat less than this.--ED.