Before reaching Grafton, we passed the Great Kingwood tunnel, which is
much thought of in America, being 4100 feet in length, though it is
greatly beat by many of our tunnels in England; but tunnels are rare in
America, as the roads generally run through the valleys.
We reached Grafton at four o'clock, and had a lovely afternoon to
explore the beauties of the neighbourhood. We went into a number of
cottages and log-huts, and were delighted with the people; but the
details of our Grafton visit must be given to you _viva voce_ on our
return. The night was brilliant, and it was one o'clock in the morning
before we took our last look of the moonlit valley, and of the rivers
which here joined their streams almost under the windows of our rooms.
We may mention that in this day's journey, we passed the source of the
Monongahela, the chief branch of what afterwards becomes the Ohio. It is
here a tiny little clear stream, winding through the glades we have
spoken of.
On Thursday morning, though it was past one before we went to bed, I was
up at six, as soon as it was light, to make a sketch from our bed-room
window, which will give you hereafter some notion of the scene, though
neither description nor drawing can convey any real idea of it. After
breakfast, papa and I and Thrower went up a tolerably steep hill to the
cottage of three old ladies, whose characters I had an opportunity of
studying while papa went on with the guide to the Great National or
State Turnpike Road, or "Pike Road" as they called it, which used to be
the connecting link between Washington and Southern Virginia.
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