Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: PART III TRAVELLERS 29. A Visit to the Natural Bridge By The Marquis De Chastellux (1782) I Am too near the Natural Bridge to stop at other The Natural objects. We set out at nine o'clock in the morning, Bridge ism i i the moun- and to say the truth, rather heedlessly; for in these tains of west- mountains, where there are either too many or too em Virginia, few roads, people always think they have given sufficient directions to travellers, who seldom fail to go astray. This is the common fault of those who instruct others in what they themselves are well acquainted with; nor are the roads to knowledge exempt from this inconvenience. After riding about two miles however, we luckily met a man who had just got his horse shod at a neighbouring forge, and was returning home, followed by two or three couple of hounds. We soon entered into conversation with him, and what seldom happens in America, he was curious to know who I was, and whither I was going. My quality of a General Officer in the French service, and the desire I expressed of seeing the wonders of his country, inspired him with a kind of affection for me, and he offered to be our conductor. He led us sometimes through little paths, at others through woods, but continually climbing or descending moun- THE NATURAL BRIDGE. tains ; so that without a guide, nothing short of witchcraft could have enabled us to find the road. After we had thus travelled for two hours, we at last descended a steep declivity, and then mounted another; during which time he endeavoured to render the conversation more interesting. At last, pushing his horse on briskly, and stopping suddenly, he said to me, " You desire to see the Natural Bridge, don't you Sir ? You are now upon it, alight and go twentysteps either to the righ...