The Dividing Line History
We rowd down N W River aboul
18 miles, as far as the Mouth of it,
where it empties itself into Albemarle
Sound. It was a really Delightful Sight,
all the way, to see the Banks of the
River adornd with Myrtle, Laurel and
Bay-Trees, which preserve their Verdue
the Year round, tho it must be ownd
that these beautiful Plants, sacred to
Venus and Appollo, grow commonly in
very dirty Soil. The River is. in most
Places, fifty or Sixty Yards wide, with¬
out spreading much wider at the Mouth.
Tis remarkable it was never known to
Ebb and flow till the year 1713, when
a Violent Storm opend a new Inlet,
about 5 Miles South of the old one;
since which Convulsion, the Old Inlet
is almost choakd up by the Shifting of
the Sand, and grows both Narrower and
Shoaller every day.
5. The Day being now come, on
which we had agreed to meet the Com¬
missioners of North Carolina, we cni-
barkd very early, which we coud the
easier do, having no Temptation to stay
where we were. We shapt our Course
along the South End of Knot’s Island,
there being no Passage open on the
North.
Afloat on the .Sound
Farther Still to the Southward of us.
we discovcrd two Smaller Islands, that
go by the names of Bell’s and Churche's
Isles. We also saw a small New Eng¬
land Sloop riding in the Sound, a little
to the South of our Course. She had
come in at the Ncw-Inlct, as all other
vessels have done since the opening of
it. This Navigation is a little difficult,
and fit only for Vessels that draw no
more than ten feet Water.
The Trade hither is engrosst by the
Saints of New- England, who carry off
a great deal of Tobacco, without
troubling themselves with paying that
Impertinent Duty of a Penny a Pound.
Arrival on (he Beach
It was just Noon before we arrived
at Coratuck Inlet, which is now so
shallow that the Beakers fly over it
with a horrible Sound, and at the same
time afford a very wild Prospect. On
the North side of the Inlet, the High
Land terminated in a Bluff Point, from
which a Spit of Sand extended itself
towards the South-East, full half a Mile.
The Inlet lies between that Spit and
another on the South of it. leaving an
Opening of not quite a Mile, which at
this day is not practicable for any Vessel
whatsoever. And as shallow as it now
is, it continues to fill up more and more,
both the Wind and Waves rolling in
the Sands from the Eastern Shoals.
A vertuoso might divert himself here
very well, in picking up Shells of
various Hue and Figure, and amongst
the rest, the Species of Conque Shell
which the Indian Peak is made of. The
Extremities of these Shells arc Blue
and the rest white, so that Peak of both
these Colours arc drilld out of one and
the same Shell, Serving the Natives
both for Ornament and Money, and
are esteemd by them far beyond Gold
and Silver.
The Cedars were of Singular use to
us in the Absence of our Tent, which
we had left with the rest of the Baggage
for fear of overloading the Periaugas.
We made a Circular Hedge of the
Branches of this Tree, Wrought so close
together as to fence us againt the Cold
Winds. We then kindled a rouseing fire
in the Center of it, and lay round it.
like so many Knights Templars. But.
as comfortable as this Lodging was, the
Surveyors turnd out about 2 in the
Morning to try the Variation by a
Meridian taken from the North Star,
and found it to be somewhat less than
three degrees West.
6. At Noon, having a Perfect Obser¬
vation. we found the Latitude of Cora-
IMiacd Irom iHc Ijhoij> 111# diary <>(
William Byrd, rrbtinr lo Ciirriluck
County.
tuck Inlet to be 36 Degrees and 31
Minutes.
Whilst we were busied about these
Necessary Matters, our Skipper row’d
to an Oyster Bank just by, and loaded
his Periauga with Oysters as Savoury
and well-tasted as those from Colches¬
ter of Walflect, and had the advantage
of them. too. by being much larger and
fatter. Nevertheless, because positive
proof was made by the Oaths of two
Credible Witnesses, that the Spin of
Sand had advanced 200 Yards towards
the Inlet since the Controversy first be¬
gan. we were willing for Peace-sake to
make them that allowance. Accordingly
we fixed our Beginning about that Dis¬
tance North of the Inlet, and there
Ordered a Cedar-Post to be driven
deep into the Sand for our beginning.
Hermit of the Banks
While we continued here, we were told
that on the South Shore, not far from
the Inlet, dwelt a Marooner, that
Modestly call’d himself a Hermit, tho’
he forfeited that Name by Suffering a
wanton Female to cohabit with Him.
His Habitation was a Bower, cover'd
with Bark after the Indian Fashion,
which in that mild Situation protected
him pretty well from the Weather. Like
the Ravens, he neither plow’d no so.v'd.
but Subsisted chiefly upon Oysters,
which his Handmaid made a Shift to
gather from the Adjacent Rocks. Some¬
times, too, for Change of Dyet, he sent
her to drive up the Neighbour's Cows,
to moisten their Mouths with a little
Milk. But as for raiment, he depended
mostly upon his Length of Beard, and
She upon her Length of Hair, part of
which she brought decently forward,
and the rest dangled behind quite down
to her Rump, like one of Herodotus's
Fast Indian Pigmies.
Thus did these Wretches live in a
THE STATE, FEBRUARY 6. 1960
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