(no subject)
Some people finish finals and get wasted
I go to the library and check out old books
This particular book is so brittle that it is tied with string and stored inside a box.
"Extract from a manuscript Journal of a Gentleman belonging to the Army, while under the command of Major-General St. Clair"
The journal is an account of their trip west.
One of my favorite passages
"In this country, one is never at a loss for a subject to amuse an idle hour ; rivers, lawns, field, purling streams, extensive meadows, cataracts, mountains, vallies, natural curiosities, and the vestiges of ancient fortifications are ever presenting themselves to the view. I could find sufficient amusement during the remainder of my life, in this western world ; in fact, I should be lost in a continued labyrinth of inexplicable ideas and suppositions."
On their trip west, the author describes a series of hills filled with coal. One of the hills caught fire and burned for eight years. It was inextenguishable and finally ceased when the hill had burned so deep that it collapsed upon itself.
Somewhere near Pittsburgh the author meets an explorer from Montreal, whose journey was impeded after several violent confrontations with a group of indians that kept them from passing through the "Shining Mountains/ Mountains of Bright Stones," now known as the Rocky Mountains. Anyhow, they were forced to spend the winter in a valley with some indian allies and this passage struck me.
"Previous to his departure from Montreal, he had supplied himself with several kinds of seeds, and before his huts he laid out a small garden, which the natives observing, called them slaves for digging up the ground, nothing of that kind being done by them, they living wholly on animal food. Bread is unknown to them, to some he gave some remnants of hard bread, which they chewed and spit out again, calling it rotten wood."
The book also contains random descriptions of towns and collections of letters (including one from Ben Franklin, which I have yet to read). This is a footnote from "A Topographical Description of Prince George," Somewhere in Virginia.
"I cannot forbear to mention a singular occurence, that happened at an old mill, which stood near where the above now stands. About three years since, the miller finding there was some impediment, that prevented the mill going as fast as usual, went to the wheel to see what affected it ; when, behold a serpent of an enormous size, had got entwined in the wheel, so that he could not exctricate himself. He quickly stopt it, and with assistance of some others, killed it ; after which they measured its length with a fence-rail, which are usually here about eleven feet in length ; when it appeared to be the full length of the rail, after its head had been partly cut off ; no one had the curiosity to measure its bulk. This fact is well attested both by whites and blacks. It was destroyed and thrown into the creek before I heard of it."
What the hell could it have been?
More to come as soon as read on
I go to the library and check out old books
This particular book is so brittle that it is tied with string and stored inside a box.
"Extract from a manuscript Journal of a Gentleman belonging to the Army, while under the command of Major-General St. Clair"
The journal is an account of their trip west.
One of my favorite passages
"In this country, one is never at a loss for a subject to amuse an idle hour ; rivers, lawns, field, purling streams, extensive meadows, cataracts, mountains, vallies, natural curiosities, and the vestiges of ancient fortifications are ever presenting themselves to the view. I could find sufficient amusement during the remainder of my life, in this western world ; in fact, I should be lost in a continued labyrinth of inexplicable ideas and suppositions."
On their trip west, the author describes a series of hills filled with coal. One of the hills caught fire and burned for eight years. It was inextenguishable and finally ceased when the hill had burned so deep that it collapsed upon itself.
Somewhere near Pittsburgh the author meets an explorer from Montreal, whose journey was impeded after several violent confrontations with a group of indians that kept them from passing through the "Shining Mountains/ Mountains of Bright Stones," now known as the Rocky Mountains. Anyhow, they were forced to spend the winter in a valley with some indian allies and this passage struck me.
"Previous to his departure from Montreal, he had supplied himself with several kinds of seeds, and before his huts he laid out a small garden, which the natives observing, called them slaves for digging up the ground, nothing of that kind being done by them, they living wholly on animal food. Bread is unknown to them, to some he gave some remnants of hard bread, which they chewed and spit out again, calling it rotten wood."
The book also contains random descriptions of towns and collections of letters (including one from Ben Franklin, which I have yet to read). This is a footnote from "A Topographical Description of Prince George," Somewhere in Virginia.
"I cannot forbear to mention a singular occurence, that happened at an old mill, which stood near where the above now stands. About three years since, the miller finding there was some impediment, that prevented the mill going as fast as usual, went to the wheel to see what affected it ; when, behold a serpent of an enormous size, had got entwined in the wheel, so that he could not exctricate himself. He quickly stopt it, and with assistance of some others, killed it ; after which they measured its length with a fence-rail, which are usually here about eleven feet in length ; when it appeared to be the full length of the rail, after its head had been partly cut off ; no one had the curiosity to measure its bulk. This fact is well attested both by whites and blacks. It was destroyed and thrown into the creek before I heard of it."
What the hell could it have been?
More to come as soon as read on