son, Lewis, Nicholas,
Logan, Cabell, Monroe, Pocahontas, Giles, Montgomery, Wythe, Grayson,
Tazewell, Washington, Scott and Lee:--26.

Its principal river is the Kenawha and its tributaries. Of these, Gaula,
New river and Greenbrier are the principal. New river is the largest,
and rises in North Carolina. The Monongahela drains a large
district;--the little Kenawha, Guyandotte, and Sandy are smaller
streams. The latter separates Virginia from Kentucky for some distance.

Much of Western Virginia is mountainous, lying in parallel ridges, which
are often broken by streams. Some of the vallies are very fertile. The
Kenawha Valley is narrow, but extends to a great distance. The salt
manufactories extend from Charlestown up the Kenawha, the distance of 12
miles. They are 20 in number, and manufacture nearly two millions of
bushels annually. The river is navigable for steamboats to this point at
an ordinary depth of water. Coal is used in the manufactories, which is
dug from the adjacent mountains, and brought to the works on wooden
railways. Seven miles above Charlestown is the famous burning spring.
Inflammable gas escapes, which, if ignited, will burn with great
brilliancy for many hours, and even for several days, in a favorable
state of the atmosphere. The State of Virginia has constructed a
tolerably good turnpike road from the mouth of the Guyandotte, on the
Ohio, to Staunton. It passes through Charlestown, and along the Kenawha
river to the falls;--from thence it extends along the course of New
river, and across Sewall's mountain by Louisburg to Staunton. The falls
of Kenawha are in a romantic region, and merit the attention of the
traveller. Marshall's pillar is a singular projecting rock that
overhangs New river, 1015 feet above its bed. The stage road passes near
its summit.

This route is one of the great stage routes leading from the Ohio Valley
to Washington city, and to all parts of old Virginia.

The _White Sulphur_, _Red Sulphur_, _Hot_, _Warm_, _and Sweet Springs_,
are in the mountainous parts of Virginia, and on this route. These are
all celebrated as watering places, but the White Sulphur spring is the
great resort of the fashionable of the Southern States. Let the reader
imagine an extensive campground, a mile in circumference, the camps neat
cottages, built of brick, or framed, and neatly painted. In the centre
of this area are the springs, bath-houses, dining hall, and mansion of
the proprietor. The