ive of the last quarter of the 17th century. He possessed
to an extraordinary degree the instinct of the merchant, taking quick
advantage of any opportunity for trade that the colony afforded and
building up by his foresight, energy and ability a fortune of great
size. Not only did he carry on the cultivation of tobacco with
success, but he conducted with his neighbors a trade in a great
variety of articles. In his stores were to be found duffels and cotton
goods, window glass, lead and solder, pills, etc. At one time he
ordered from Barbadoes 1,200 gallons of rum, 3,000 pounds of
"muscovodo sugar," 200 pounds of white sugar, three tons of molasses,
one cask of lime-juice and two-hundredweight of ginger. A handsome
profit often came to him through the importing and sale of white
servants. In a letter to England he writes, "If you could send me
six, eight or ten servants by the first ship, and the procurement
might not be too dear, they would much assist in purchasing some of
the best crops they seldom being to be bought without servants." Byrd
was also interested in the Indian trade. His plantation at Henrico was
well located for this business and he often sent out traders for miles
into the wilderness to secure from the savages the furs and hides that
were so valued in England. He was provident even to stinginess and we
find him sending his wig to England to be made over and his old sword
to be exchanged for a new one. Although Byrd took a prominent part in
the political life of the day, it is evident that in this as in other
things he was predominated by the spirit of gain, for he took pains to
secure two of the most lucrative public offices in the colony. For
years he was auditor and receiver-general, receiving for both a large
yearly income.[137] At his death his estate was very large, the land
he owned being not less than 26,000 acres.

William Byrd II was also typical of the period in which he lived. He
was still the business man, but he lacked the talent for close
bargaining and the attention to details that characterized his father.
His business ventures were bold and well conceived, but they did not
meet with a great measure of success. His iron mines were never very
productive, while his Indian trade met with frequent and disastrous
interruptions from hostile tribes upon the frontier. Nor did he
confine his attention to business matters. He was intensely interested
in every thing pertaining to the welfare of t