ruit. Here and there was a house
that had been half finished and then abandoned, or a shanty in which a
couple of young married people were just beginning life. Generally the
cabins (confirming the accuracy of the census of 1880) swarmed with
children, and nearly all the women were thin and sickly.

In the day's ride we did not see a wheeled vehicle, and only now
and then a horse. We met on the road small sleds, drawn by a steer,
sometimes by a cow, on which a bag of grist was being hauled to the
mill, and boys mounted on steers gave us good-evening with as much pride
as if they were bestriding fiery horses.

In a house of the better class, which was a post-house, and where the
rider and the woman of the house had a long consultation over a letter
to be registered, we found the rooms decorated with patent-medicine
pictures, which were often framed in strips of mica, an evidence of
culture that was worth noting. Mica was the rage. Every one with whom
we talked, except the rider, had more or less the mineral fever. The
impression was general that the mountain region of North Carolina was
entering upon a career of wonderful mineral development, and the most
extravagant expectations were entertained. Mica was the shining object
of most "prospecting," but gold was also on the cards.

The country about Burnsville is not only mildly picturesque, but very
pleasing. Burnsville, the county-seat of Yancey, at an elevation of 2840
feet, is more like a New England village than any hitherto seen. Most of
the houses stand about a square, which contains the shabby court-house;
around it are two small churches, a jail, an inviting tavern with a long
veranda, and a couple of stores. On an overlooking hill is the seminary.
Mica mining is the exciting industry, but it is agriculturally a good
country. The tavern had recently been enlarged to meet the new demands
for entertainment and is a roomy structure, fresh with paint and
only partially organized. The travelers were much impressed with the
brilliant chambers, the floors of which were painted in alternate
stripes of vivid green and red. The proprietor, a very intelligent
and enterprising man, who had traveled often in the North, was full
of projects for the development of his region and foremost in its
enterprises, and had formed a considerable collection of minerals.
Besides, more than any one else we met, he appreciated the beauty of his
country, and took us to a neighboring hill, w