riting a book upon America. There are many such
adventurers in the Federal service, but the present one was clever and
amusing, and he spoke English fluently.

Our tea was plain but abundant, consisting of broiled beef, fresh bread,
butter, and cheese; and the inveterate whiskey was produced afterward,
when we assembled on the piazza, so that the hours passed by pleasantly,
if not profitably, and we retired at two o'clock.

In the morning I bathed in the clear, cold sulphur spring, where
thousands of invalid people had come for healing waters. A canopy
covered the spring, and a soldier stood on guard at the top of the
descending steps, to preserve the property in its original cleanliness.
This was one of the most famous medical springs on the American
continent; the water was so densely impregnated that its peculiarly
offensive smell could be detected at the distance of a mile. The place
was going to ruin now. All the bathing-rooms were falling apart, the
pipes had been carried off to be moulded into bullets, and the great
hotel was desolate. I walked into the ball-room; but the large gilded
mirrors had been splintered, and lewd writings defaced the wall. Some
idlers were asleep upon the piazzas, and the furniture was removed or
broken. Some rustic cottages dotted the lawn, but these were now
inhabited by officers and their servants. A few days were to finish the
work of rapine, and a heap of ashes was to mark the scene of
tournament, coquetry, and betrothal. I witnessed a review of troops in a
field contiguous, at nine o'clock. The heat was so intense that many men
fell out of line and were carried off to their camps. McDowell passed
exactingly from man to man, examined muskets, clothing, and knapsacks,
and the inspection was proceeding, when I bade my friends good by and
set out for Culpepper.

I crossed the North Rappahannock, or Hedgemain river, upon a precarious
bridge of planks. A new bridge for artillery was being constructed close
by; for the river beneath had a swift, deep current, and could with
difficulty be forded. Patches of wagons, squads of horse, and now and
then a regiment of infantry, varied the monotony of the journey. The
country was high, woody, and sparsely settled. At noon I overtook
Tower's brigade, and observing the 94th N. Y. Regiment resting in the
woods, I dismounted and made the acquaintance of its Colonel. He was at
this juncture greatly enraged with some of his soldiers who had been
plu