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80 HISTORY OF MARYLAND.
necessity and convenience, which they had brought with them. For themselves they found shelter in the huts of the Indians, who readily gave up a
part of their town to them, as has been already stated.
The colonists had every reason to be satisfied with their new abode. They
had emigrated to one of the most beautiful countries in the world. The
climate of southern Maryland is, perhaps, the most delightful on the American continent. It is a happy medium between the extreme heat of the South
and the extreme cold of the North. The winters are mild, but the atmosphere is sufficiently bracing to nerve the system for the exhaustion of the
warmer part of the year. The spring is calm, sunny, genial and temperate;
the summer is magnificent in the luxuriance of its vegetation, and the frequency and grandeur of its thunder-storms, which, though sometimes terrific,
often cool the air, and relieve the monotony of a sky otherwise remarkably
clear and serene. The autumn is peculiarly delightful in temperature, and
the changing foliage then presents a splendor and variety of color probably
unmatched in the world. Maryland lies at the overlapping of two great
botanical regions, and has therefore a remarkably varied and intermingled
vegetation ; and at this season every copse presents a blending of harmonious
hues. The hickory, sassafras and poplar assume a vivid yellow; the maples
and black gum (nyssa), pink and scarlet; the dogwood and sweet gum (liquid-
ambaf), rich crimson and purple; the oaks, all shades of red, orange, purple,
gray or brown; while the pines, spruces, thuyas and junipers wear their
perennial robes of darker or gayer green, over which the Virginia creeper
(ampelopsis) often hangs its festoons of vermilion. These hues change from
day to day; first brightening, then deepening in tone, until the rains and
winds of November strip them from the boughs. After the leaves have
fallen, there succeeds what is called the " Indian summer," a season in which
there is a peculiar balmy softness in the air and mellowness in the sunlight.
The more northern tribes had a poetic fancy that this season was produced
by a wind from the south-west, which blew from the regions of the Blessed.
The soil was especially favorable to a new colony, level, with but little
undergrowth, easily cleared and brought under cultivation. Indian corn,
wheat and tobacco, the great staples, were raised without much labor and in
the greatest abundance. Their cattle could be pastured throughout the year,
and needed little provision for food or shelter.*
A few days after their arrival, Governor Calvert received a friendly visit
(from Sir John Harvey, then governor of Virginia. From this circumstance
we may infer that he did not partake of the feelings of hostility which were
cherished by his colony towards the Maryland enterprise. This is confirmed
by his subsequent conduct in the case of Claiborne. During this visit, which
lasted a few days, Governor Calvert made an entertainment for some of the
chiefs of the neighboring tribes. Among others, the king of Patuxent, who
had formerly been a prisoner to the English in Virginia, was a guest. To do
1 Burnap's Calvert, p. 64.
| Title | History of Maryland - 1 |
| Creator | Scharf, J. Thomas (John Thomas) |
| Publisher | J. B. Piet |
| Place of Publication | Baltimore |
| Date | 1879 |
| Language | eng |
| Type | Books/Pamphlets |
| Title | 00000105 |
| Type | Books/Pamphlets |
| Transcript | 80 HISTORY OF MARYLAND. necessity and convenience, which they had brought with them. For themselves they found shelter in the huts of the Indians, who readily gave up a part of their town to them, as has been already stated. The colonists had every reason to be satisfied with their new abode. They had emigrated to one of the most beautiful countries in the world. The climate of southern Maryland is, perhaps, the most delightful on the American continent. It is a happy medium between the extreme heat of the South and the extreme cold of the North. The winters are mild, but the atmosphere is sufficiently bracing to nerve the system for the exhaustion of the warmer part of the year. The spring is calm, sunny, genial and temperate; the summer is magnificent in the luxuriance of its vegetation, and the frequency and grandeur of its thunder-storms, which, though sometimes terrific, often cool the air, and relieve the monotony of a sky otherwise remarkably clear and serene. The autumn is peculiarly delightful in temperature, and the changing foliage then presents a splendor and variety of color probably unmatched in the world. Maryland lies at the overlapping of two great botanical regions, and has therefore a remarkably varied and intermingled vegetation ; and at this season every copse presents a blending of harmonious hues. The hickory, sassafras and poplar assume a vivid yellow; the maples and black gum (nyssa), pink and scarlet; the dogwood and sweet gum (liquid- ambaf), rich crimson and purple; the oaks, all shades of red, orange, purple, gray or brown; while the pines, spruces, thuyas and junipers wear their perennial robes of darker or gayer green, over which the Virginia creeper (ampelopsis) often hangs its festoons of vermilion. These hues change from day to day; first brightening, then deepening in tone, until the rains and winds of November strip them from the boughs. After the leaves have fallen, there succeeds what is called the " Indian summer," a season in which there is a peculiar balmy softness in the air and mellowness in the sunlight. The more northern tribes had a poetic fancy that this season was produced by a wind from the south-west, which blew from the regions of the Blessed. The soil was especially favorable to a new colony, level, with but little undergrowth, easily cleared and brought under cultivation. Indian corn, wheat and tobacco, the great staples, were raised without much labor and in the greatest abundance. Their cattle could be pastured throughout the year, and needed little provision for food or shelter.* A few days after their arrival, Governor Calvert received a friendly visit (from Sir John Harvey, then governor of Virginia. From this circumstance we may infer that he did not partake of the feelings of hostility which were cherished by his colony towards the Maryland enterprise. This is confirmed by his subsequent conduct in the case of Claiborne. During this visit, which lasted a few days, Governor Calvert made an entertainment for some of the chiefs of the neighboring tribes. Among others, the king of Patuxent, who had formerly been a prisoner to the English in Virginia, was a guest. To do 1 Burnap's Calvert, p. 64. |
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