“ in his travels. I could not tell him I had the description of the passage of the Potomak from a French engineer, because I never heard any Frenchman say a word about it, much less did I ever recieve a description of it from any mortal whatever. I visited the place myself in Oct. 1783. wrote the description some time after, & printed the work in Paris in 1784. & 1785. I wrote the description from my own view of the spot, stated no fact but what I saw, & can now affirm that no fact is exaggerated. it is true that the same scene may excite very different sensations in different spectators according to their different sensibilities. the sensations of some may be much stronger than those of others. and with respect to the Natural bridge, it was not a description, but a drawing only which I recieved from the French engineer. the description was written before I ever saw him. it is not from any merit which I suppose in either of these descriptions, that I have gone into these observations, but to correct the imputation of having given to the world, as my own, ideas, & false ones too, which I had recieved from another. nor do I mention the subject to you with a desire that it should be any otherwise noticed before the public than by a more correct statement in any future edition of your work . . . ”

The passage on page 186 concerning the potato, to which Jefferson objected, reads as follows: . . . The Potatoe, a most valuable esculent, is a native of the U. States. Its qualities are well known, and has proved a great acquisition on the eastern continent . . .

The reference to the Notes on Virginia and Volney’s account of the U.S. occurs on page 140: . . . The famous passage of the Potomac through the Blue Ridge in Virginia, has excited much interest for a long time, and has continued to occupy a conspicuous place in all geographical works, and school selections; and well it might; for the subject was grand, and the description from the animated pen of Mr. Jefferson.

But a late critical and inquiring traveller [i.e. C. F. Volney] was surprised to find, by a view of the spot, that the description was amazingly exaggerated. On remarking the circumstance to President Jefferson a few days afterwards, that gentleman acknowledged that he had his description from a French engineer, who had ascended the summit during the war. An European, unaccustomed to the wild romantic scenery of nature, he was delighted with the prospect, and naturally gave a description of it which was highly colored . . . ”

Several other references to Jefferson occur in the text as follows:

Page 157. He is mentioned as having succeeded Mr. Adams as President and as being now in his second term.

Page 269. Monticello, the celebrated seat of Mr. Jefferson is in Albemarle Co.

Page 378 and 379. In the Chronological Table, Jefferson’s election to the Presidency is listed under the dates 1801 and 1805.

The Chronological Table is at the end of the work, following the list of Post-Offices in the United States. The Table begins with the creation of the world, and Adam and Eve, 4004 before Christ, and ends with the Revolution in Spain, 1808, A.D. Entries for the Fifteenth Century include:

1404 Hats for men invented at Paris by a Swiss.

1430 The sea broke in at Dort, in Holland and drowned 100,000 people.

1460 Engravings and Etchings in copper invented.

1489 Maps and sea Charts first carried to England by Bartholomew Columbus.

1492 America discovered by Columbus.

1497 The Portuguese first sail to East Indies, by Cape o[ f] Good Hope,

S. America discovered by Americus Vespusius,

N. America discovered by Cabot.

In the succeeding centuries the important events throughout the Eastern and Western world are recorded.

Horatio Gates Spafford, 1778-1832, a Quaker of New York, was in frequent correspondence with Jefferson.