Luxuriant corn-fields fringed the borders of hanging woodlands, which clothed the steep acclivities; and on the boldest summits wide regions were laid bare, where the adventurous axe had broken the dark line of frowning forests, and prepared the way for future culture.

Here and there a thriving village burst upon the view, its clustering houses interspersed with gardens and orchards of young fruit trees.
The infant capital, from its central and commanding situation, rose pre-eminent above the sister settlements.

It had prospered beyond the hopes of the most sanguine, and was already a mart for the superfluous products of the colony.

That regard to order and decorum, displayed by the magistrates in their earliest regulations, and a uniformity in the distribution of land for streets and dwelling lots, had prevented much confusion, as the population increased.

Its limits were then comparatively narrow; man had not yet encroached on the dominions of the sea to extend the boundaries of the peninsula.