PREQUEL to BLURRY MOUNTAIN: “THE UNSETTLING”
©️ 2026 Donald Whelpley
CHAPTER FOUR. EVERYTHING NEW.
Glad to be on land, they couldn’t wait for the trip which would carry them closer to their destination. Grigor had heard the the mountains of North Carolina/Tennessee were cooler than the coastal plains and was good for cattle and sheep. That was his goal. On the other hand, his wife was hoping for somewhere nearer the sea. It would do no good to argue it. Grigor was kind, but hard headed. His brother was not the only one who inherited that trait. Still, she had learned to trust his directions. He was a good man, honest, a caring father, and a considerate husband. There were worse men in the world. Best of all, he followed Christ wholeheartedly as had his father and grandfather before him.
Their next stop was Wilmington, North Carolina. They could travel overland, but by ship would be faster. They found a ship called Saint George, fairly lightly loaded and bouncy on the waves, the righting moment was exaggerated. The ship was headed to Wilmington for passengers and cargo, eventually returning to Liverpool. Aboard Mrs Hughes quickly scribed one letter to her family (written in English) and another to his (in Welsh). “We arrived safely to Philadelphia and then to Wilmington. Looking forward to travels inland.” Upon arrival at Wilmington she quickly made arrangements for the letters to be posted when the crew arrived back in England.
The sail south had been rough, some high wind and waves. As mentioned, the ship was underweight and bouncy. The family needed a day on land, not moving. So they rented a room and slept all night. In the early morning, before they had to check out, they went in search of a wagon and two strong workhorses. Then they rode back to the hotel and realized they weren’t quite ready for travel. Asking about they found a few items they would greatly need. They had some essentials, but they needed so much more. Water barrels, canvas tarps, pots and pans to cook over open fire and a fire grate, buckets, fish hooks and line, shovel, axe, pliers, saw, hammer, lidded crates in which to store food supplies, bolts of cloth and additional spools of thread (Branwyn had a sewing kit), work boots, coats for winter, a few flintlock rifles black powder in waterproofed barrels, lead slugs (useful as weights until made into bullets), and a bullet mold. Blankets and rope, soap, and lantern. Several knives and wheel grease. They figured that buying some items in the city would save much. They were correct. They found that as they traveled the prices increased by the week.
Early the next morning, they found a place to eat, then loaded their few possessions and purchases. Smartly, they bought trade goods to sell or barter along the way. Tools, a couple kegs of nails, sheets of tin, fish hooks and extra line, coffee, tea, molasses, and Bibles (printed in English). Grigor wanted one for himself and the family. He would practice reading English along the way.
Then they stocked up on flour, sugar, oatmeal, smoked pork, dried beans, and lard. Branwyn bought a couple loaves of bread, a sack of potatoes and a barrel of apples to start the journey. They figured they could buy other foods as needed on the road.
Then they headed west through the city. The first thing they noticed was how very, very hot it was. Humid they were used to, but anything over 75 degrees F was insufferable. They quickly discarded their sweaters for cotton tops. They could not help but notice how few clouds there were. Second, the sun beat down on them. Even sunny days in Wales had clouds, fog, mist, or outright rain. Grigor had a hat and Branwyn had a scarf, but the children had nothing. Mrs Hughes soon had devised scarves for all to protect their necks and heads from the direct sun. As the days went on Grigor would have time to rig a sun/rain cover out of canvas. The third thing they found was that the air away from port was calm. At their farm on the island it was seriously windy all the time. Here in the new world, the air was mostly still or light. None of them enjoyed those first days.
It was late by the time they reached the countryside. When they stopped they ate bread, boiled potatoes, and munched on apples until satisfied. Breakfast was bread and fried potatoes cooked with apples. Unusual, but good. They had a long way to go.
Some might wonder, “Why didn’t they just hop on a train?” The answer to that is simple. There were a few rail lines at the time with open seating and subject to flying hot cinders. Most were short runs (some as few as 11 miles). Rail service expanded and improved after the Civil War, but that hadn’t happened yet. They couldn’t put a wagon and two horses on such a train. Finally, none of the tracks headed west, where they were going. So, there was nothing to do but travel by horse drawn wagon.
The children were assigned a rotation of chores every morning, evening, and any time they stopped. In the morning there was fetching water, tending to laundry, repacking night supplies like blankets, washing dishes and putting them away. When they stopped, there was watering of the horses, checking wheels, (fishing if near a stream). When they stopped for the night they had to collect firewood, water the horses, brush the horses, help with cooking, and cleaning (sometimes that included some laundry), unpacking the night supplies. Meanwhile, father worked on building a protective canvas cover. That involved finding green wood which could be bent and whittling ends to fit in metal loops on the sides of the wagon. The wood was held in place by wedges and a dowel pin hammered through a hole just below where the branch went through the loop. He was able to put two in place the second night and a piece of light cloth over them which gave some relief. Within a week the entire wagon was covered by the oiled tarp, allowing the children to read from the Bible and practice some lessons. Whoever was reading had to sit near their father, who sometimes asked for a translation of a word or phrase. “Thank you, fy bach,” he would say.
On the third day out of Wilmington Drysi caught a pleasant-sized fish during an afternoon rest stop. So it was fish stew for supper. That was something they hadn’t tasted since leaving their island home.
Already they were noticing other differences in the New World. Wildlife was everywhere. Squirrels, rabbits, possum, snakes (they had been warned there would be venomous snakes and how to identify them), and a strange-smelling critter locals called a pole-cat. There was no mistaking that odor for any other. Because of the strangeness of the land each one wore a knife on their belt, even the youngest. Whoever was to gather wood was required to wear leather work gloves to reduce the risk of snakebite, spider bite, or bee sting. There were many types of bees and spiders which they had never before seen. New world, new risks.
They passed vast fields of tobacco and cotton. It was a land of slavery and riches. In Wales they had heard that cotton was grown everywhere in the New World. But while cotton and tobacco loved the sandy soils of the wide coastal plains, they didn’t fare quite as well on the Piedmont. Also, they saw mostly pine trees and evergreens along the streams and rivers in this area. They were even introduced to something called “Black Drink” which was a local tea made from the leaves of a coastal Holly bush. It wasn’t as smooth as the tea they knew, but it had not a bad flavor. It was much cheaper, too, since unlike black tea the leaves could be re-used several times. They bought a small cask of it from a small town market. Nice, too, was that tea could be served at air temperature. That allowed them a nice drink that they knew was safe. They had been advised to boil drinking water. One never knew what was happening upstream with dairies or tanning practices.
[Watch for Chapter 5 next month…]
Christmas On Blurry Mountain ~ Part 1 of 4 ~ Part 2 of 4 ~ Part 3 of 4 ~ Part 4 of 4
Copyright 2026 Donald Whelpley
[PLEASE NOTE that Don is always open to discussing the thoughts and opinions he shares here and welcomes comments as shared in the comment section. He doesn’t use other social media platforms and won’t see whatever you’d like to share with him if you post it elsewhere.
ALSO, Don is always open to offer his thoughts on various topics. If you have a specific request, you can let him know in a comment; he reads – and replies to – them all. ~ Sherry]
See more GUEST POSTS from Don
Comments