In his e.xamination before a Committee of the House of Commons, on the sixth of May, 1779, the Earl of Cornwallis testified that " the knowl- "edge of the country of America, for military purposes, was extremely "difficult to be obtained from the inhabitants ;'' that "the country, in " general, is so covered with wood and so favorable to ambuscades that, " certainly, it was very difficult to obtain a knowledge of it by recon- " noitering ; " and that he " never saw a stronger country or one better "calculated for the defensive." In anotlier portion of his testimony, the Karl stated, " I can only say that it is a very strong country, very " rugged, very hilly, and verj- woody ;'' and that, although, "by no means **equally so," his former description was "applicable, in some degree, " to all," General Gray, before the same Committee and on the same day, testified that ''the inhabitantsof the country, in general, were so very much " against us that they deserted the country wherever we came ; and we "could get no intelligence that we could possibly depend on;" that "that part of .\nierica where I have been, is the strongest country I ever " was in. It is every where hilly and covered with wood, intersected by "ravines, creeks, and niarsliy grounds: and every quarter of a mile, is "a post fitted for ambuscades. Little or no knowledge could be obtained " by reconnoitering ; " and " America is, of all countries, the best calcu- " latcd for the defensive : every one hundred yards might bo disputed, "at least that part of it that I have seen."