ance with the Yammacrans Indians, and the numerous nation of the Creeks, whose king, by name Tomochichi, came to England with his wife and son to ratify the same. In 1735 arrived a reinforcement of 160 Scotch Highlanders, who established themselves in a territory, to which they gave the name of Darien, in memory of the establishment they had formed in the province of this name at the end of the last century, (1700); and in 1737 arrived a regiment of 600 men, who had conceived a dislike to the Spanish governor of San Agustin of La Florida, who attacked this colony, when it was defended by the aforesaid Governor Oglethorp.

The whole of the coast of Georgia is defended by a thread of islands, which runs along its whole extent; and for more than 70 miles it is full of sand-banks. But the vessels have a good anchorage, and a secure port at the entrance of the river Savannah; and to the s. of this river is a clear and quiet basin, called Teky-sound, where many ships may lay at anchor in 14 foot water, with a safe place for embarkation, since the tide on this coast rises seven feet.

In this province are several cities, namely, the Savannah, Augusta, Ebenezer, which are situate on the shore of the river of the name of the firstmentioned; and on the s. is that of Frederick, in the island of St. Simon, at the mouth of the river Alatamacha, with different forts for its own defence and that of the country.

This country produces abundance of wheat, maize, oats, and barley, and the two latter are of the very best quality. The wheat is sowed in May, and gathered in June. It also yields quantities of potatoes, melons, water-melons, quinces, common English pease, which with some little care and cultivation might be produced the whole year round; beans, sallad of all kinds and in regular succession, also fragrant herbs, wild grapes in abundance, and cherries which are similar to those of England, and which ripen in May: these are also found in some gardens and orchards, as are pears, apples, and apricots, mulberry trees which bear twice a year, as also white mulberries, the leaf of which is peculiarly good for silk worms. The olives and oranges here are very good, and most particularly in the s. part of the province, where one of the latter has been known to grow to the height of 15 feet in seven years. The principal of the trees used for building may be reduced to the pine, which is found in great abundance, oaks of six or seven kinds, black walnuts, cedars, white and black cypress, laurels, and myr tles, with which are made torches; and sassafras,

The

which infused in water makes a wholesome drink. In the woods are a quantity of birds, and particularly in the winter season, which begins in Novem. ber and finishes in March: there are ducks, wild turkeys weighing from 20 to 30 lbs. turtle-doves, curlews, woodcocks, and partridges smaller than those of Europe. The animals are hares, rabbits of good flavour; and when the season is very cold, in the n. parts there are great flights of pigeons, which may be easily killed. Here are also some tigers, but they are small; bears, which, when they are sucklings, have the flavour of sucking pigs; wolves, and many species of serpents, although these are not venomous, save that of the rattlesnake, against the bite of which the Indians have a certain antidote, if the same be only immediately applied. In the rivers are found sea wolves, alligators, and an infinite variety of fish, which in the summer are extremely cheap; the same also as are the various kind of shell-fish found here. Articles of food are in general reasonable, as is English beer, also rum from the other colonies. brandy and wine commonly drank here comes from Madeira, though that which is in highest estimation is from Lisbon. Oranges and lemons are plen tiful, and they will continue to be more so daily, since many have been planted. Soap here is also very cheap, but the most useful manufacture is that of silk, since the climate is very friendly to the breeding of silk-worms, and the territory for the cultivation of the mulberry. There are some hopes of making wine, notwithstanding the great difficulties that have hitherto obtained, the skin of the grape not being of sufficient consistency to contain the juice, and consequently bursting as the grape gets ripe. The winters in the spring equinox kill the stocks of the vines, and those which are brought from Europe are destroyed by the insects of the country; but it has been found by experience that the European vines being ingrafted with those of the country, the above objections are almost entirely obviated, since they thus sprout much later, and thus escape the influence of the frost; the bark also is much stronger, and resists the insects. Some of the vines that were brought from Portugal have succeeded well enough, even in the most barren part of this province, which, in a word, only wants hands to cultivate it. The principal rivers by which it is irrigated are the Savannah, Altamaha or George, and St. Mary, the which divides it from Florida. Its principal ports are at the entrance of the two former rivers. The number of inhabitants is very uncertain, and that of the Negroes and slaves, we are assured, exceeds 14,000.

from the sea, the air is pure and salubrious, and the water plenty and good. From June to September, the mercury in Fahrenheit's thermometer commonly fluctuates from 76° to 90°; in winter, from 40° to 60°. The most prevailing winds are s. w. and e.; in winter n. w. The e. wind is warmest in winter and coolest in summer. The s. wind, in summer and fall particularly, is damp, sultry, unelastic, and of course unhealthy. In the 8. e. parts of this state, which lie within a few degrees of the torrid zone, the atmosphere is kept in motion by impressions from the trade-winds. This purifies the air, so that it is found to have salutary effects on consumptive habits.

In the low lands are the rice fields; in the interior and hilly parts, wheat, Indian corn, and the other productions more common to the n. states. Rice is at present the staple commodity of the state; tobacco, wheat, and indigo are the other great articles of produce. Besides these the state yields cotton, silk, corn, potatoes, oranges, figs, olives, pomegranates, &c. The forests consist of oak, hickory, mulberry, pine, cedar, &c. The whole coast is bordered with islands; the principal of which are Skidaway, Wassaw, Ossabaw, St. Catherine's, Sapelo, Frederica, Jekyl, Cumberland, &c. These islands are surrounded by navigable creeks, between which and the mainland is a large extent of salt marsh, fronting the whole state, not less, on an average, than four or five miles in breadth; intersected with creeks in various directions, admitting, through the whole, an inland navigation, between the islands and the mainland, from the n. e. to the s. e. corners of the state. The e. sides of these islands are, for the most part, clean, hard, sandy beaches, exposed to the wash of the ocean. Between these islands are the entrances of the rivers from the interior country, winding through the low salt marshes, and delivering their waters into the sounds, which form capacious har. bours of from three to eight miles over, and which communicate with each other by parallel salt

creeks.

The soil and its fertility are various, according to situation and different improvement. The islands in their natural state are covered with a plentiful growth of pine, oak, hickory, live oak, (an uncommonly hard and very valuable wood) and some red cedar. The soil is a mixture of sand and black mould, making what is commonly called a grey soil. A considerable part of it, particularly that whereon grow the oak, hickory, and live oak, is very rich, and yields on cultivation good crops of indigo, cotton, corn, and potatoes. The soil of the mainland, adjoining the marshes and creeks, is

VOL. II.

nearly of the same quality with that of the islands; except that which borders on those rivers and creeks which stretch far back into the country. On these, immediately after you leave the salts, begin the valuable rice swamps, which, on cultivation, afford the present chief staple of commerce.

The soil between the rivers, after you leave the sea and the edge of the swamps, at the distance of 20 or 30 miles, changes from a grey to a red colour, on which grows plenty of oak and hickory, with a considerable intermixture of pine. In some places it is gravelly, but fertile, and so continues for a number of miles, gradually deepening the reddish colour of the earth, till it changes into what is called the Mulatto soil, consisting of a black and red earth. The Mulatto lands are generally strong, and yield large crops of wheat, tobacco, corn, &c. To this kind of land succeeds by turns a soil nearly black and very rich, on which grow large quantities of black walnut, mulberry, &c. This succession of different soils continues uniform and regular, though there are some large veins of all the different soils intermixed; and what is more remarkable, this succession, in the order mentioned, stretches across this state nearly parallel with the sea-coast, and extends through the several states nearly in the same direction, to the banks of Hudson river.

Cotton was formerly planted here only by the poorer class of people, and that only for family use. They planted two kinds, the annual and the W. Indian; the former is low, and planted every year; the balls are large, and the phlox long, strong, and perfectly white. The latter is a tall perennial plant, the stalk somewhat shrubby, several of which rise up from the root for several years successively, the stems of the former year being killed by the winter frosts. The balls of the W. India cotton are not quite so large as the other, but the phlox or wool is long, extremely fine, silky, and white. A plantation of this kind will last several years, with moderate labour and care. The culture of cotton is now much more attended to; several indigo planters have converted their plantations into cotton fields. A new species is about to be introduced into this state, the seed of which was lately brought by Captain Josiah Roberts from Waitahoo, one of the Marquesa islands in the S. Pacific ocean, and sent to a gentleman in Georgia by a member of the historical society in Boston. This cotton is of a very fine texture, and is expected will prove a considerable acquisition to the s. states. The cotton at present raised in Georgia is distinguished by some into two]

T

[kinds, the green and black seed; the former is planted in the Upper country, the latter on the sea-islands and adjacent lands, and was brought, about the year 1788, from the Bahamas; and there is now a prospect, that in a few years the states of S. Carolina and Georgia may be able to raise more than 10,000,000 of pounds of cotton annually for exportation. Most of the tropical fruits would flourish in this state with proper at tention. The s. w. part of this state, and the parts of E. and W. Florida, which lie adjoining, will probably, in some future time, become the vineyard of America. The chief articles of export are rice, tobacco, indigo, sago, lumber, naval stores, leather, deer-skins, snake-root, myrtle and bees wax, corn, and live stock. The planters and farmers raise large stocks of cattle, from 1000 to 1500 head, and some more. The value in sterling money, of the exports of Georgia in the year 1755, was 15,7447.; in 1772, 121,6771.; in 1791, value in dollars -491,472; in 1792, 458,973; is 1794, 501,383; in 1796, 676,154; and in 1798, 950,158. In 1790, the tonnage employed in this state was 28,540; and the number of American seamen 11,225. In return for her exports, Georgia receives W. India goods, teas, wines, clothing, and dry goods of all kinds. From the n. states, cheese, fish, potatoes, apples, cider, and shoes. The imports and exports are principally to and from Savannah, which has a fine harbour, and is the place where the principal commercial business of the state is transacted. According to the census of 1790, the number of inhabitants amounted to 82,548, of whom 29,264 were slaves; and by that of 1810, to 252,433 souls. The different religious sects are Presbyterians, Episcopalians, Baptists, and Methodists. They have but few regular ministers among them. The citizens of Georgia have lately revised and altered their constitution, and formed it upon a plan similar to the federal constitution of the United States. The literature of this state, which is yet in its infancy, is commencing on a plan which, if ever carried into effect, will be very advantageous to the state. A college, with ample and liberal endowments, is instituted in Louisville, a high and healthy part of the county, near the centre of the state. There is also provision made for the institution of an academy in each county of the state, to be supported from the same funds, and considered as parts and members of the same institution, under the general superintendence and direction of a president and board of trustees, selected, for their literary accomplishments, from the different parts of the state, and invested with the customary powers of corporations. This institution

The

is denominated the University of Georgia. funds for the support of literary institutions are principally in lands, amounting in the whole to 50,000 acres, a great part of which is of the best quality, and at present very valuable; together with nearly 60007. sterling in bonds, houses, and town lots in Augusta. Other public property, to the amount of 1000l. in each county, has been set apart for the purposes of building and furnishing their respective academies. The funds originally designed to support the literary orphan house, founded by the Rev. George Whitefield, are chiefly in rice plantations and Negroes. On the death of the Countess of Huntingdon, to whom Mr. Whitefield bequeathed this property, as trus tee, the legislature, in the year 1792, passed a law vesting it in 13 commissioners, with powers to carry the original intention of Mr. Whitefield into execution; and in compliment to the Countess, the seminary is styled Huntingdon college.

This state, as Alçedo has remarked, was first settled in the year 1732, and it was the only colony settled at the expence of the crown.]

[GEORGIA WESTERN TERRITORY. Under this name is included all that part of the state of Georgia which lies w. of the head waters of those rivers which fall into the Atlantic ocean. This extensive tract of country embraces some of the finest land in the United States, is intersected with a great number of noble rivers, which may be seen by an inspection of the map, and is inhabited (except such parts wherein the Indian title bast been extinguished) by three nations of Indians, viz. the Muskogulge or Creek, the Chactaws, and Chickasaws: the Cherokees also have a title to a small portion of the n. part of this territory, on the Tennessee river. These nations together can furnish between 8 and 9000 warriors. About 2000 families of white people inhabit those parts of this territory where the Indian title has been extinguished, chiefly at the Natchez, and the Xaxoo river, on the banks of the Mississippi, and a considerable number on the Tombigbee river, and scattered among the Creek Indians. This territory, for reasons which will hereafter appear, has lately become an object of much public attention and inquiry, in Europe, as well as in the United States; and on this account, the following description of it, and statement of facts relative to the sale of certain parts of it, and the claims of the United States, &c. have been collected and arranged with great care from the most authentic sources that can be obtained, and given under this head for the information of the public. This territory, lying between lat. 31° and 35° n. is not subject to

[the extremes of heat or cold; the climate is tem perate and delightful through the year, and except in low grounds, and in the neighbourhood of stagnant waters, is very healthful. White frosts, and sometimes thin ice, have been seen as far s. as the 31° of latitude; but snow is very uncommon in any part of this territory. A person residing at the Natchez writes to his friend in the e. part of Georgia, that "this country affords the best spring water; every person almost is in blooming health." Others who have visited it say, of that part of the territory which borders on the Mississippi, that "the water is good for 20 miles back from the river, and the country healthy and pleasant, and of all others that they have seen the most desirable." Mr. Hutchins, speaking of the same tract, says, "the climate is healthy and temperate, the country delightful and well watered, and the prospect is beautiful and extensive; variegated by many inequalities and fine meadows, separated by innumerable copses, the trees of which are of different kinds, but mostly of walnut and oak. The elevated, open, and airy situation of this country, renders it less liable to fevers and agues, (the only disorders ever known in its neighbourhood), than some other parts bordering on the Mississippi, where the want of a sufficient descent to convey the waters off, occasions numbers of stagnant ponds, whose exhalations infect the air." Another traveller describes the country between the Tombigbee and the Coosa and Alabama as being healthy, well watered with many pleasant rivulets, affording delightful situations for settlements, and the water pure and very good. To give a just view of the rivers, and to ascertain the advantages derived from them to this territory, it is necessary to trace them from their mouths in the gulf of Mexico. The Mississippi bounds this territory on the w. the free navigation of this noble river is now enjoyed by the inhabitants of the United States: it empties, by several mouths of different depths, from nine to 16 fect, into the gulf of Mexico, in about lat. 29° n. The bars at the mouth of this river frequently shift; after passing them into the river, there is from three to 10 fathoms of water, as far as the s. w. pass; and thence to the Missouri, a distance of 1142 computed miles, 12, 15, 20, and 30 fathoms is the general depth.

In ascending the Mississippi, there are extensive natural meadows, with a prospect of the gulf of Mexico on each side, the distance of 32 miles, to a place called Detour-aux-Plaquemines, in W. Florida: thence 20 miles to the settlements, the banks

are low and marshy, generally overflowed and covered with thick wood, palmetto bushes, &c. apparently impenetrable by man or beast: thence to Detour-des-Anglois, at the bend of the river, the banks are well inhabited; as also from hence to New Orleans 18 miles, which distance there is a good road for carriages. Vessels pass from the mouth of this river to New Orleans 105 miles, in seven or eight days, commonly; sometimes in three or four.

From New Orleans, the capital of Louisiana, there is an easy communication with W. Florida by Bayouk creek, which is a water of lake Pon, chartrain, navigable for vessels drawing four feet water, six miles up from the lake, to a landing place two miles from New Orleans. For nearly 50 miles, as you proceed up the river, both its banks are settled and highly cultivated, in part by emigrants from Germany, who furnish the market with indigo of a superior quality, cotton, rice, beans, myrtle, wax, and lumber. In 1762, some rich planters attempted the cultivation of canes and the making of sugar, and erected mills for the purpose: this sugar was of an excellent quality, and some of the crops were large; but some winters proving so severe as to kill the canes, no dependence can be placed on the culture of that article.

The settlements of the Acadians, which were begun in the year 1763, extend on both sides of the river, from Germans to the river lbberville, which is 99 miles above New Orleans, and 270 from Pensacola, by way of lakes Ponchartrain and Maurepas.

. At point Coupee, 35 miles above the Ibberville, are settlements extending 20 miles on the w. side of the river, which 30 years ago had 2000 white inhabitants and 7000 slaves, who were employed in the cultivation of tobacco, indigo, Indian corn, &c. for the New Orleans market, which they furnished also with poultry, and abundance of squared timber, staves, &c.

Mr. Hutchins, from his personal knowledge, describes the country on both sides of the Mississippi, between the latitudes 30° and 31°, bordering on Georgia, as follows:

Although this country might produce all the valuable articles raised in other parts of the globe, situated in the same latitudes, yet the inhabitants principally cultivate indigo, rice, tobacco, Indian corn, and some wheat; and they raise large stocks of black cattle, horses, mules, hogs, sheep, and poultry. The sheep are said to make the sweetest mutton in the world. The black cattle, when fat enough for sale, which they commonly]