[are the year round, are driven across the country to New Orleans, where there is always a good

market.

This country is principally timbered with all the different kinds of oak, but mostly with live oak, of the largest and best quality, uncommonly large cypress, black walnut, hickory, white ash, cherry, plum, poplar trees, and grape vines; here is found also a great variety of shrubs and medicinal roots. The lands bordering the rivers and lakes are generally well wooded; but at a small distance from them are very extensive natural meadows, or savannas, of the most luxuriant soil, composed of a black mould, about one and a half feet deep, very loose and rich, occasioned, in part, by the frequent burning of the savannas: below the black mould is a stiff clay of different colours. It is said, this clay, after being exposed some time to the sun, becomes so hard, that it is difficult either to break or bend; but when wet by a light shower of rain, it slackens in the same manner as lime does when exposed to moisture, and becomes Hoose and moulders away, after which it is found excellent for vegetation.

After passing the 31st degree of n. lat. from W. Florida into Georgia you enter what is called the Natchez Country, bordering on the Mississippi. Fort Rosailie, in this country, is in lat. 31° 40'; 243 miles above New Orleans.

The soil of this country is superior to any of the lands on the borders of the river Mississippi, for the production of many articles: its situation being higher, affords a greater variety of soil, and is in a more favourable climate for the growth of wheat, rye, barley, oats, &c. than the country lower down, and nearer to the sea. The soil also produces in equal abundance Indian corn, rice, hemp, flax, indigo, cotton, pot-herbs, pulse of every kind, and pasturage; and the tobacco made here is esteemed preferable to any cultivated in other parts of America. Hops grow wild; all kinds of European fruits arrive to great perfection, and no part of the known world is more favourable for the raising of every kind of stock. The rising grounds, which are clothed with grass and other herbs of the finest verdure, are well adapted to the .culture of vines; the mulberry trees are very numerous, and the winters sufficiently moderate for the breed of silk worms. Clay of different colours, fit for glass works and pottery, is found here in great abundance; and also a variety of stately timber, fit for house and ship building, &c.

"The lands," it is "said, on the Mississippi, extending e. about 20 miles, are hilly, without

stones or sand, extremely rich, of a deep black soil, covered thick with canes, white and black oak, walnut, hickory, ash, some sugar maple, beech, and dogwood; that there are very few streams or springs of water; that the water is not good, and tastes as if impregnated with sulphur; that the country is much infested with insects; that the land is high and bluff three fourths of the distance along the river Mississippi, and a part overflowed and drowned." But it is apprehended that this description is not perfectly just, so far as it applies to the scarcity and badness of the water, as a gentleman of respectable character, who re sided nine months at the Natchez, says, "The lands on the Mississippi are more level, and better watered, than is above represented; and that the water is good, and the country healthy and remarkably pleasant.'

This country was once famous for its inhabitants, the Natchez Indians, who, from their great numbers, and the improved state of society among them, were considered as the most civilized Indians on the continent of America. Nothing now remains of this nation but their name, by which their country continues to be called. The district of the Natchez, as well as all along the e. bank of the Mississippi to the river Ibberville, was settling very fast by emigrations from the n. states, till the capture of the British troops on the Mississippi, 1779, put an entire stop to it.

From fort Rosailie to the Petit Goufre is 31! miles. There is a firm rock on the e. side of the Mississippi for near a mile, which seems to be of the nature of lime-stone: the land near the river is much broken and very high, with a good soil, and several plantations on it. From the Petit Goufre to Stoney river, is four miles and a half: from the mouth to what is called the Fork of this river, is computed to be 21 miles. In this distance there are several quarries of stone, and the land has a clay soil, with gravel on the surface of the ground. On the n. side of this river, the land in general is low and rich; that on the s. side is much higher, but broken into hills and vales; but here the low lands are not often overflowed; both sides are shaded with a variety of useful timber. At the fork, the river parts almost at right angles, and the lands between and on each side of them are said to be clay and marl soil, not so uneven as the lands on this river lower down. Stoney river to Lousa Chitto, or Big Black river, is 10 miles : this river, at the mouth, is about 30 yards wide, but within, from 30 to 50 yards, and is said to be navigable for canoes 30 or 40 leagues:]

From

[about a mile and a half up this river, the high lands are close on the right, and are much broken: a mile and a half further, the high lands appear again on the right, where there are several springs of water, but none as yet have been discovered on the left. At about eight miles further, the high lands are near the river, on the left, and appear to be the same range that comes from the Yazoo cliffs at six miles further, the high lands are near the river, on both sides, and continue for two or three miles, but broken and full of springs of water. This land on.the left was chosen by General Putnam, Captain Enos, Mr. Lyman, and other New England adventurers, as a proper place for a town; and by order of the governor and council of West Florida, in 1773, it was reserved for the capital. The country round is very fit for settlements. For four or five miles above this place, on both sides of the river, the land is rich, and not so much drowned, nor so uneven, as some parts lower down. About six miles and a half further, there is a rapid water, stones and gravel bottom, 160 yards in length; and in one place a firm rock almost across the river, and as much of it bare, when the water is at a moderate height, as confines the stream to nearly 20 feet; and the channel is about four feet deep. From the Lousa Chitto to the Yazoo cliffs, is 40 miles. From this cliff the high lands lie n. e. and s. s. e. bearing off from the river, full of cane and rich soil, even on the very highest ridges: just at the s. end of the cliffs, the bank is low, where the water of the Mississippi, when high, flows back and runs between the bank and high land, which ranges nearly n. and s. s. e. to the Lousa Chitto, occasioning much wet ground, cypress swamp, and stagnant ponds. From the cliffs, is seven miles and a half to the river Yazoo; the mouth of this river is upwards of 100 yards in width, and was found by Mr. Gaul to be in lat. 32° 37', and by Mr. Purcell in 32° 28′ n. The water of the Mississippi, when the river is high, runs up the Yazoo several miles, and empties itself again by a number of channels, which direct their course across the country, and fall in above the Walnut hills. The Yazoo runs from the n. e. and glides through a healthy, fertile, and pleasant country, greatly resembling that about the Natchez, particularly in the luxuriancy and diversity of its soil, variety of timber, temperature of climate, and delightful situation: it is remarkably well watered by springs and brooks; many of the latter afford convenient seats for mills. Further up this river the canes are less frequent, and smaller in size, and at the distance of 20 miles there are scarcely any.

Here the country is clear of underwood, and well watered, and the soil very rich, which continues to the Chactaw and Chickasaw towns, on the c. and n. w. branches of Yazoo river: these branches unite 50 miles from the Mississippi, following the course of the river; the navigation to their junction, commonly called the Fork, is practicable with very large boats in the spring season, and with smaller ones a considerable way further, with the interruption of but one fall, where they are obliged to make a short portage, 20 miles up the n. w. branch, and 70 miles from the Mississippi. The country in which the Chactaw and Chickasaw towns are situated, is said to be as healthy as any part of the continent, the natives scarcely ever being sick: such of them as frequent the Mississippi, leave its banks as the summer approaches, lest they might partake of the fevers that sometimes visit the low swampy lands bordering upon that river. Wheat, it is said, yields better at the Yazoo than at the Natchez, owing probably to its more n. situation. One very considerable advantage will attend the settlers on the river Yazoo, which those at Natchez will be deprived of, with out going to a great expence; that is, the building with stone; there being great plenty near the Yazoo, but none having yet been discovered nearer to the Natchez than the Petit Goufre, or Little Whirlpool, a distance of about 31 miles: between this place and the Balize, there is not a stone to be seen any where near the river. The quantity of good land on the Mississippi and its branches, from the bay of Mexico to the river Ohio, a distance of nearly 1000 miles, is vastly great, and the conveniences attending it are equally so we may likewise esteem that in the neighbourhood of the Natchez, and of the river Yazoo, the flower of it all.

About a mile and a half up the Yazoo river, on the n. side, there is a large creek, which communicates with the Mississippi above the river St. Francis, about 100 leagues higher up, by the course of the river. It passes through several lakes by the way. At the distance of 12 miles from the mouth of the river Yazoo, on the s. side, are the Yazoo hills. There is a cliff of solid rock at the landing place, on which are a variety of broken pieces of sea-shells, and some entire. Four miles further up, is the place called the Ball Ground, near which a church, fort St. Peter, and a French settlement, formerly stood: they were destroyed by the Yazoo Indians in 1729. That nation is now entirely extinct. Hutchins.

From about 20 miles e. of the Mississippi, to Half-way or Pearl river, the distance of about 60]

[miles, (some say less)," is a fine level country, very fertile, and better watered than nearer the Mississippi. There is some mixture of sand with loam, the timber the same, with the addition of blackjack, and post-oak. This tract is interspersed with what the French call prairies or savannas, which are extensive intervals of 1000 and 2000 acres of excellent land, of a deep black soil, free of all timber and trees: it is this kind of land which the Indians cultivate. From the Mississippi to this river, there are no Indians. To a tract of this country, extending along the Misissippi from the 31st degree of latitude to the Yazoo river, at the s. end, 30 miles wide, and narrowing as you proceed n. to the width of 15 miles, the Indian title has been extinguished. It was at first purchased by the English; but they not having completed the payment for it, before it fell into the hands of the Spaniards, they (the Spaniards) in the year 1792 paid the balance. At Walnut hills, the Spaniards have a fort, which, according to the treaty, is to be given up (if not already done) to the United States. To the country n. of the Yazoo, the Indian title is not yet extinguished. About one half of the s. part, a distance of about 50 miles up the Yazoo, is owned by the Chactaws, the n. half by the Chickasaws." The gentleman who gives the above information, and who was in this country in the year 1792, says, "that the Yazoo is about 90 yards wide, is boatable 100 miles; that he crossed the country by different routes, three or four times from the Mississippi to the Tombigbee; passed over the Yazoo several times, went up and down the river on the shore; and says that the lands to the e. of the Yazoo, (the distance of about 100 miles), are very excellent."

Pearl river is about 40 yards wide: a branch of it, passing e. of the Natchez and nearest, in Coxe's map, bears the name of Buffaloe river. On the e. side of Pearl river, commence the Chactaw settle ments, and extend thick to the Chickasaw Hay river; thence about 40 miles e. the settlements are sparse, and extend near to the Tombigbee. This is a numerous nation, containing about 3000 hunters, a peaceable and friendly people. The country inhabited by these Indians is noted in Coxe's map to be "poor and barren land, covered generally with long-leafed pine." Other accounts represent it as much the same as that between the Mississippi and Pearl rivers, with the addition of some pine land, and better watered. The streams on which the Chactaws are settled, as laid down on Coxe's map, are, proceeding from w. to e. the Homachitta, (called by Purcell

Hostaphatcha), Chactaw, and Souhawtee, which unite; and the main stream retains the name of Homachitta till it empties into the gulf of Mexico. This is probably the same river that Hutchins calls PASCAGOULA, which see. The head branches of this river spread extensively through the n. part of this territory, chiefly w. of the Chactaw nation. White or Bluff river, on Coxe's map, appears to rise in about lat. 33° n. takes a course to the e. of the Chactaws, and empties into the Tombigbee, some distance below the head of the tide water, and is laid down as about the size of Pearl river. From the compact settlements of the Chactaws e. to the w. branches of the Tombigbee, the land is tolerably good; the timber generally oak and pine, with some hickory, well watered and level. Of this kind is the country a distance of about 40 miles w. of the w. branches of the Tombigbee; thence to the Tombigbee, the land is more uneven, interspersed with large savannas, and the whole generally good land, and pretty well watered; the water, however, has a limy taste: the natural growth much the same as on the Mississippi. The intervale, or, as they call it in this country, the Bottom Lands, are generally about a mile wide on the river, extremely rich, and thickly overgrown with canes. This general description will apply to the whole tract belonging to the

Georgia Mississippi Company.' Mr. Coxe, on his map, remarks, that "on the Tombigbee and Alabama rivers there are bodies of fine rich land, but low down, towards Mobile bay, unhealthy.'

We have now arrived e. to the Mobile, the principal river in this territory. "On the bar at the entrance of the bay of Mobile, there is only about 15 or 16 feet water; two-thirds of the way through the bay, towards the town of Mobile, there is from two to three fathoms; and the deepest water to be depended on in the upper part of the bay is only 10 or 12 feet, and in many places not so much : large vessels cannot go within seven miles of the town." Hutchins. This bay is about 30 miles long, and from 10 to 12 wide; the tide flows 60 or 70 miles above this bay, and is so far navigable for sea vessels: thence 150 or 200 miles n. is good boat navigation, smooth water, generally 100 to 150 yards wide, and eight to ten feet deep. MS. Minutes from Mr. Perry. The bay of Mobile terminates a little to the n. e. of the town, in a number of marshes and lagoons, which subject the people to fevers and agues in the hot season. The river Mobile, as you ascend it, divides into two principal branches, about 40 miles above the town, one of which, called the Tansaw,]

[falls into the e. part of the bay; the other empties itself close by the town, where it has a bar of seven feet; but there is a branch a little to the e. of this, called Spanish river, where there is a channel of nine or ten feet, when the water is high; but this joins Mobile river about two leagues above the town. Two or three leagues above the Tapsaw branch, the Alabama river falls into Mobile river, after running from the n. e. a course of about 130 miles; that is, from Alabama fort, situated at the confluence of the Coosa and Talipoosee, both very considerable rivers; on which and their branches are the chief settlements of the Upper Creek Indians. The French fort at Alabama was evacuated 1763, and has not since been garrisoned. Above the confluence of Alabama and Mobile, the latter is called the Tombigbee river, from the fort of Tombigbee, situated on the w. side of it, about 96 leagues above the town of Mobile. The source of this river is reckoned to be about 40 leagues higher up, in the country of the Chickasaws. The fort of Tombigbee was taken possession of by the English, but abandoned again in 1767, by order of the commandant of Pensacola. The river is navigable for sloops and schooners about 35 leagues above the town of Mobile: the banks, where low, are partly overflowed in the rainy seasons, which adds greatly to the soil, and adapts it particularly to the cultivation of rice : the sides of the river are covered in many places with large canes, so thick that they are almost impenetrable; there is also plenty of remarkable large red and white cedar, cypress, elm, ash, hickory, and various kinds of oak. Several people have settled on this river, who find the soil to answer beyond expectation. The lands near the mouth of the Mobile river are generally low: as you proceed upwards the land grows higher, and may with propriety be divided into three stages: First, low rice lands, on or near the banks of the river, of a most excellent quality; secondly, what are called by the people of the country, second low lands, or level flat cane lands, about four or five feet higher than the low rice lands; and, thirdly, the high upland or open country. The first, or low lands, extend about an half or three quarters of a mile from the river, and may almost every where be easily drained and turned into most excellent rice fields, and are capable of being laid under water at almost all seasons of the year: they are a deep black mud or slime, which have in 'succession of time been accumulated or formed by the overflowing of the river. The second low grounds being in general formed by a regular rising of about four or five feet higher than the

low lands, appear to have been originally the edge of the river. The second class or kind of land is in general extremely rich, and covered with large timber and thick strong canes, extending in width upon an average three quarters of a mile, and in general a perfect level. It is excellent for all kinds of grain, and well calculated for the culture of indigo, hemp, flax, or tobacco. At the extremity of these second grounds, you come to what is called the high or uplands, which is covered with pine, oak, and hickory, and other kinds of large timber. The soil is of a good quality, but much inferior to the second or low land. It answers well for raising Indian corn, potatoes, and every thing else that delights in a dry soil. Further out, in the country again, on the w. side of this river, you come to a pine barren, with extensive reed swamps and natural meadows or savannas, which afford excellent ranges for innumerable herds of cattle. On the e. of the river Mobile, towards the river Alabama, is one entire extended rich cane country, not inferior, perhaps, to any in America. Whenever portages are made between the Mobile and Tennessee river, or their branches, which are probably but a few miles apart, the Mobile will be the first river for commerce, the Mississippi excepted, in this part of the world, as it affords the shortest and most direct communication to the sea. Hutchins.

In addition to, and in confirmation of, the above account of Captain Hutchins, several other gentlemen of intelligence who have been in this country, say that the Tombigbee is navigable for sea vessels 60 miles into the state of Georgia; others, that it is navigable in boats of 20 tons up to the junction of Ten and Twenty Mile creek. The Alabama and Coosa are navigable for boats of 40 tons, as high as the big shoals of Coosa river. The principal rivers which meander through this tract of country, are Seprey's and Cane Brake rivers, both which fall into the Tombigbee, and are navigable for boats as high as the 33d deg. of latitude; and the Cawhawbon river, which falls into Alabama river below the junction of Coosa and Oakfuskee, are boatable as far n. as the rivers last mentioned. The soil on the e. side of Tombigbee is of a reddish cast, producing naturally oak, hickory, and abundance of very high grass. The country appears well calculated for the culture of wheat, corn, rye, oats, and barley. The bottoms or intervales on the rivers are not subject to inundations, and are exceedingly rich. The country is well watered with good wholesome water. Further n. the country becomes uneven and somewhat hilly, that part particularly which divides the waters of Tombigbee from Tennessee river; but as you descend to a lower]

"The ridge which divides the Tombigbee and Alabama rivers is stony, and the soil inferior to that on the rivers; of this description also is the country lying between the Cawhawbon and Alabama rivers; but the bottom lands on the watercourses are exceedingly rich. The country is pleasant and healthy, being generally overgrown with high grass, well calculated for farming, particularly for raising cattle. There are many extensive and rich bottoms of cane land on the Alabama. The river which falls into the Tombigbee next above Seprey's river, has much rich land on its banks, and is boatable some distance in small boats, and spreads into many branches, through a plea. sant, healthy, and well-watered country." Coxe's MS. Letter. As you advance e. of the Alabama, in the territory we are describing, you come first to the Escambia river, and then to the Chatta Hatcha or Pea river, which Captain Hutchins thus describes: "The river Escambia is the most considerable that falls into the bay of Pensacola. (See ESCAMBIA River.) The Chatta Hatcha or Pea river, which also heads in the Georgia Western Territory, empties from the n. e. into Rose bay, which is 30 miles long and from four to six broad. The bar at the entrance into the bay has only seven or eight feet water at deepest; but after crossing the bar, has 16 or 17 feet. The mouths of the river (for almost all the s. rivers have several mouths) are so shoal, that only a small boat or canoe can pass them." Mr. Hutchins ascended this river about 75 miles, and found that its banks very much resembled those of Escambia. Further e. are the Appalachicola, Flint, and Alabaha rivers, which are described under their respective heads.

The n. parts of this territory are watered by the great bend of the Tennessee, and its tributary streams. This noble river bends s. as far as lat. 34° 15', according to Captain Hutchins' map, and divides, into nearly equal parts, the purchase of the Tennessee company. North of the Tennessee, in this purchase, there is not an Indian inhabitant. From the s. the Tennessee, in its course through Georgia, receives, besides smaller streams, the Hiwassee, Chiccamauga, and Occochappo or Bear Creek, which are described under their respective heads. Travellers speak of the lands on the bend of the Tennessee in terms of the highest commendation.

Of the territory described above, the state of Georgia, by act of their legislature, passed Janu

ary 7, 1795, sold about 22,000,000 of acres to four different companies, whose names, and the limits of their respective purchases, as defined by the act, follow:

1. "All that tract or parcel of land, including islands, beginning on Mobile bay, where the lat. 31°n. of the equator intersects the same, running thence up the said bay to the mouth of the lake Tensaw; thence up the said lake Tensaw to the Alabama river, including Curreys and all other islands therein; thence up the said river Alabama to the junction of the Coosa and Oakfuskee rivers ; thence up the Coosa river, above the Big shoals, to where it intersects the lat. of 34° n. of the equator; thence a due w. course to the Mississippi river; thence down the middle of the said river to the latitude of 32° 40'; thence a due e. course to the Dan or Tombigbee river; thence down the middle of the said river to its junction with the Alabama river; thence down the middle of the said river to Mobile bay; thence down the said Mobile bay to the place of beginning, shall be sold unto James Gunn, Matthew M'Allister, and George Walker, and their associates, called the Georgia Company."

2. All that tract of country, including islands, within the following boundaries, viz. beginning on the river Mississippi, at 31° 18' n. lat.; thence a due e. course to the middle of Dan or Tombigbee river; thence up the middle of the said river to n. lat. 32° 40′; thence a due w. course along the Georgia Company line to the river Mississippi; thence down the middle of the same to the place of beginning, shall be sold to Nicholas Long, Thomas Glasscock, Ambrose Gordon, and Tho mas Cummings, and their associates, called the Georgia Mississippi Company."

3. All that tract of country, including islands, within the following boundaries, viz. beginning at the Mississippi river, where the n. boundary line of the state strikes the same; thence along the said n. boundary line, due e. to the Tennessee river; thence along the said Tennessee river to the mouth of Bear creek; thence up Bear creek to where the parallel of latitude 25 British statute miles s. of the n. boundary line of the state intersects the same; thence along the last-mentioned parallel of latitude, across Tombigbee or Twenty Mile creck, due w. to the Mississippi river; thence up the middle of the said river to the beginning, shall be sold to John B. Scott, John C. Nightingale, and Wade Hampton, called the Upper Mississippi Company."

4. All that tract of land, including islands, within the following boundaries, viz. beginning at the mouth of Bear creek, on the s. side of Ten-]