SOLON ROBINSON, 1851 459 



at Macon is 340 feet above the level of that at Savannah. 

 The elevation of land above tide water determines the 

 character of climate as much as latitude. The first hills 

 on the route up, are seen near Macon, which is surrounded 

 with those of moderate elevation, dotted with beautiful 

 residences, surrounded by lovely gardens and other evi- 

 dences of luxury and comfort. 



Macon is a great cotton depot. Like nearly all Georgia 

 towns, it is built upon very broad streets, which being 

 sandy, are not muddy though unpaved. Much of the soil 

 of the surrounding country has been wickedly destroyed 

 by a system of cultivation prevalent all over the south, of 

 plowing very shallow, up and down hill, which has had 

 the effect to send the surface all down to the rivers to 

 extend our territory a little further into the Atlantic 

 Ocean. The waters of all the rivers of Georgia, once so 

 pure and limpid, have never run clear since the country 

 has been inhabited by the whites. Probably no soil in the 

 world has ever produced more wealth in so short a time, 

 nor been more rapidly wasted of its native fertility, than 

 the central portion of this state. The cheapness of land 

 and its great fertility has been its ruin. 



On the night of January 7th, I left Macon in the mail 

 stage, for Tallahassee, 220 miles; fare $22; time, 60 

 hours; roads to be imagined; taverns unimaginable; 

 coaches, horses, and drivers to match; and taken alto- 

 gether, not to be matched anywhere else upon this earth ! 

 yet, this road passes through some of the richest counties 

 of land in the state. Many of the planters of Houston 

 and Baker, make 1,000 to 1,200 pounds of seed cotton to 

 the acre, or five to eight barrels of corn ; cultivating about 

 20 acres to the hand, 15 in cotton, and five in corn, be- 

 sides potatoes and oats, both ^f which grow remarkably 

 well. Much of the land is a rich loam containing abun- 

 dance of lime, and generally level. 



It was my intention to stop at Albany a few days, and 

 if any of my friends in that county regret that I did not, 

 they may be assured it was not from any want of dis- 



