CAROLINA. 



south face to the bottom, was 6,1 inches. The other parts 

 Carolina. o f the skeleton Were in a relative proportion, f 

 s< 'V ' The coast of Carolina is intersected by inlets, 

 cracks, and marshes, from the meanderings and junc- 

 tions of which many islands are formed. Of those 

 islands some are increased on their western extremi- 

 ties by accretions, and diminished on their eastern 

 border by the dashing of the ocean. On those which 

 are contiguous to the main, monuments of Indian an- 

 tiquity are occasionally discovered. There are other 

 islands entirely of marine origin, which appear to be 

 accumulations of recrements thrown up by the ac- 

 tion of the Atlantic waters. The mainland, conti- 

 guous to these islands, has a surface of light black 

 earth upon a stratum of sand. For 80 or 100 miles 

 it is quite free of stones ; and has a gradual ascent, 

 which, at least for a considerable distance from 

 Charlestown, has been ascertained, with mathematical 

 precision, to be three feet in a mile. 



o - } l t The soil of South Carolina is naturally, as well as 



politically, divided into six classes : 1. Tide swamp. 

 2. Inland swamp. 3. High river swamp, or low 

 grounds, distinguished by the name of second low 

 grounds. 4. Salt marsh. 5. Oak and hickory high 

 land. 6. Pine barren. The two first classes are pe- 

 culiarly adapted to the culture of rice and hemp ; 

 the third is most favourable to the growth of hemp, 

 corn, and indigo. The salt marsh has hitherto been 

 much neglected, though there is every reason to be- 

 lieve that it would amply repay the trouble of culti- 

 vation. The oak and hickory land is remarkably 

 fertile, and is well adapted to the culture of corn, as 

 well as of indigo and cotton. The pine barren, 

 though the least productive, is so much more salu- 

 brious than the other soils, that a proportion of pine 

 barren is an appendage indispensably necessary to 

 every swamp plantation. It is remarkable, that this 

 species of soil, though comparatively barren, bears 

 pine trees of the largest growth, which maintain their 

 verdure through winter, and, as Dr Ramsay justly 

 observes, administer more to the necessities and com- 

 forts of mankind, than any other species of tree 

 whatever. The cause of this seems to be, that the 

 pine land is only superficially sandy ; for, on digging 

 into it a few feet, the soil is found to change, in ma- 

 ny places at least, from sand to clay. The tide 

 swamps are so level, that a few inches of water can 

 frequently cover them sufficiently for agricultural 

 purposes. In the legal valuation of the land for taxa- 

 tion, these lands hold the first rank. As the swamps 

 above the influence of the tide are subject to river 

 floods, which the Americans call freshets, they are 

 somewhat precarious, but in other respects are of im- 

 mense value. The sand hills in the middle country 

 are so extremely barren, as to produce scarcely a pile 

 of grass. On the low grounds between them, how- 

 ever, a rich mould is frequently deposited ; and the 

 margins of the rivers which flow among them are al- 

 ways abundantly fertile. The hills of Santee, situa- 

 ted likewise in the middle country, are elevated two 

 hundred feet above the adjacent lands. Their soil, 

 which is a mixture of sand, clay, and gravel, is ad- 

 mirably adapted to the culture of highland grain and 

 cotton ; and affords to the inhabitants the pleasures 

 of health, ?nd the various comforts of life in a greater 



combination than is common in the southern states. 

 Agriculture, though the grand business of Caro- 

 lina, is far from having reached the perfection of ^^' 

 which it is susceptible. The art of manuring land tu * c> 

 is little understood, and even less practised. Most of 

 the planters, relytng on the fertility of the soil, of 

 which they have generally extent enough to enable 

 them to change what begins to fail for that which is 

 fresh, seldom give themselves much trouble to 1*<ep 

 their fields in heart. So little was the valiio^f manure 

 understood only twenty years ago. *)*<& it had no fixed 

 price in Charlestown, but ws often given to the first 

 who chose to carry'* oft. To their cattle, hogs, and 

 sheep, they pay little attention. Allowed to roam at 

 large in the woods, where they find abundance of ex- 

 cellent food and shelter, they depend but little 0:3 

 the care of their owners, and can hardly be regarded 

 as domesticated animals. Hence, it often happens, 

 that a planter, who possesses twenty or thirty milch 

 cows, derives less advantage from them, than cotta- 

 gers derive in other countries from two or three, 

 which they tend with proper care. Much valuable 

 high land remains yet unbroken. Extensive marshes, 

 which might easily be converted into productive rice 

 swamps, are left in a state of nature. Indeed, it is 

 only a small proportion of the ground lying on the 

 margins of rivers and of swamps, that has yet bee 

 brought under proper cultivation. Immense forests 

 of pine land, which have hitherto produced little else 

 than lumber, might, with the help of manure, be 

 made to produce abundance of kitchen vegetables, 

 with good crops of corn, potatoes, and turnips; and, 

 instead of remaining unproductive deserts, might be 

 improved to the support of a numerous and healthful 

 peasantry. Rice, which is the most nutritious and Ricev 

 useful aliment made use of by man, is the grand sta- 

 ple in the agriculture of Carolina. It was introdu- 

 ced into that country about the year 1693, by Land- 

 grave Thomas Smith, who, having procured a bag 

 of rice from the cook of a vessel from Madeira, that 

 anchored near Sullivan's island, sowed it in a spot of 

 moist low ground at the bottom of his garden. It 

 grew luxuriantly. The crop was distributed among 

 his planting friends ; and in a few years rice became 

 the chief support of the colony. The variation in 

 the amount of the crops of this valuable aliment forms 

 an important document in the history of South Caro- 

 lina ; for it has been materially affected, not only by 

 the introduction of other staples, but by the politi- 

 cal changes of the country. When it was first intro- 

 duced, the number of negroes in the province was 

 small, the government was unsettled, and the kind 

 of soil and mode of culture most favourable to its 

 growth were unknown. For twenty years after its 

 introduction, its exportation was rendered so hazard- 

 ous by the ravages of pirates on the coast, that it 

 was not cultivated to any great extent. In the year 

 1724", about six years after the suppression of the 

 Buccaneers, 18,000 barrels of rice were exported; 

 and each succeeding year brought an additional quan- 

 tity to market. The quantity exported in 1740 was 

 91,110 barrels ; in 1754 it amounted to 104-,682 bar- 

 rels. Hitherto rice had been the chief article of ex- 

 port from Carolina ; but soon after the middle of the 

 18th century, much of the attention of the planters 



Fd'l 

 Ca rolina. 



f- Similar bones have been found in various partj> of America; as Kentucky, tbe banks of the Ohio and Missoure, and the 

 north-western territory. 



