CAKOLINA, SOUTH. 



CAROLINA, SOUTH. 



350 



and steam-boats, but its mouth is shallow. Its course considerably 

 exceeds 250 miles. All these rivers have numerous affluents. The | 

 Savannah, the noblest of the rivers, belongs equally to this state and | 

 Georgia. It has its farthest bra -ches in the north western district of 

 South Carolina and the north-eastern parts of Georgia, and forms, 

 during all its course, a distance of 250 miles south-south-east, the 

 boundary between both states. It has 17 feet of water on its bar, and 

 is navigable for large vessels to the town of Savannah, 17 miles above 

 its mouth, and for river-vessels and steam-boats to Augusta, above 

 which town some rapids occur. The tide ascends about 45 miles : the 

 average fall from Augusta to its mouth, a distance, including the 

 windings, of about 250 miles, is about one foot a mile. The Editto is 

 formed by two confluent streams, the South and the North Edisto, 

 which rise in the western part of the state, and after being swelled by 

 numerous small affluents unite near Branchville ; the Edisto then 

 flows east-south-east to its junction with the stream which flows 

 through Four Holes Swamp, when it turns to the south, in which 

 direction it continues during the remainder of its course. Some 

 distance above its outfall a branch divides from the main stream and 

 forms Edisto Island, which is 12 miles long. an<l from one to five 

 miles wide. The Edisto is navigable by large boats for 100 miles. 

 There are several smaller rivers in the southern part of the state 

 which, though their mouths are obstructed by bars, are navigable by 

 river-boats for a few miles. Among them are the Ahley, which issues 

 from Cypress Swamp and is navigable by schooners for 20 miles above 

 Charleston ; near which city it joins Coopir't River, which is navigable 

 for 30 miles, and is connected with the Santee by a canal : the 

 CootawaMiie and the Cambahee are also navigable for a short distance. 

 Besides these rivers there are several short canals, such as the Sautee 

 Canal, extending from Charleston Harbour to the Sautee River ; the 



w Canal (7 miles), which connects Wiuyaw Bay and Kinlock 

 Creek; the Saltida Canal, from Saluda Shoals to Granby Ferry (64 

 miles) ; five canals cut for the improvement of the navigation of the 

 Catawba Hiver ; and a few more of a similar kind. According to a 

 statement of Governor Seabrook, South Carolina has now, apart from 

 the creeks nnd imVU of the sea, an inland navigation of 2400 tuiles. 



South Carolina was the first of the southern states to adopt the 

 railway system. The lines of railways completed in this state in 1863 

 'amounted to 649 miles. The South Carolina line commences at 

 Charleston and terminates at Hamburg (137 miles), where it unites 

 with the Georgia railway. It is connected with the railways of North 

 Carolina by the South Carolina and Charlotte railway, 109 miles long. 

 The Greenville and Columbia line, which connects the towns of those 

 names, is 114 miles long. The Wilmington and Manchester line 

 connecting Manchester in South Carolina with Wilmington in North 

 Carolina is 115 miles long. Besides these there are the Columbia and 

 Branchville, 67 miles ; the Camden Branch, 37 miles ; King's Mountain, 

 32 miles; Laurens, 15 mil.s; Anderson Branch, 13 miles; and Abbe- 

 ville Branch, 12 miles. Several extensions of these lines, as well as 

 entirely new lines, are in progress or projected. 



;yy, Mineralrjyy, <L-c. In its general geological character this 

 Btate resembles NORTH CAROLINA. There are first the low alluvial 

 tertiary plains bordering the Atlantic, which rise into the cretaceous 

 rocks of the middle country ; and then west of these the belt of slate 

 rocks running still farther west into the primary formations of the 

 mountain district. The low country is wholly tertiary, consisting 

 mainly of sands and marly clays, with veins of burr-stone and white 

 limestone. The burr-stone and limestone are stated by Lyeil to belong 

 to the Eocene period. In the alluvial strata have been found nume- 

 rous remains of mastodons and other extinct gigantic quadrupeds, and 

 vast numbers of shells occur in the Eocene strata. The clays afford 

 good fire-clay and excellent materials for the manufacture of pottery 

 and bricks. The rocks between the clay-slate aud new red-sandstoue, 

 among which are the valuable carboniferous strata of North Carolina, 

 are entirely wanting in this state. The gneiss rocks afford excellent 

 building "tones, but the slates do not generally split well. Several 

 quarries of promising mica slate have however been opened. Beds of 

 fine soapstone, whetstone, &c., occur. Within the series of metamor- 

 phic rocks occur* the continuation of the auriferous veins of North 

 Carolina. The granitic rocks afford excellent building materials: 

 among the finer sort* may be mentioned the red granite of the neigh- 

 bourhood of ColumbiiCand the porphyritic granites of Camden and 

 Buffalo Creek. The eienites of Abbeville, Fail-field, and Lexington 

 are i-aid by Professor Tuomey to be very beautiful. According to the 

 same authority, the white and variegated marbles of Spartansburg and 

 Laurens form excellent materials for building and ornamental pur- 

 poses ; and porcelain-earth abounds throughout the primary region 

 wherever the felcUpathic granite is found in a state of disintegration. 

 The undecomposcd feldspar of the granites also affords a good glaze 

 for pottery. 



Among the minerals of South Carolina gold occupies a prominent 

 place. The veins have .been for some time worked to advantage, 

 though the yield in considerably less than in North Carolina. The 

 largest quantities have been obtained by washing the river deposits, 

 but lumps or nugget* of a good size have been obtained by digging. 

 Iron-ore of very fine quality is said to abound. Copper and lead have 

 been met with in small quantities. Coal is not found in the state. 

 Red and yellow ochree of superior quality abound in Chesterfield dis- 



trict. Many of the precious stones are found in various parts of the 

 state. 



Climate, Soil, Agriculture. The climate of the low plain is very 

 hot in summer, but comparatively mild in winter. Snow seldom falls 

 near the sea, and is soon dissolved. The thermometer ranges between 

 17 and 93. In the months of July and August the country is deluged 

 with torrents of rain accompanied by hurricanes, thuuder, and light- 

 ning, and the air is loaded with noxious vapours which generate bilious 

 fevers and other diseases. The driest mouths are April and May, 

 which are also the healthiest, but November is considered the most 

 agreeable. The cold weather seldom begins before December, and 

 terminates in March. The temperature is liable to sudden and great 

 changes. " It is not unworthy of especial remark," observes Governor 

 Seabrook, " that the atmosphere of the swamps and marshes, so 

 poisonous to the white man, are at all times innocuous to his slave. 

 If it were not for this merciful provision of an All-Wise Being, the 

 alluvial region of South Carolina in the immediate vicinity of its 

 water-courses would soon become a dreary waste, and tenanted only 

 by the beasts of the forest," In the upper country snow aud frost 

 occur annually, and the snow is sometimes from 12 to 18 inches deep, 

 aud remains on the ground for weeks and even months. The ther- 

 mometer ranges in summer between 65 and 85, and sometimes rises 

 to 94 and 95. In winter it ranges between 20 and 5, and falls to 

 10 or 11 during the greatest cold, which lasts but a few days. But 

 this country is healthy at all seasons. Hurricanes sometimes cause 

 great damage in the lower country, and earthquakes are felt from time 

 to time, though not frequently. 



Respecting the soil, &c., of this state, we cannot perhaps do better 

 than quote the official statement of Governor Seabrook : " The soils 

 though of every kind may be said to comprehend six varieties, each 

 the best suited to a certain crop, yet all of them capable of advantage- 

 ously producing three-fourths of the vegetable products grown in its 

 limits. While local differences are everywhere observable, the sur- 

 face and soil of the upper districts present a great similarity ; and this 

 is equally true of the lower districts. In thu former the lauds are 

 broken and hil y, in the latter level ; oak is the natural growth of the 

 one, pine of the other. Clay is the soil of much the largest portion 

 of the state, and, except in the immediate vicinity of the ocean, is 

 almost the universal substratum. A close stiff land predominates 

 generally in the parishes south-east, and an open sand on the sea- 

 ilands. The highlands of the country above the falls of the rivers 

 are naturally much superior to those of the pine-covered region, but 

 the alluvial bottoms of the formr are greatly surpassed in richness 

 by the river swamps of the latter. In its capacity for permanent 

 iniprovemeut, the granite half of the state has been more highly 

 favoured by nature than the alluvial. This is mainly ascribable to 

 the open texture permeable to water of its clayey subsoil, and the 

 potash in the soil and subsoil, formed by the decomposition of the 

 feldspar and mica of the granite. In a few localities however the 

 depth of the substratum and its proximity to the sui-lace offer serioun 

 obstacles to its higher productions. These among other causes seem 

 yet to be operating against the cultivation of perhaps the greater part 

 of those peculiar soils known as the 'Flat Woods' of Abbeville; 

 those in the neighbourhood of Dutchman's and Wateree creeks, in 

 Fail-field, and the Black-Jack lands of Chester. Deriving their fertility 

 from the hornblend disintegrated rocks, which lie below the close clay 

 subsoil, it would appear that steady industry, incited and directed 

 by ordinary skill, was alone wanting to preserve and perpetuate the 

 uncommon productiveness which, in spite of long-continued and 

 improvident tillage, still distinguishes these remarkable tracts of land. 

 . . . The swamps, covering 2000 square miles of land of inexhaustible 

 fertility, are capable of thorough and economical drainage and con- 

 version into active and available capital. The pine-lands, embracing 

 6,000,000 of seres, constitute the most neglected portion of the state ; 

 . . . yet this is in all its relations a district of country of immea- 

 surable value. 



" The natural means of resuscitating the soil are abundant and 

 widely diffused. A large portion of the lower country shows exhaust- 

 less beds of the richest marl. Limestone, though obtainable only in 

 York, Spartansburg, Laurens, and Pickens, exists in such quantities 

 in the fiist two districts, that by railroad communication the entire 

 primitive region will at no distant day be furnished with this earth, 

 so essential to the nutrition and development of plants. While the 

 sea-shore parishes possess unfailing supplies of salt mud, salt grass, 

 and shell marl, two-thirds of the state are most amply furnished with 

 swamp, mud, and peat. 



" The botany of the state cousista of about 3000 species of plants ; 

 of these 2000 are flowering, and 1060 unproviiled with flowers, aa 

 parts of their organs of fructification. In relation to the former, 

 about 65 are naturalised that is, foreign plants introduced and now 

 growing wild. There are about 150 grasses, of which 15 are native; 

 30 species of esculents (for man), of which three or four are naturalised, 

 and about 70 more used in medicine, agriculture, and the arts, of 

 which five or six are naturalised." 



The principal objects of agriculture in the low plains are rice and 

 cotton, the latter being also cultivated in some districts farther 

 inland. The finest cotton known to commerce is that grown on the 

 sea-inlands. About three-fourths of the rice raised in the United 



