224 PINE-BARRENS OF CAROLINA AND GEORGIA. 



the pine-barrens of the Southern States have become 

 mines of lumber, which the northern men cut down during 

 their own winter, and carry to build ships with in their 

 own ports during their own summer, or transport to 

 Cuba and the West Indies in their own ships. One 

 of my fellow-travellers, himself a large speculator in 

 southern timber, informed me that there were at that 

 time about three thousand Maine men in Georgia 

 employed at this work. 



The pine-barrens of North Carolina bear the pitch- 

 pine, (Pinus rigida,} and yield large supplies of turpentine 

 and lumber, which are shipped from the port of Wilming 

 ton in that state. On those of Georgia, the yellow pine 

 (Pinus mitis) chiefly grows a hard pine, of which the 

 wood is superior to that of the pitch-pine. The sap- 

 wood in the yellow is thin, while that of the pitch-pine is 

 thick, so that the proportion of hard resinous wood in 

 the latter is not so great. 



The recent history of the pine-region of Georgia 

 presents, to a native of Great Britain, a striking illustra 

 tion of the peculiar state of things in these new countries. 

 After the settlement of the boundary-line between 

 Georgia and Florida, the former State divided by lot the 

 whole of the unsold lands, previously surveyed, among the 

 resident population. The cost of surveying, and other 

 expenses, made a charge of two cents an acre on these 

 lands. But a great many of those who drew the pine- 

 barren lots, refused to take out their grants, arid pay the 

 two cents an acre. The State Legislature, therefore, 

 ordered that all land of this kind, which should be 

 unclaimed after a certain period, should be sold at four 

 cents an acre to whoever would buy it. In consequence, 

 individual speculators and companies bought largely at 

 these sales. My travelling companion was one of a small 

 party who bought 190,000 acres in one locality, in the 

 hope of making large profits out of the lumber. Hence 



