EO R G ETO W N G EORG I A . 



411 



that place. Georgetown college is a Catholic institu- 

 tion, under the direction of the incorporated Catholic 

 clergy of Maryland. It was first incorporated in 1799. 

 and was authorized to confer degrees by act of con- 

 gress in 1815. The number of students is about 150. 



GEORGETOWN ; a post-town, port of entry, and 

 capital of Georgetown district, Soutli Carolina, on 

 the west side of V-'inyaw bay, at the entrance of 

 Sampit river, twelve miles from the sea, sixty north 

 north-enst Charleston, 134 south Fayetteville ; Ion. 

 79 29' W. lat. 32 22' N. ; population, about 

 2000. It contains a court-house, a jail, a bank, an 

 academy, and several houses of public worship. 

 The Pedee, Waccamaw, and Black rivers flow into 

 Winyaw bay, and connect Georgetown with the 

 back country. At the mouth of the bay there is a 

 bar, which prevents the entrance of vessels drawing 

 more than eleven feet of water. 



GEORGIA; one of the United States, bounded 

 north by Tennessee and North Carolina ; north-east 

 by South Carolina, from which it is separated by 

 Savannah river ; south-east by the Atlantic ocean ; 

 south by Florida territory, and west by Alabama. 

 The Chatahoochee river forms the western boundary, 

 157 miles, to Miller's Bend. The remainder of the 

 line runs north ten degrees west. Georgia extends 

 from lat. 30 19' ^8" to 35 N., and from lon.81 to 

 86 17' W. It is 300 miles long from north to south, 

 and 240 from east to west, and contains upwards of 

 58,000 square miles. Population in 1790, 82,000 ; 

 in 1800, 162,000 ; in 1810, 252,432 ; in 1820, 340,989; 

 in 1824, 225,048 whites, and 175,882 blacks ; total 

 400,930. The number of counties, in 1827, was sev- 

 enty. Milledgeville, on the Oconee river, is the seat of 

 government. Savannah and Augusta are the largest 

 towns. The principal rivers are the Savannah, 

 Ogeechee, Alatamaha, Satilla, Oakmulgee, Oconee, 

 St Mary's, Flint, Chatahoochee, Tallapoosa and 

 Coosa. The coast of Georgia, for four or five miles 

 inland, is a salt-marsh, mostly uninhabited. In front 

 of this, towards the sea, there is a chain of islands of 

 gray, rich soil, covered, in their natural state with 

 pine, hickory, and live oak, and yielding, when 

 cultivated, sea-island cotton. The principal of these 

 islands are Tybee, Warsaw, Ossabaw, St Catharine's, 

 Sapello, St Simon's, Jekyl, and Cumberland. The 

 land bordering on the salt marsh is of nearly the 

 same quality as tiiat of the islands. In the rear of 

 this margin, commence the pine barrens. The rivers 

 and creeks are bordered with swamps or marsh, 

 which, at every tide, for fifteen or twenty miles from 

 the coast, are either wholly or partially overflowed. 

 These constitute the rice plantations. The pine 

 barrens extend from sixty to ninety miles from the 

 sea, beyond which the country becomes uneven, 

 diversified with hills and mountains, and possesses a 

 strong, rich soil. This section produces cotton, 

 tobacco, Indian corn, wheat, and other kinds of grain. 

 The north-western part of the state is mountainous, 

 and abounds in sublime and picturesque scenery. 

 The staple production is cotton. The sea-island cotton 

 is of the very best quality, and is commonly worth 

 about twice as much as that which grows in the 

 interior of the country. Riee is produced in large 

 quantities, and of good quality. Some tobacco is 

 also raised for exportation. The quantity of cotton 

 ex ported from Savannah in the year ending Septem- 

 Iier30, 1830, was 247,662 bags, and from Darien 

 3,056 bags. The exports of rice from Savannah for 

 the year ending September 30, 1826, were 11,455 

 tierces ; and or tobacco, 170 hogsheads. Consider- 

 able quantities of the same articles were also exported 

 from Darien, Brunswick, and St Mary's. The forests 

 afford an abundant supply of fine timber, consisting 

 chiefly of oak, pine, hickory, mulberry and cedar. 



Melons grow here in great perfection, and figs are 

 common. Oranges, limes, citrons, pears, peaches, 

 and a few other fruits of mild climates, are also 

 cultivated. A part of the soil is well suited to the 

 grape vine. The climate is more mild than in the 

 same latitude on the Mississippi river. The mer- 

 cury in summer, rises to ninety degrees, and some- 

 times as high as ninety-six, or even a hundred. This 

 is true of nearly every part of the United States. But 

 the winters in Mississippi and Louisiana often present 

 a few days of snow and cold, which are never 

 equalled, in the same latitude, on the Atlantic coast. 

 In the low country of Georgia, near the swamps, 

 bilious complaints and fevers are very common dur- 

 ing the months of July, August, and September. At 

 the approach of this season, the rich planters, with 

 their families, remove either to the sea-islands, or to 

 more elevated situations. The legislature of Georgia, 

 called the general assembly, consists of a senate and a 

 house of representatives. It meets on the first Monday 

 of November. Its members are chosen by counties, 

 each county sending one senator, and from one to 

 four representatives, according to its population. A 

 number of negroes, in various parts of the state, are 

 employed, under overseers, in working on roads and 

 rivers. According to the report of the committee of 

 internal improvement, the canal from the Savannah to 

 the Ogeechee was expected to be completed in March, 

 1 830, at the expense of about 165,000 dollars. The de- 

 sign is to extend the canal to the Alatamaha, making 

 its length seventy-two miles. The principal literary 

 seminary in this state is Franklin college, or the uni- 

 versity of Georgia, at Athens, which has funds to the 

 amount of 136,000 dollars, of which 100,000 dollars 

 are invested in the bank of the state of Georgia. 

 which stock the state guarantees to yield eight 

 percent, per annum. According to Sherwood's Gazet- 

 teer of Georgia, "there are about eighty incorporated 

 academies in this state, 64 of wnich have been 

 brought into operation. The average number of 

 pupils in each is 47 = 3008. In the northern and 

 southern sections of the state, there are probably 

 five common schools in each county ; forty counties, 

 thirty pupils each, = 6000; in the middle section, 

 say seven common schools in each county, twenty- 

 five counties, = 5250 ; total number of pupils in the 

 academies and common schools, 14,258." The state 

 possesses academy and poor school funds to a con- 

 siderable amount. By an act of the legislature of 

 1792, each county academy was allowed to purchase 

 the value of .1000 of confiscated property; 1000 

 acres of land in each county were granted for the 

 support of schools,and also a fund of 250,000 dollars 

 to be vested in stocks for the same purpose. The 

 most numerous denomination of Christians in Geor- 

 gia are the Baptists. Next to these are the Metho- 

 dists. The first settlement in G eorgia was made at 

 Savannah, in 1733, by general Oglethorpe, who was 

 alo its first governor. The white inhabitants have 

 very slowly acquired a title to the lands, because the 

 Indians in this state have been more disposed than 

 in others to adopt the arts of civilized lite. For the 

 same reason, the population is still small, consider- 

 ing the great extent of its territory. Two consider- 

 able tribes of Indians reside partly within the char- 

 tered limits of this state the Cherokees in the 

 north-western part, and the Creeks in the western. 

 The Cherokees have made greater advances in the arts 

 of civilized life than any other tribe of North Ameri- 

 can Indians. A proposition to remove them to the 

 west of the Mississippi, whicli has been recently 

 made, has excited a deep interest throughout the 

 country ; and it is to be hoped that such a course 

 will be pursued as shall be consistent at once with 

 justice and humanity, with the welfare of the Chero- 



