412 



GEORGIA. 



kees, and the honour of the United States. The fol- 

 lowing notice of them is extracted from Mr Sher- 

 wood's Gazetteer of Georgia, published in 1827. 

 " Within the last twenty years, the Cherokees have 

 rapidly advanced towards civilization. They now 

 live in comfortable houses, chiefly in villages, and 

 cultivate large farms. They raise large herds of cat- 

 tle, which they sell for beef to the inhabitants of 

 neighbouring states. Many mechanical arts have 

 been introduced among them. They have carpenters 

 and blacksmiths, and many of the women spin and 

 weave, and make butter and cheese. The popula- 

 tion, instead of decreasing, as in the case generally 

 with tribes surrounded by the whites, increases very 

 rapidly. There are now 13,563 natives in the na- 

 tion ; 147 white men and 73 white women have inter- 

 married with them. They own 1277 slaves. Total, 

 15,060 souls. Increase in the last six years, 3563. 

 Their government is republican, and power is vested 

 in a committee and council, answering to our senate 

 and house of representatives. The members are 

 elected once in two years. Newtown is the seat of 

 government. Their judges act with authority, and 

 prevent entirely the use of ardent spirits during the 

 sessions of their courts. The mission at Spring 

 Place was established in 1801. Since that time, 

 nearly a dozen have been brought into operation in 

 various parts of the nation. The number of chil- 

 dren in the several missionary schools is nearly 500, 

 all learning the English language." The cultivation 

 of silk, which, in all probability, will become a 

 valuable branch of industry in the United States, has 

 been successfully attempted in Georgia. A gentle- 

 man in Augusta is said to have obtained silk of excel- 

 lent quality. It must be remembered that the wild 

 mulberry grows in abundance in the vicinity of Au- 

 gusta.* 



GEORGIA, GULF OF ; a large gulf of the North 

 Pacific ocean, between the continent of North America 

 and Quadra and Vancouver's island ; about 120 miles 

 in length from north to south ; the breadth varies 

 greatly in its different parts, from six miles to twenty. 

 It contains several clusters of islands, and branches 

 ofl' into a great number of canals. It communicates 

 with the ocean, on the north, by Queen Charlotte's 

 sound, and on the south by the strait of Juan de 

 Fuca. 



GEORGIA (in Persian, Gurgistan; in Russian, 

 Grusia, Grusinia; by the natives called Iberia); a 

 country in Asia, which is bounded by Circassia, 

 Daghestan, Shirvan, Armenia, and the Black sea, 

 and is divided by mountains into Western and Eastern 

 Georgia. Russian Georgia, or the province of Tef- 

 lis, contains 17,638 square miles, with 390,000 in- 

 habitants. Turkish Georgia, or Cartuel (Zemo 

 Kartli), belongs to the pachalic of Tchaldir and con- 



The Knoxville Register contains some interesting items 

 of information in relation to the gold regions of Georgia, 

 gathered by persons who reside in that country. In Ha- 

 bersham county, on the south aide of the Blue Ridge, it 

 states that many hands are employed digging for gold, and 

 large amounts are procured. At the Yaboola mines, on the 

 north side of the Blue Ridge, which is in the Cherokee na- 

 tion, about 4000 hands are supposed to be employed, whose 

 daily proceeds are estimated at 2,100. The Coker Creek 

 mines have more recently been discovered. Here the par- 

 ticles of gold are very small, and from the defective ma- 

 chinery, which, as yet, has been employed, they have not 

 been found very profitable, though the mines are believed 

 to be quite rich. At a few of these, where good machines 

 for washing, &c., have been procured, and where the la- 

 bourers are diligent, they average one dollar a-day. At 

 these mines, also, a large number of hands \a employed, 

 and the number is rapidly increasing. These are in the 

 Cherokee nation, within the limits of Tennessee, and are 

 about 70 miles from Knoxville. They are on the north side 

 of the Unicoy mountains. From the mfnes on the Blue 

 Ridge, to those on the Unicoy mountains, the whole coun- 

 try abounds with the strongest indications of geld. 



tains 5045 square miles, with 200,000 inhabitants : 

 its capital is Akalzike. Separated from Russian 

 Georgia is the Russian province Imirete or Imiretta, 

 containing 13,370 square miles, with 270,000 inhabi- 

 tants. This province comprises the following divi- 

 sions : Imiretta, the native country of the pheasant, 

 with the capital Kotalis (Cotais), Mingrelia, Guriel, 

 with Poti at the mouth of the river Fash (P/iasis), ;md 

 Awchasa on the south-western declivity of the Cau- 

 casus. Mingrelia and Guriel continue to be governed 

 by Greek hereditary czars, tributary to Russia. The 

 former czar of Georgia (Cachetia and Cartalinia), 

 Heraclius Timourasovitsch, acknowledged, in 1783, 

 the sovereignty of Russia, for himself and his de- 

 scendants. In 1784, the czar of Imiretta followed his 

 example. In 1801, the emperor Paul declared him- 

 self, at the request of the czar, G eorgius Iraklivitsch, 

 sovereign of Georgia, and the emperor Alexander 

 formally united Georgia with the empire by a pro- 

 clamation of September 12 (24), 1801. The princes 

 still living received a pension, and Teflis was made 

 the seat of government. In the Awchasa, the 

 Russians occupy several fortresses on the shore of 

 the Black sea ; for instance, Anapa. The inhabi- 

 tants of Awchasa are Mohammedans, and inde- 

 pendent: they pay no tribute. Christianity was 

 introduced, in 370, from Armenia into Georgia, the 

 only Caucasian country in which it has entirely main- 

 tained itself. The Georgian czarina, Tamar, 

 endeavoured, in the second half of the twelfth century, 

 to propagate Christianity among the mountaineers. 

 The Greek religion, the predominating faith, is 

 rigidly observed, with a number of ancient national 

 superstitious customs. The Georgians are very tole- 

 rant towards other religions. Under the eparch of 

 Georgia are twelve archbishops and bishops, and 

 thirteen archimandrites. The country was, for cen- 

 turies, the object of contest between Turkey and 

 Persia, was plundered by both, and its inhabitants 

 carried away as slaves. The Georgians are con- 

 sidered the finest race of men, after the Circassians, 

 and Georgian women are the chief ornament ot 

 Turkish and Persian harems. The following repre- 

 sents the costume of Georgian merchants : 



Though the disposition of the people has suffered 

 by heavy and continued oppression, valour and gene- 

 rosity are still traits of their character. The country 

 is mountainous, being bounded on the north by the 

 Caucasus, but is rich in wood, grain, cattle, silk, 

 fruits, &c. (See Guldenstadt's Journey to Georgia 

 and Imiretta, with Notes, by Klaproth, Berlin, 1815). 

 Major-general Chatow has published a new general 

 map of Georgia and the adjacent parts of Persia, in 

 ten folio sheets, in the topographic bureau of the 

 imperial general staff at Petersburg. The Travels 



