﻿THE 



ENGLISH CYCLOPJIDIA. 



GEOGRAPHY. 



OEOROIA- 



OEORGU. 



GEORGIA, one of the moet southern of the United States of North 

 America, extends from north to south between 30° 22' and 35° N. Ut., 

 and from east to west between 80* 48' and 85° 40' W. long. Its 

 greatest length is 322 miles, ita greatest breadth 225 miles. It is 

 bounded E. by the Atlantic ; S. by florida for 255 miles, the river 

 St Mary constituting the boundary-line for about 80 miles; W. by 

 Alabama, with a boundary-line of 806 miles ; N. by Tennessee sod 

 ^orth Carolina; and N.E. by South Carolina. The Savannah River 

 separates Georgia from South Carolina, and the Chattahoochee, a 

 branch of the Appalachicola, divides it for a considerable extent 

 from Alabama, Its area is 58,t00 square miles, or about 300 square 

 miles more than the surface of England and Wales together. The 

 following table shows the increase of the population, and the propor- 

 tion of free coloured persons and slaves during the present century. 

 The total population in 



IMO wu 162,101, incli 



ding 1019 free coloarod 



pertoDS, aj 



Id 59,404 tlsTcs 



1»1« „ 353,433, 



1801 



, 



106,318 „ 



1S20 „ 840,98;, 



, 1761 



1 



149,6M „ 



IMO „ 916,82S, 



, 2488 





317,931 „ 



1840 „ e»I,391, 



»;is 



, 



280,944 „ 



18«0 „ 906,189, 



, 3931 



1 



381,683 „ 



The federal representative population in 1850 was 753,512, in which 

 number three-fifths of the slaves an included. This entitles the state 

 to send 8 representatives to Congress. To the Senate, like each of the 

 other United States, Georgia sends two members. 



CuaM-line, Surfatx. — The line of coast, extending 105 miles in a 

 straight line, runs from south-south-west to north-nortb-eai«t, with a 

 slight beud westward. Though generally uniform as to course from 

 point to point, it is very irregularly indented, and is siiirted by 

 numerous low islands, which extend parallel to the shores. The 

 principal of these islands from north to south are — Cabbage, Ossabaw, 

 St Catherine's, Sapello, St Simons, Jekyl, and Cumberland. These 

 islands, as well as some tracts on the adjacent shore, have a light 

 sandy soil, well adapted for the culture of cotton. The cotton grown 

 here is the long staple, or, as it is called from its place of growth, 

 Sea-Island cotton, which fetches a higher price in the market than 

 any other. The inlets and sounds which divide the islands from one 

 another, and penetrate several miles inland, are generally navigable, 

 but too shallow to admit vessels of more than 100 tons. Vessels of 

 larger dimensions can enter only three harbours. The bar at the 

 month of St Mary's, at the most southern extremity of the state, has 

 13 feet of water on it ; that at Uie mouth of the Alatamaha, between 

 St. Simians and Sapello, 14 feet ; and the embouchure of the Savannah 

 1 7 feet of water : the last-mentioned river is navigable for huge vessels 

 to the city of Savannah. 



The surface of Georgia is naturally divided into two regions, a plain 

 and a hilly country. The boundary-line between them is indicated by 

 the falls of the rivers which occur in the Savannah, near Augusta ; in 

 the Oconee, near Hilledgeville ; in the Ocuiulgeo, near Macou ; in the 

 Flint Kiver, at Fort Lawrence, near Knoxville; and lu the Chatta- 

 hoochee, near Fort Mitchell. The plain which occupies the country 

 south of this line extends in its western prolongation through the 

 stat'B of Alabama and Mississippi to the banks of the river MisaiHsippi, 

 ami coiitijiues north-eastward through the states of South and North 

 Carolina and Virginia to Chesapeue Bay. In Georgia it is a dead 

 flat along the shores of the ocean, with a sandy soil, which produces 

 no trees but the pine and palmetto. In many places it is intersected 

 with swamps, which are however less numerous and less extensive 



uiou. mv. Vol. III. 



here titan in the more northern states, but still occupy perhaps one- 

 tenth of the whole tract The largest of these swamps is the 

 Okefinoke Swamp, Bear the boundary of and partly witliin Florida, 

 which is about 60 miles in length and 30 miles in breadth. It is 

 covered with a thick growth of bay-trees, vines, and underwood. In 

 the rainy season, when the greater part of it is covered with water, it 

 appears (ike an inland sea. Several streams are lost in the swump, 

 and several others which fall into the Atlantic and the Gulf of Mexico 

 take their rise within its limits. 



The swampy tract ceases about 60 or 60 miles from the sea, except 

 the Okefinoke Swamp, which lies farther inland. West of the swampy 

 tract the country is dry, and the soil consists of an infertile mixture 

 of sand and loam. Only along the bottoms of the rivers there occur 

 level tracts from a quarter to half a mile wide, which in their natural 

 state are covered with reeds, and have an excellent soil, well adapted 

 to the growth of moet agricultural productions, particularly rice. The 

 higher dry grounds are mostly covered with pines. 



The hilly region, which occupies nearly the northern half of the 

 state, contains a much greater portion of arable land. The best land 

 is along the rivers, where the soil is a deep rich black mould, with a 

 small portion of sand. The gentle declivities of the hills also contain 

 large tracts of cultivable land, and it is only their dry aud sandy 

 summits which do not admit of cultivation, and are covered with 

 pines. The productiveness of the country which till lately belonged 

 to the Cherokees, and is now commonly known as Cherokee-Georgia, 

 is very great ; it is not so well adapted for cotton as the plain part of 

 the state, but a large part of it is well suited to the growth of corn. 

 The most southern ridges of the Appalachian Mountains occur along 

 the northern boundary-line of Georgia, but they do not attain a great 

 elevation. 



Hydrography, Communicationt. — The rivers which drain Georgia 

 fall partly into the Gulf of Mexico and partly into the Atlantic. The 

 former traverse either Alabama or Florida before they reivch the sea. 

 The most western is the Etowah River, a branch of the Coosa, one of 

 the principal branches of the Aliibama. The Etowah drains the 

 Cherokee country, and runs about 80 miles within Georgia. The most 

 important river of Georgia which falls into the Gulf of Mexico is the 

 Appalachicola, or rather its two principal branches, the Chattahoochee 

 and Flint rivers ; for it is only at the extreme south-western angle of 

 this state that these two rivers unite and take the name of Appala- 

 chicola. The Chattahoochee rises between the most southern spurs 

 of the Appalachian range, about 34° 40' N. lat, and not very fur from 

 the sources of the Savannah. It runs in a general south-western 

 direction through the northern part of Georgia for about 200 miles, 

 and in appro.aohing 33° N. lat. it begins to turn gradually to the 

 south until it flows due south, forming for about 190 miles the 

 boundary between Georgia on one side and Alabama and Florida on 

 the other. It runs above 400 miles before it joins the Flint River. 

 The Flint rises iu the western districts of the hilly region between 33° 

 and 34° N. lat, aud flows in a southern direction as far as 32° N. lat, 

 whence it gradually declines towards the west, until, south of 31° 

 N. lat, it turns nearly due west, and joins the Chattahoochee. Its 

 whole course is above 250 miles, and it is navigable for 75 miles. The 

 Ocklockonnee and Suwanee, two rivers of Florida, rise in the southern 

 districts of Georgia, aud the Ogeeohee in the northern. 



The moat southern river tliat fulls into the Atlantic is St. Mary's 

 River, whose sources lie partly in Okefinoke Swnmp and partly north 

 of it It flows with a very tortuous channel first south, then e:i3t, 



B 



