152 



FARMERS' REGISTER— THE PORT OF BEAUFORT. 



Charleston Rail Road Company — it they are to 

 charge ij^50,000 far the conveyance of the mail for 

 14U miles, it would cost !i?500,000 tor the great maii 

 from New Orleans to the eastern frontier of the 

 United States, And at the very moment they 

 are making this charge they are furnishing the 

 means (mnocently and unavoidably I grant) to 

 thousands of individuals to take from the General 

 Post Otfice that postage which, it is at such a 

 heavy expense to collect. For I have no doubt, 

 the letters sent by private hands from Augusta to 

 Charleston, and thence to New York, have been 

 so numerous as to deprive the office of a very 

 large sum of money. 



In conclusion, I would observe, that in one year, 

 there have been paid in Alabama, ^157,000 for 

 the conveyance of the mails. This sum would 

 pay a five per cent, interest on .'fjiS, 140,000, or, at 

 §?4,000 per mile, would make 800 miles of rail road; 

 and a rail road this very year from any central 

 point in Alabama to Beaufort, v/ould have added 

 li-om $3 to $6 value on 100,000 bales of cotton; 

 or, from ^300,000 to ^600,000 to the inhabitants 

 of the west. Hence, there would be no difficulty 

 in thus constructing rail roads — the government to 

 furnish the surveyors, &c. — the state to furnish 

 their equipage and subsistence — the post office 

 revenue to be charged for tv/o-fifths of the in- 

 terest on the capital to be borrowed with the guar- 

 antee of the government of the United States for 

 tlie purpose — with such a guarantee, it may be 

 had in London for three per cent. — the state and 

 individuals to furnish the remaining three-fifths, it 

 being understood, that the two-filths furnished by 

 the General Post Office revenue, shall, provided 

 the mail is carried free of any charge, be eventu- 

 ally relinquished on conditions to be hereafter de- 

 termined on just and ecjuitable principles, to the 

 holders of the I'emaining thi'ee-fiftlis of the stock. 

 This is perhaps, a feasible plan, and one, which, 

 J trust, will excite the attention of the numerous 

 and intelligent readers of your valuable publica- 

 tion. 



SBIEATOIV. 



BEAUFORT, OR PORT ROYAL, SOUTH CAROLI- 

 NA ITS ERECTION INTO A NAVAL DEPOT 



ITS CREATION INTO A PORT OF HIGH COM- 

 MERCIAL IMPORTANCE AND THE RAIL 



ROADS NECESSARY TO THESE OBJECTS. 

 For the Farmers' Register. 



There are few persons, to whom the capabilities 

 of a country are a matter of the highest interest 

 and observation, who must not be surprised to see 

 the neglect which some places experience, and 

 the profound insensibility with which the greatest 

 natural advantages are oftentimes regarded. 



Perhaps neither in the United States, nor any 

 where else, is there to be found so striking an in- 

 stance of inveterate ignorance and total want of 

 perception, as in the case of the town and port of 

 Beaufort, S. C. Early in the settlement of the 

 country, it was justly deemed a port of importance; 

 but the fear of the Indians and Spaniards in the 

 first instance, and the erection of Georgia, into a 

 separate colony, in the second, have united in ob- 

 literating Beaufort from the list of ports; although 

 for ships of war, it is the only port on the Avhole 

 coast of the United States, from Norfolk to Pen- 

 sacola, worthy the name. 



During the Revolution, it proved its value to 

 the enemy, whose accounts state that Beaufort or 

 Port Royal "is an island jiossessed of an excellent 

 harbor, and many other natural advantages; trom 

 its situation also commandintr all the sea coast 

 from Charleston to Savannah. ' 



Nor to the fi;icilities it allbrded a foe, -were the 

 defenders of the soil insensible. General Moultrie 

 speaks of the fact of two small men-of-war, and a 

 feio troops possessing it, as a reproach to congress. 

 However he forgot the then naval superiority of 

 Great Britain, and in the actual state of affairs, 

 an almost, if not quite equal land force — two cir- 

 cumstances that must be recollected; and especial- 

 ly as the general also states, that at "Mile End 

 there is a narrow neck of land, about a mile from 

 the town, not more than three hundred yards 

 across, and on each side of this neck a navigable 

 river:" and that of all the advantages the king's 

 troops from their uninterrupted possd^sion of the 

 island could avail themselves. 



Its facilities for a sea port and naval arsenal are 

 thus rendered evident. I apprehend "h«o small 

 men-of-war,'''' will prove that the largest frigate 

 could lie in the harbor with perfect safety; and the 

 "narrow neck, only three hundred yards across, 

 may possibly demonstrate that a canal across this 

 neck would facilitate the scheme, to forward 

 which, is the object of this paper — and certainly 

 a rail road. 



It will be remembered that so shallow is the 

 draught of water at Savannah and Charleston, 

 that generally speaking, such ships as the Wash- 

 ington, Great Britain, United States, France, and 

 Svlvanus Jenkins, rarely come into either port. 

 They cany flom 1800 to 2400 bales. 



It will also be remembered that there are large 

 masses of pine forests at the Edisto, the timber 

 cut from wliich might, by a transverse rail road 

 from the Charleston and Augusta Rail Road at 

 Branchville, be brought to Beaufort more easily 

 than it can now to Charleston; and, when at Beau^ 

 fort, could be more easily accommodated by the 

 large timber ship, now impossible to be used in 

 either the harbor of Charleston or Savannah. 



It will also be remembered, that Avhen the supe- 

 riority of the road from Beaufort to Colu.iihia is 

 recollected, the distance will be the same between 

 Columbia and Beaufort as between Columbia and 

 Charleston; and if the transverse rail road can be 

 eflected, produce and merchandise can be trans- 

 ported at an infinitely cheaper rate. 



The road from Beaufort to (say) Branchville, 

 can be constructed at an infinitely less expense 

 than that from Charleston to Augusta. The steps 

 that will have to be taken at Beaufort, must be 

 the subject of future discussion. At present, it 

 should seem, that either a canal from the eastern 

 to the western waters, that possibly may be made 

 in such a way as to be a dock, (for the accommo- 

 dation of shipping) and so placed as to terminate 

 at a point as nearly opposite as possible to Boyd's 

 Neck, or directly across the island at Mile End, 

 would serve every useful purpose in the convey- 

 ance of produce to the shipping, and merchandise 

 to the interior. However this part of the subject 

 is ad referendum. 



We will recur to the great end, Avhich is to con- 

 vey the produce from the Savannah at Augusta, 

 to Beaufort, and the merchandise to the interior. 

 The first object would be the conversion, if pog- 



