' ‘easioned 
GEORGIA. 
ville, a high and healthy part of the country near to the 
centre of the state, and provision made for the institution 
of an academy in every county, all which seminaries, in 
subordination to the principal, are tobe supported from 
the same funds, and considered as the parts and members 
of one great establishment for the instruction of youth. 
In the low country of Georgia, in the vicinity of the 
rice swamps, bilious complaints and fevers have been ob- 
served to be general, especially during the 
months of July, August, and September, which for 
that reason are called the sickly months. Pleurisies, 
peripneumonies, and other inflammatory disorders, oc- 
sudden and violent colds, are prevalent, 
and not 1 uently fatal during the winter and spring. 
In the county of Wilkes, within a mile and a half of 
the town of Washington, there is a medicinal spring, 
which is said to be a sovereign remedy for the scurvy, 
sctofulous disorders, consumptions, gouts, and various 
other diseases. There is likewise at the distance from 
the sea of about 90 miles, on the way towards the 
mountains, a very remarkable bank of oyster shells, 
This runs in.a direction nearly lel with the sea- 
coast, in three distinct ridges contiguous to each other, 
which together mean rd a space of seven miles in breadth. 
‘These commence at the river Savannah, and have been 
traced to the northern branches of the Altamaha, fur- 
nishing, wherever they pass, an inexhaustible source of 
wealth and convenience to the neighbouring inhabi- 
tants, in the lime which they derive from them for 
building, for the making of indigo, or for other useful 
; ‘The origin inal population of the Georgian state con- 
“sists chiefly of Muskogee or Creek Indians, Semino- 
las, Chactaws, Chicasaws, and Cherokees. The Mus- 
have their residence principally in its middle 
, being the most numerous of the Indian tribes 
within the limits of the Indian states. Their numbers 
‘have been estimated to be little short of 20,000, of pose 
which a third is said to consist of fighting men. The 
country in which they are settled is hilly but not moun- 
tainous, the soil fruitful in a high degree, and well wa- 
‘tered, their principal towns being situated in the Lati- 
tude of about 32°, and in from 86° to 87° W. Longi- 
‘tude.’ The Seminolas inhabit a level flat country on 
the Apalachicola and Flint rivers, of similar 
advan The other tribes which have been men- 
tioned, are found chiefly in the western parts of this 
state, much of which is still in their possession. Of 
these, the Chactaws, or flat heads, occupy a very fine 
and extensive tract of hilly country, with large and fer- 
tile plains, between the Alibama and Mississippi ri- 
vers. The Chicasaws are settled on the head branches 
of the Tombegbee- and Yazoo rivers in the north- 
west corner of the state, where they have an extensive 
‘plain country, tolerably well watered from springs, 
and of a pretty good soil. The population of the for- 
mer of these nations has been estimated at from 12,000 
to 15,000 souls ; and they have upwards of 40 towns 
and vi . The number of persons in the latter na- 
tion has reckoned to be about 2000. They have 
seven towns, of which the central one is in Lat. 34° 23’, 
and in Long. about 90° 10’ W. 
it was in the year 1732, that the measure was me- 
ditated in England, of settling a colony between the 
rivers Savannah and Altamaha, with’a view as well to the 
accommodation of poor people in Great Britain and Ire« 
sao land, as for affording further security to Carolina. It was 
— for this purpose to raise a fund, which should 
expended in the conveyance of indigent emigrants 
to that part of America, free of expence. The plan was 
243 
countenanced by humane and opulent men, through 
whose contributions and exertions it was quickl - 
ried into effect. On application to his Majesty George 
II. letters patent were obtained June 9th, 1732. 
November of the same year accordingly, 116 settlers 
were embarked for Georgia, under the conduct of Gene- 
ral Oglethorpe, one of the trustees, and an active promo- 
ter of the measure; and soon after their arrival, in the 
beginning of the year 1733, the spot on which Savannah 
now stands was marked out as the most proper for the 
foundation of the settlement. Here, therefore, they pro« 
ceeded to erect a small fort, with a number of huts for 
their accommodation and defence. A treaty of amity was 
concluded between them and their neighbours the Creek 
Indians, and various regulations were framed for their fu- 
ture government. In the formation of these, the general 
avis assumed was, that each inhabitant was to be 
considered as at once a planter and a soldier, who was 
of course to hold his portion of land as a military fief, 
and to appear in arms when the occasion required it 
for the public defence. That large tracts of ground 
might not accordingly, in the course of time, come to be 
occupied by the same person, nor the inconveniences be 
felt which in other colonies had been found to arise 
from great possessions, it was thought proper to limit 
the allowance of land for each family to 50 acres, which: 
allotment; or any part of it; they were not to be per- 
mitted to mortgage nor to dispose of by will to their 
female issue. It was provided, that no man should de- 
part from the province without a licence. Such parts 
of the lands ted by the trustees as should not be 
cleared, fenced round with a warm fence, or pales six 
feet high, within eighteen years from the date of the 
grant, were to revert to the trustees for the benefit of 
the colony. It was forbidden to use negroes, to import 
rum, or to trade with the Indians, unless in the case of 
a special licence being previously obtained for that pur 
In consequence of the sentiments that came to be ens 
tertained at home, respecting the probable anticipated 
future importance of the settlement in Georgia, parlia« 
mentary aid had at different times been granted to pro- 
mote the objects’of the corporation. Additional settlers 
also were obtained, and these, for the most part, of a 
character and habits better adapted to the situation than 
those who had been at first introduced into it. The 
new comers were chiefly persons inured to labour and 
fatigue, from the Highlands of Scotland and from Ger- 
many, not like those who had preceded them, the idle 
and useless overflowings of cities and large towns, 
The accession of this valuable population was such, 
that within the space of three years, Georgia had re 
ceived above 400 British subjects, and about 170 fos 
reigners. Adventurers from Scotland, Germany, and 
Switzerland, still continued to follow their countrymen, 
contributing to sustain the hopes which the trustees 
had formed as to the permanence and prosperity of the 
Georgit 
in Americt- 
History. 
n 
A. D. 1782. 
colony, Several towns were built ; and in 1739, more 4p, 1739, 
than 600 people were employed in trading with the 
Indians for furs and skins. It was eventually how- 
ever found, that the system of government which had 
been formed for this colony, how pure soever might be 
the intentions of those by whom it was prepared, and 
how wise soever in their estimation, its provisions were 
in effect highly injudicious, and altogether incompatible 
with its prosperity. The alterations which it was judged 
necessary to introduce into ‘it, though beneficial so far 
as they went, were not yet sufficient to render it even 
tolerably supportable ; and the wars in which the pro — 
vince was inyolyed with the Spaniards and Indians, and 
