linas: "The History of Carolina containing the exact de- 

 scription and natural history of that country, together with 

 the present state thereof and a journal of a thousand miles 

 traveled through several nations oj Indians, giving a par- 

 ticular account of the customs, manners, etc." 



The original edition 9f this volume is now very rare; it 

 was reprinted at Raleigh, North Carolina, however, in 

 1860. There is in the library of the University of South 

 Carolina a copy of the edition of 1718, an old volume of 

 about 258 pages, octavo size, bound in half leather. 



The dedication is to the "True and Absolute Lords- 

 Proprietors of the Province of Carolina in America," and 

 he thus addresses himself to them: 



"My Lords: As debts of Gratitude ought most punctually 

 to be paid, so, where the Debtor is uncapable of Payment, 



Acknowledgements ought at least to be paid. 



******* 



"I here present Your Lordships with a Description of 

 your Own Country; for the most part of her Natural 

 Dress, and therefore, less vitiated with Fraud and Luxury. 

 A Country whose Inhabitants may enjoy a Life of the 

 greatest Ease and Satisfaction and pass away their Hours 



in Solid Contentment. 



* ****** 



' 'Your Lordships most obliged 



"Most humble 

 '.'and most devoted servant. 



John Lawson." 

 The motive for his passage to America he explains as 

 follows in the opening lines of the introduction to his his- 

 tory: 



"In the year 1700 when people flocked from all parts of 

 the Christian world to see the solemnity of the Grand Jubi- 

 lee at Rome, my intention at that time being to travel, I 

 accidentally met with a gentlemen, who had been abroad, 

 and was very well acquainted with the ways of living in 

 both Indies, of whom having made enquiry concerning 

 them he assured me that Carolina was the best country I 

 could go to; and that there then lay a ship in the Thames 



