NORTH AMERICA, 
445 
grandiflora). This was the fecret nuptial cham- 
ber. Dancing, mufic and feafting continued the 
forepart of the night, and towards morning the 
happy couple privately withdrew, and continued 
alone ail the next day, no one prefuming to ap- 
proach the facred, myflerious thalame. 
The trader obliged me with his company on a 
vifit to the Alabama, an Indian town at the con- 
fluence of the two fine rivers, the Tallapoofe and 
Coofau, which here refign their names to the 
great Alabama, where are to be feen traces of the 
ancient French fortrefs, Thouloufe ; here are yet 
lying, half buried in the earth, a few pieces of 
ordnance, four and fix pounders. I obferved, in a 
very thriving condition, two or three very large 
apple trees, planted here by the French. This is 3 
perhaps, one of the mod eligible fituatlcns for a 
city in the world ; a level plain between the con- 
flux of two majeftic rivers, which are exactly of 
equal magnitude in appearance, each navigable for 
velfels and periauguas at leaft rive hundred miles 
above it, and fpreading their numerous branches 
over the mod fertile and delightful regions, many 
hundred miles before we reach their fources in the 
Apalachean mountains. 
Stayed all night at Alabama, where we had a 
grand entertainment at the public fquare, with 
mufic and dancing, and returned next day to 
Mucclaffe ; where being informed of a company 
of traders about fetting off from Tuckabatche for 
Augufta, I made a vifit to that town to know the 
truth of it, but on my arrival there they were 
gone; but being informed of another caravan 
who were to ftart from the O italic town in two 
itor ' " \ or 
