278 T:he Discoveri E s and Settlements Book L 
are a great Number of Plantations that have been con-* 
tiniially cultivated for near feventy Years, which yet pro- 
duce great Plenty, without ever being manured by the 
leaft Dung, for they never lay any on their Grounds *, 
the Planter only turns up the Superficies of the Earth, 
and all that he plants and fows therein quickly grows 
and thrives : Thofe who underftand ever fo little of Agri- 
culture will be obliged to own, that if the Lands in 
Europevftvt not conftantly manured, their Strength would 
be fo exhaufted that at length the Crops would not pay 
for their Seed •, but a Man who has a little Land in Caro- 
lina^ and is not willing to work above two or three Hours 
in a Day, may very eafily live there, even on fo little 
Labour. Another Confideration deferving our Notice is, 
the Progrefs of the firfl; Colonies j their fudden Advance- 
ment ; the Riches of the prefent Inhabitants *, the great 
Number of public Expences for which they provide ; the 
great Trade they carry on at prefent ; and laftly, their 
Misfortunes and LolTes, which are entirely repaired. The 
better to comprehend thefe Matters, we lliall only make 
the following Obfervations : That there v/ere no People 
in Carolina till near fourfcore Years ago j for the Englijh 
did not fend any thither till the Year 1670 : That they 
had at firft a very fatal Beginning *, afflidled with Sick- 
nefs, and even the Plague, which daily diminifhed the 
Number of the People ; That cruel deftru6live Divifions 
broke out amongft them : That they had a verybadGovern- 
ment under the L.ords Proprietors, being alfo without 
Juftice, Order, or Difcipline : That at a certain Time 
the Pirates interrupted their Trade and Navigation : That 
they have often had great Droughts : That a terrible Fire 
confumed almoft all Charles Eown : That they have been 
at great Expence in Fortifications, public Edifices, 
Churches, &c. I'hat they have often fuftained long Wars 
with the French^ Spaniards^ and particularly with the 
Indians^ who once united together to deftroy the whole 
Province. That notwithftanding all thefe Misfortunes, 
the People of Carolina^ except thofe who give themfelves 
up to Debauchery, are all rich, either in Slaves, Furni- 
ture, Clothes, Plate, Jewels, or other Merchandizes, 
but efpecially Cattle *, which fiiews the Goodnefs of the 
Country they inhabit. 
Silk-worms, in Carolina, are hatched from the Egg, 
about the Middle of March •, at the fame time that the 
Mulberry-leaves, which are riieir Food, begin to open j 
being attended and fed fix Weeks, they eat no more j 
but have fmall Bufhes fet up for them to fpin themfdves 
into Bails j which thrown into warm Water, are wound 
off into raw Silk. Rofm, Tar, and Pitch, are all pro- 
duced from the Pine Trees ; Rofin, by cutting Channels 
in the ffanding green Trees that meet at a Point at the 
Foot of the Tree, where is placed a Receiver ; the Chan- 
nels are cut as high as one can reach with an Ax ; and 
the Bark is peeled off from all thofe Parts of the Tree 
that are expofed to the Sun, that the Heat of it may the 
more eafily force out the Turpentine, which being taken 
from the Receiver, and melted in Kettles becomes Rofin. 
Tar is made thus : They prepare a circular Floor of Clay 
declining a little towards the Center-, from which is laid a 
Pipe of Wood, the Upper-part of which is even with the 
Floor, and reaches ten Feet without the Circumference j 
under the End the Earth is dug away, and Barrels placed 
to receive the Tar as it runs upon the Floor is built up a 
large Pile of dry Pine Wood fplit in Pieces, and fur- 
rounded with a Wall of Earth, which covers it all over 
only a little at the Top, where the Fire is firft kindled : 
After the Fire begins to burn, they cover it likewife with 
Earth, to the End there may be no Flame, but only 
Heat fufficient to force the Tar downward into the Floor j 
they temper the Heat as they pleafe, by thrufting a Stick 
through the Earth, and letting the Air in at as many 
Places as they fee convenient. Pitch is made by boiling 
Tar in large Iron Kettles fet in Furnaces, or by burning 
it in round Clay Holes made in the Earth. 
Black Cattle have mightily increafed fince the 
firft fettling of the Colony. About forty Years ago 
it was reckoned a great deal to have three or four Cows, 
now fome People have a thoufand Head ; and for one 
Man to have two hundred is very common. The Cows 
I 
graze in the Foreft, and the Calves being feparated and 
kept in Failures fenced in, they return home at Night to 
fuckle them : They are firft milked, then fiiut up in a 
Fold all Night, milked again in the Morning, and then 
turned out into the Woods. Here are Hogs in abun- 
dance 5 they go daily to feed in the Woods, where they 
rove feveral Miles, feeding on Nuts and Roots ; but 
having a Shelter made at home, to keep them warm, 
and fomething given them to eat, they generally return 
in the Evening. The Beef and Pork that are raifed 
here find a good Market in the Sugar Hands. 
The Trade of Carolina is now fo.confiderable, that of lataf 
Years there have failed from thence, annually, above two 
hundred Ships laden with Merchandize of the Grov/th of 
the Country, befides three Ships of War, which they 
commonly have for the Security of their Commerce ; and 
laft Winter they had conftantly five, the leaft of which 
had above an hundred Men on board. It appears from 
the Cuftom-houfe Entries, from March 1730 to March 
1731, that there failed, within that Time, from Charles 
T own, two hundred and feven Ships, moft of them for 
England ; which carried among other Goods, forty-one 
thoufand nine hundred and fifty-feven Barrels of Rice, 
about five hundred Pounds weight per Barrel ; ten thou- 
fand feven hundred and fifty Barrels of Pitch ; two 
thoufand fixty- three of Tar ; and feven hundred and 
fifty-nine of Turpentine ; of Deer-lkins, three hun- 
dred Calks containing eight or nine hundred each ; be- 
fides a vaft Quantity of Indian Corn, Peafe, Beans, Cfc. 
Beef, Pork, and other faked F'lefh ; Beams, Plank, and 
Timber for Building, moft part of Cedar, Cyprefs, 
Saffafras, Oak, Wailnut, and Pine. 
They carry on a great Trade with the Indians, from 
whence they get their great Quantities of Deer-fkins, andof 
other wild Beafts, in exchange for which they give them 
only Lead, Powder, coarfe Cloth, Vermillion, Iron, ftrong 
Waters, and fome other Goods, by which they have a very 
confiderable Profit. The great Number of Slaves makes 
another Part of the Riches of this Province, there being 
above forty thoufand Negroes, which are worth, one with 
another, twenty-five Pounds each. Artificers are fofcarce 
at prefent, that all forts of Work is very dear; Taylors, 
Shoe-makers, Smiths, Cfr. would be particularly accept- 
able there ; a fkilful Carpenter is not afhamed to demand 
thirty Shillings a Day befides his Diet, and the common 
Wages of a Workman is twenty Shillings per Day, pro- 
vided he fpeaks Englijh, without which he cannot be 
underftood, and confequently not fo ufeful as others ; and 
when a Workman has but ten Shillings per Day, he 
thinks he labours for almoft nothing, though he has his 
Maintenance befides ; but this is Carolma Money. Moft 
of their Shoes are brought from England, and generally 
fell for forty Shillings per Pair ; not but that they have 
Hides enough, and very cheap, an Ox’s Hide being 
fold for twenty Shillings ; neither are they deftitute of 
the Means to tan them, for they make very good Lime 
with Oyfter-fhells, and the Bark of Oak Trees is fo 
plentiful, that it cofts nothing but the Trouble of gather- 
ing ; they therefore want only a fufficient Number of 
good Tanners and Shoe-makers. I might fay the fame 
of Leather-dreffers, fince they fend every Year to Eng- 
land above two hundred thoufand Deer-fkins undreffed ; 
yet Carolina produces Oker naturally, and good Fifh- 
Oil may be had from New York, or New England, very 
cheap ; fo that they might be dreffed and made up into 
Breeches in the Country, for which thofe Skins are very 
proper, being cool in Summer, and warm in Winter. 
There is not one Potter in all the Province, and no 
earthen Ware but what comes from England, nor Glafs 
of any kind ; fo that a Pot-houfe and a good Glafs-houfe 
would fucceed perfeftly well, not only for Carolina but 
for all the Colonies in America. There is a kind of Sand 
and Earth which would be very proper for thofe Purpofes, 
as alfo Wood and Fern in abundance, if they had but 
Vs^orkmen to make Ufe of them. 
It may feem ftrange to affirm this, in an Age when 
it is well known, that Men are inclined to go almoft any 
where, and may be tempted to almoft any thing, from 
the Hopes of Money. Thefe Facts, however, are very 
true. 
