paffed Jackfonfburgh, leaving it on the fouth, branches and embraces Edifto ifland.

Santee is the largest and longest river in this State: it empties into the ocean by two mouths, a little fouth of George-town. About one hundred and twenty miles in a direct line from its mouth, it branches into the Congaree and Wateree; the latter or northern branch paffes the Catabaw nation of Indians, and bears the name of the Catabaw river from this settlement to its fource. The Congaree branches into Saluda and Broad rivers. Broad river again branches into Enoree, Tyger, and Pacolet rivers, on the latter of which are the celebrated Pacolet springs.

Pedee river rifes in North-Carolina, where it is called Yadkin river in this State, however, it takes the name of Pedee; and, receiving the waters of Lynche's creek, Little Pedee, and Black river, it joins the Wakkamaw river, near George-town. These united ftreams, with the acceffion of a small creek, on which George-town stands, form. Winyaw bay, which, about twelve miles below, communicates with the ocean. All these rivers, Edifto excepted, rife from various fources in that ridge of mountains which divides the waters which flow into the Atlantic ocean, from those which fall into the Miffiffippi.

The rivers of a fecondary fize, as you pass from north to fouth, are Wakkamaw, Black river, Cooper, Aihepoo, and Combahee. These rivers afford, to the proprietors of their banks, a confiderable quantity of tide fwamp or rice land, flooded from the rivers, except in extraordinary droughts.

In the third clafs are comprehended those rivers which extend but a fhort distance from the ocean, and ferve, by branching into numberless creeks, as drains to take off the quantity of rain water which comes down from the large inland fwamps; or are merely arms of the fea; of this kind are Afhley, Stone, Coofaw, Broad, Colleton, May, New, and Right's rivers. The tide, in no part of this State, flows more than twenty five miles from the fea.

A company has been incorporated for the purpofe of connecting Cooper and Santee rivers by a canal of twenty-one miles in length. The fum supposed to be neceffary to complete this extensive work is fifty-five thousand fix hundred and twenty pounds fterling. Twentyfive per cent. are allowed by the legislature in tolls for all monies ad. vanced by ftockholders. The advantage of a canal at this place, to VOL. III.

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one who inspects a map of the Carolinas, muft appear to be great, both to the public and to the proprietors.

The only harbours of note are thofe of Charleston, Port Royal, and George-town. Charleston harbour is fpacious, convenient, and fafe: it is formed by the junction of Ashley and Cooper rivers: its entrance is guarded by fort Johnfon. Twelve miles from the city is a bar, over which are four channels; one by the name of Ship Chan, nel, has eighteen feet water; another fixteen and a half; the other two are for smaller veffels. The tides rife from five to eight feet. Port Royal has an excellent harbour, of fufficient extent to contain the largest fleet in the world.

The bar at the entrance of Winyaw bay, which leads to Georgetown, does not admit of vessels drawing more than eleven feet water; and is, in many refpects, a very dangerous place. This circumstance has proved injurious to the growth of George-town, which is otherwise exceedingly well fituated for all the purposes of an extenfive trade.

The fea coaft is bordered with a chain of fine fea islands, around which the fea flows, opening an excellent inland navigation for the conveyance of produce to market.

North of Charleston harbour lie Bull's, Dewee's, and Sullivan's inlands, which form the north part of the harbour. James ifland lies on the other fide of the harbour, oppofite Charleston, containing about fifty families. Further fouth-weft is John's ifland, larger than James; Stono river, which forms a convenient and fafe harbour, divides these islands. Contiguous to John's island, and connected with it by a bridge, is Wadmelaw; east of which are the small ifles of Keyway and Simmon. Between thefe and Edifto ifland is N. Edifto inlet, which alfo affords a good harbour for veffels of easy draft of water, South of Edifto island is S. Edisto inlet, through which enter, from the northward, all the veffels bound to Beaufort, Afhepoo, Combahee and Coofaw.

On the fouth-weft fide of St. Helena inland lies a cluster of islands, one of the largeff of which is Port Royal. Adjacent to Port Royal lie St. Helena, Ladies ifland, Paris ifland, and the Hunting islands, five or fix in number, bordering on the ocean, fo called from the number of deer and other wild game found upon them. All these iflands, and fome others of lefs note, belong to St. Helena parish. Croffing Broad river, you come to Hilton Head, the most southern fea ifland in Carolina. Weft and fouth-west of Hilton Head lie Pinckney's, Bull's, "Dawfufkic's, and fome smaller islands, between

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which and Hilton Head are Calibogie river and found, which form the outlet of May and New rivers.

SOIL AND PRODUCTIONS.

The foil of this State may be divided into four kinds; first, the pine barren, which is valuable only for its timber. Interspersed among the pine barren are tracts of land free of timber, and every kind of growth but that of grafs. These tracts are called favannahs, conftituting a second kind of foil, good for grazing. The third kind is that of the swamps and low grounds on the rivers, which is a mixture of black loam and fat clay, producing naturally canes in great plenty, cyprefs, bays, loblolly pines, &c. In thefe fwamps rice is cultivated, which conftitutes the staple commodity of the State. The high lands, commonly known by the name of oak and hiccory lands, conftitute the fourth kind of foil. The natural growth is oak, hiccory, walnut, pine, and locuft. On these lands, in the low country, Indian corn is principally cultivated; and in the back country, befides this, they raise tobacco in large quantities, wheat, rye, barley, oats, hemp, flax, cotton, and filk.

There is little fruit in this State, especially in the lower parts of it. The oranges are chiefly four; figs are plenty; a few limes and lemons, pomegranates, pears, and peaches; apples are fearce, and are imported from the northern States. Melons, especially the water melon, are raifed here in great perfection.

The river fwamps, in which rice can be cultivated with any tolerable degree of fafety and fuccefs, do not extend higher up the rivers than the head of the tides; and in eftimating the value of this fpecies of rice land, the height which the tide rifes is taken into confideration, those lying where it rifes to a proper pitch for overflowing the fwamps being the moft valuable. The beft inland fwamps, which constitute a second species of rice land, are fuch as are furnished with refervoirs of water. These refervoirs are formed by means of large banks thrown up at the upper parts of the fwamps, whence it is conveyed, when needed, to the fields of rice.

The foil on the iflands is generally better adapted to the culture of indigo than the main, and less fulted to rice: cotton grows very well upon them. The natural growth is the live oak, which is fo excellent for fhip timber, and the palmetto or cabbage tree, the utility of which, in the construction of forts, was experienced during the late war.

At the distance of about one hundred and ten miles from the feay the river swamps terminate, and the high lands extend quite to the rivers, and form banks, in fome places, feveral hundred feet above the furface of the water, and afford many extenfive and delightful views. These high banks are interwoven with layers of leaves and different coloured earth, and abound with quarries of freeftone, pebbles, flint, chrystals, iron ore in abundance, filver, lead, fulphur, and coarfe diamonds.

The fwamps above the head of the tide are occafionally planted with corn, cotton, and indigo. The foil is very rich, yielding from forty to fifty bufhels of corn an acre.

It is curious to obferve the gradations from the fea coaft to the upper country, with refpect to the produce, the mode of cultivation, and the cultivators. On the iflands, upon the fea coaft, and for forty or fifty miles back, and on the rivers much farther, the cultivators are all flaves. No white man, to speak generally, ever thinks of fettling a farm and improving it for himself without negroes. If he has no negroes, he hires himself as overfeer to fome rich planter, who has more than he can or will attend to, till he can purchase for himself. The articles cultivated are corn and potatoes, which, with the small rice, are food for the negroes; rice, indigo and cotton, for exportation. The culture of this laft article is capable of being increased equal to almost any demand. The foil was cultivated, till lately, almost wholly by manual labour. The plough, till fince the peace, was fcarcely used: now, the plough and harrow and other improve ments are introduced into the rice fwamps with great success, and will no doubt become general. In the middle fettlements, negroes are not fo numerous; the mafter attends perfonally to his own bufinefs. The land is not properly fituated for rice: it produces moderately good indigo weed, and fome tobacco is raised for exportation. The farmer is contented to raise corn, potatoes, oats, rye, poultry, and a little wheat. In the upper country, there are but few negroes; generally speaking, the farmers have none, and depend, like the inhabitants of the northern States, upon the labour of themselves and families for fubfiftence; the plough is ufed almost wholly. Indian corn in great quantities, wheat, rye, potatoes, &c. are raised for food, and much tobacco and fome wheat, cotton and indigo, for èxportation.

Rice ground is prepared only by effectually fecuring it from the water, except fome higher parts of it, which are fometimes dug up

with a hoe, or mellowed by a plough or harrow. When the rice is young, the overflowing of the water does not prevent its growth. Those who have water in referve, commonly let it in upon their rice, after first going through with the hoe, while it is young, though it is deemed beft to keep out the grafs by the hoe only. The water is commonly kept on the rice eight or ten days after hoeing. When the ear is formed, the water is continued on till it is ripe it is hoed three or four times. When the grafs is very thick, a negroe cannot hoe more than one fixteenth of an acre in a day. From three pecks to a bufhel is fown on an acre. It produces from fifty to eighty bufhels of rough rice an acre; one hundred and twenty bushels of rough rice have been produced on one acre; twenty bushels of which make about five hundred pounds, or eight and a quarter bufhels clean rice for market. After it is threfhed, it is winnowed, and then ground in a mill, conftructed of two blocks in a simple manner; then winnowed by a fan constructed for that purpose, then beat in a mortar by hand, or, now generally, by horfe or water machines, then fifted, to feparate the whole rice from that which is broken and the flour. The whole rice is then barrelled in cafks of about five hundred pounds, or eight and a quarter bushels. The fmall rice ferves for provifions, and the flour for provender, the chaff for manure, and the straw for fodder. The blade is green and frefl while the ear is ripe. The price is in the general from nine fhillings and four-pence, to ten fhillings and fix-pence a hundred; reckoning the dollar at four fhillings and eight-pence.

CIVIL DIVISION S.

The proprietors who first fent fettlers to Carolina, divided it into Counties and parishes. The counties were generally named after the proprietors. No county courts, however, were eftablished, and this divifion, though for a long time kept up in the province, became in a great measure obfolete, previous to the revolution; fince the revolution, county courts have been established, and the State is now divided into districts and counties, and the counties are subdivided; in the lower country into parishes, and in the upper country into smaller or voting districts.

There are feven principal districts, in which are contained thirtyfive counties, as follows:

BEAU