flat, level, and intersected with swamps, cultivated with rice beyond this, it rises into hills progressively, and terminates in the Allegany Mountains, which separate the waters that fall into the Atlantic from those that discharge themselves into the Missisippi. An examination of your map will make this clear to you.

There are no stones to be found in Lower Carolina; and upon digging up the ground, are layers of sea-shells and petrified fish, in the middle of the sand. At sixty miles from the sea are entire oyster-beds, in a fossil state; one extending fifty miles, formed of a species of that fish no longer to be found on the coast. Huge trunks of trees are also frequently discovered beneath the surface of the earth, which seem to have laid there for ages. Do not these circumstances seem to confirm the truth of the deluge, and prove, incontestibly, that this whole tract was once covered with water.

Except at Charlestown, there are very few schools, of any description, in this state: the cultivation of the human mind is, consequently, at a low ebb; and many persons of fortune submit to send their children to Europe for education. The produce of the earth is the chief source of wealth to the inhabitants of Carolina, as they want either the skill or the taste to establish manufactures. Indigo is a plant much cultivated, for the fine dark blue colour it yields to painters and dyers. Cotton is likewise raised here to advantage, and

forms

Several of our friends having formed a party to take a ride into the country, I must lay aside my pen, and bid you adieu.

forms a profitable article of commerce.

H. FRANKLIN.

LETTER XI.

From Mr. Henry Franklin to Mr Middleton,

DEAR MADAM,

Charlestown.

THE intelligence I have to convey so nearly concerns your happiness, that I make no apology for the liberty of addressing myself to

you.

In order to save you from the pain of apprehension, I begin by an assurance that your son is now in perfect health, though, from imprudently putting himself in the way of danger, he has been very near losing his life.

As we were enjoying a walk in the woods, after the heat of the day, we saw a rattle-snake coiled up before us. I called hastily to Arthur to avoid him. Had he attended to my warning, he would have been unhurt; for they seldom attack any one who does not molest them: but curiosity, and a spirit of adventure, tempted him to advance and

touch

touch the animal with a switch. Enraged by this assault, the creature, which was six feet long, and as thick as my leg, curled up his body in a circle around his head, which he raised upright, and with a sudden dart inflicted a wound on the ancle of my young friend. My terror was extreme; but not losing my presence of mind, I gathered the leaves of a plant, which grew in the wood, that I had been told were an antidote, and by the immediate application, diminished the ill consequences of the venom, though he suffered extremely for several days. He is perfectly recovered, and I hope will learn prudence from this accident, which might have been fatal.

The moment the rattle-snake is apprehensive of danger, he sounds his rattle, and puts himself in a posture of defence. The rattle grows at the end of the tail, and is formed of several loose, hollow cells, of a horny kind of substance, that jingle one against another, and warn those who are near to be upon their guard. He inflicts his dangerous bite with two fangs, or teeth, that are quite distinct from those with which he eats his food. These fangs are small, sharp pointed, and furnished at the roots with small bladders of a subtle poison. There are two species of the rattle-snake, distinguished by their colour; the one black, the other yellowish brown: it is elegantly striped, and its eyes are of a brilliant red.

The bite of the water rattle-snake is also poison

ous,

ous, but less so than that of the land. This crea. ture differs much from the common rattle-snake, as it has neither fangs nor rattle; I cannot guess, therefore, why it has obtained this name.

The black snake is another common reptile in Carolina; it is very long, and pursues those who attack it, but its bite is of no consequence. The country people seldom kill it, because it is useful in destroying rats and mice.. It is wonderfully fond of milk, and frequently steals into dairies; which in these southern parts are mostly under ground, in order to preserve the milk, which could not, in another situation, be kept sweet for three hours, in summer.

There are many other kinds of harmless snakes, some of them beautifully variegated, particularly the garter, the ribbon, and the bluish green snake. The Macassin snake is almost as poisonous as the rattle-snake; and it is a more insidious enemy, because it gives no warning of its approach.

Reptiles are numerous here, and of great variety. There are many species of frogs and lizards, besides the chameleon, which is by no means un

common.

The waters and swampy places abound with that kind of crocodile called a coeinan. We have seen several upwards of twelve feet long, from the head to the extremity of the tail. If on land, they will sooner take to flight at the sight of man, than venture to attack him; but in the water they are more

courageous,

courageous, and have been known, when hounds have pursued a stag into a river, to seize both the dogs and the deer, and pull them to the bottom, whence they never rise again. This creature's invulnerable coat of mail renders him formidable, as it is almost impossible to wound him, except his antagonist has sufficient address to hit exactly between his scales.

If your son is prone to that want of consideration which is natural to his age, I have the satisfaction of assuring you, that he is endued with a noble generosity of disposition, that manifests itself in tender sympathy with every human being that he sees pining with affliction. He one day pressed me to take him to the slave-market in this town, where the negroes are put up to auction several times in a week. I observed his countenance change on seeing them exposed to sale, on a sort of stage, whilst the buyers turned them about and examined them, as we do horses at a fair. The dejected countenance of one young man, as he was on the point of being adjudged to the highest bidder, by the common cryer, affected him particularly. He enquired into his story, and found that his distress arose from the heart-breaking consideration of being for ever separated from a young woman, whom he had lately married and tenderly loved. Arthur's pity is not of that useless kind that only laments at the misfortunes of others; he is always full of contrivances to relieve them, and