A DESCRIBER of countries, ought in a great measure, to imitate a building Engineer, in first laying before those, whom he will employ, accurate and di­stinct plans of his intended work, thereby enabling them to judge more distinctly of the execution thereof. I think that in a work of this nature, i could not do this better that by directing my readers to the charts or plans accompanying it, in which they will undoubtedly find materials to form just ideas of the places herein described.

To reduce my work to some regularity, i shall proceed from the East, Westward, and begin with the Peninsula, dividing it into two parts, which i will call climates, the one beginning at Amelia or St. Mary's inlet, in latitude 31: and extending Southward to the latitude of 27:40: this will in­clude the rivers St. Mary, Nassau, St. John's or Ylacco, and the Musketo Lagoon (for surely no one can call this last a river) besides several smal­ler ones, which will be mentioned in their places; [Page 2] these all empty themselves on the Eastern side of the Apalachicola (the boundary between the two Floridas) the Oskaùlaskna the Apalachian, St. Juan de Guacaro, vulgarly called little Seguana, the river Amaxura, and the Manatee, which last falls into the bay of Tampe, or harbour of Spirito Santo, and which i have first discovered.

The other, or Southern climate, beginning at the latitude 27:40: and extending Southward to the latitude of 25, on the main, or to 24:17: including the keys; this contains a large river, which empties itself into the new harbour, of which i am the first explorer, we have given it the name of Charlotte harbour, but neither harbour nor river have been described by the Spaniards in their maps, and the Spanish fishermen distinguish the place by the names of its inlets, which are five, and will hereafter be described; next is Carlos bay and Carlos harbour, into which the river Coloosa­hatcha empties itself; further South are not any more deserving the name of rivers, but such as they are, i shall give them a place also; on the East side is only the river St. Lucia, with its Southern branch, the river Ratones, and the La­goon, known by the name of Aïsa Hatcha, Rio d'ais, or Indian river, some others can scarcely be ranked among rivers, but will likewise be more particularly mentioned hereafter.

After this general division of the country, i think it is not improper to begin with an account of the air, which this province enjoys very pure and clear fogs are seldom known any where except up­on St. John's river, but the dews are very hea­vy, the spring and summer are in general dry, the autumn very changeable; the beginning of [Page 3] winter wet and stormy, but the latter part very dry and serene; from the end of September to the end of June, there is perhaps not any where a more delightful climate to be found, but all July, Au­gust, and most of September are excessively hot, yet the changes from hot to cold are not so sudden, as in Carolina, and frost is not frequently known, the noon day's sun is always warm, the severest cold ever known there affects not the tender china orange trees, which grow here to a very great perfection, i scruple not to say, that this fruit here exceeds in goodness every other of the kind i have yet seen, however the change from the middle of this climate, to the Northern part of it is much more perceptible from heat to cold, than it was to the southward from cold to heat, in the year 1770 and 1771. I felt very severe wea­ther about the river Nassau, and to the southward of the town of St. Augustine, the climate changes so gradually, that it is not perceivable to the above named lat. of 27:40: where there is no frost at all, and which I have always set down as the line of no frost. From this line to the southern extent is a most charming climate, the air almost always serene; on the east side the common trade wind, and on the west side the Apalachian sea breeze from the west to the north-west, refresh this deligh­ful Peninsula during the summer; here we find all the produce of more northern climes mixed with the inhabitants of the Tropics, and this as well in the water as on the land, nor is there ever so great a cold as to destroy the fruits of the south, nor so great a heat as to parch the produce of the north; in all this Peninsula it is remarkable, that [...]ain is always prognosticated one or two days be­fore [Page 4] it falls, and this by either an immoderate dew or no dew at all, so that if a very heavy dew falls, it is a certain sign of rain, and the same if on a calm fine night, there be no dew, but i cannot account for this phenomenon.

The winds are not so very changeable here as they are further to the northward, but are during the greatest part of spring, the whole summer, and beginning of autumn, generally between the east and south east, and during the last of autumn, and first part of winter, they are commonly in the north east quarter; the latter part of the winter, and first of spring they are more generally west and north west, the autumnal equinox is to be dreaded here, as well two or three weeks before, as two or three months after it, great storms will then happen, and many vessels are drove on shore, or otherwise dis­abled: I have never heard of much mischief in the vernal equinox, and if a hurricane was ever known in this Peninsula, it was on the 29th of October 1769, when there was a terrible gust between the lat. 25:10, and 25:50, which blew many trees down, and drove the Snow Led­bury a shore, where she remained dry on a key, now distinguished by her name, but heretofore considered as a part of what was improperly called by the name of Key Largo.

The fatal hurricane of August 30, 31, Septem­ber 1, 2, 3, anno 1772, was severely felt in West Florida, it destroyed the woods for about 30 miles from the sea coast in a terrible manner, what were its effects in the unsettled countries to the east­ward, we cannot learn; in Pensacola it did little or no mischief except the breaking down of all the whart [...] but one; but farther westward, it was [Page 5] terrible; at Mobile every thing was in confusion, vessels, boats, and loggs were drove up into the streets a great distance, the gullies and hollows as well as all the lower grounds of this town were so filled with loggs, that many of the inhabitants got the greatest part of their yearly provision of firewood there; all the vegitables were burned up by the salt water, which was by the violence of the wind, carried over the town, so as at the dis­tance of half a mile, it was seen to fall like rain; all the lower floors of the houses were covered with water, but no houses were hurt except one, which stood at the water side, in which lived a joiner, a schooner drove upon it, and they alter­nately destroyed each other; but the greatest fury of it was spent on the neighbourhood of the Pasca Oocolo river; the plantation of Mr. Krebs there was almost totally destroyed, of a fine crop of rice, and a large one of corn were scarcely left any re­mains, the houses were left uncovered, his smith's shop was almost all washed away, all his works and out houses blown down; and for thirty miles up a branch of this river which (on account of the abundance of that species of cypress^* vulgarly cal­led white cedar) is called cedar river, there was scarce a tree left standing, the pines were blown down or broke, and those which had not intirely yielded to this violence, were so twisted, that they might be compared to ropes; at Botereaux's cow pen, the people were above six weeks consulting on a method of finding and bringing home their cat­tle; twelve miles up the river, live some Germans who, seeing the water rise with so incredible a rapi­dity, were almost embarked, fearing an universal flood, but the water not rising over their land, [Page 6] they did not proceed on their intended journey to the Chactaw nation. At Yoani, in this nation, i am told the effects were perceivable; in all this tract of coast and country the wind had ranged be­tween the south south east and east, but farther west its fury was between the north north east and east, a schooner belonging to the government having a detachment of the sixteenth regiment on board, was drove by accident to the westward as far as Cat Island, where she lay at an anchor un­der the west point, the water rose so high, that when she parted her cables, she floated over the island, the wind north by east, or thereabout she was forced upon the Free masons islands, and lay about 6 weeks before she was got off, and if they had not accidentally been discovered by a hunting boat, the people might have remained there and died for want, particularly as water failed them already when discovered; the effect of this diffe­rent direction of the current of air or wind was here surprising, the south easterly wind having drove the water in immense quantities up all the rivers, bays, and sounds to the westward, being here counteracted by the northerly wind, this bo­dy of water was violently forced into the bay of Spirito Santo at the back of the Chandeleurs, grand Gozier, and Breton Isles, and not finding sufficient vent up the rigolets, nor down the outlets of the bay, it forced a number of very deep chan­nels through these islands, cutting them into a great number of small islands. The high island of the Chandeleur had all the surface of its ground washed off, and i really think, had not the clay been held fast by the roots of the black man­grove, and in some places the myrtle (Myrica) [Page 7] there would have been scarce a vestige of the island left; at the mouth of Missisippi all the shipping was drove into the marshes; a Spanish brig foundered and parted, and a large crew was lost, some of the people were taken from a piece of her at sea, by a sloop from Pensacola a few days af­ter; in the lakes at Chef Menteur, and in the passes of the rigolets, the water rose prodigiously and covered the low islands there two feet; at St. John's Creek, and New Orleans, the tide was thought extraordinary high, but at all these last places there was no wind felt, being a fine serene day with a small air from the eastward.

The most extraordinary effect of this hurricane was the production of a second crop of leaves and fruit on all the mulberry trees in this country, a circumstance into which i very carefully enquired, but could not learn from the oldest and most curi­ous observers that this had ever happened before; this tardy tree budded, foliated, blossomed, and bore ripe fruit with the amazing rapidity of only four weeks time immediately after the gust, and no other trees were thus affected.

The south and south west winds make a thick heavy air, and are in my opinion hurtful to the lungs; they also occasion the sultry weather, so much complained of in July and August. The winds from the eastern quarter every where between the south east and the north east, are cool and moist, and they cause the frequent showers, by which the very sand of this climate is endued with so prodigious a vegetative power that it amazes every one. The winds from the east to the north are agreeably cool, and from the north to the north west, occasion what is here called cold weather; i [Page 8] have frequently kept thermometrical journals, but have none left now for inspection.

I remember the general height of the mercury on Fahrenheit's scale, to have been, in the shade where the air was not prevented circulating freely about it, between 84° and 88° and on some sultry hot days in July and August, i have known it to rise up to 94°, when at the same time by carrying it out and exposing it to the sun, it will rise in a very short time up to 114°, nor can i remember ever to have seen it above one or two degrees be­low the freezing point; it is impossible for one to imagine how inexpressibly temperate the weather is here from the latter end of September to the lat­ter end of June; the western part of this northern division is not so very hot in summer, as the whole eastern shore of the Peninsula is, but its sea shore is much more exposed to the bleak winter winds.

In the southern division i have never seen the mercury in Fahrenheit's thermometer below the temperate point, and i cannot remember ever to have seen it higher than in the northern division.

This southern part of the Peninsula is in the months of May, June, July, and August very subject, on its west side, to dreadful squalls, and there is a certainty of one or more of these tornadoes every day, when during that season, the wind comes any where between the south south east, and south west, but they are of very short duration; then also thunder and lightning is fre­quent, but nothing near so violent as in Caroli­na and Georgia, nor do i remember any more than one instance of damage occasioned by it, when it made a large hole in a stone wall of a house at St. Augustine; yet very few electrical conductors are made use of there.

[Page 9]Before i quit this subject of the air, i cannot help taking notice of a remark, which i have read some where, made by Dr. James McKenzie, which is that dampness or discoloring of plaister, and wainscoat, the soon moulding of bread, moist­ness of spunge, dissolution of loaf sugar, rusting of metals, and rotting of furniture, are certain marks of a bad air; now every one of those marks except the last, are more to be seen at St. Augus­tine, than in any place i ever was at, and yet i do not think, that on all the continent, there is a more healthy spot; burials have been less frequent here, than any where else, where an equal number of inhabitants is to be found, and it was remark­ed during my stay there, that when a detachment of the royal regiment of artillery once arrived there in a sickly state, none of the inhabitants caught the contagion, and the troops themselves soon recruited; i also know of several asthmatic and consumptive subjects, who have been greatly re­lieved there; the Spanish inhabitants lived here to a great age, and certain it is, that the people of the Havannah looked on it as their Montpe­lier, frequenting it for the sake of health; i there­fore ascribe the above circumstances to the nature of the stone, wherewith the houses are built.

Haloes, or as they are vulgarly called circles round the sun and moon, are very often seen, and are sure forerunners of rain if not wind storms; those of the sun are less frequent, but they are al­ways followed by very violent gales of wind; it is remarkable, that if in those haloes a break is ob­served, that break is always towards the quarter, from whence the wind begins; water spouts are often seen along this coast, but i cannot learn that [Page 10] they ever occasioned any mischief, nor could i learn, that earthquakes have ever been experienced in this part of the world.

Of West Florida, there needs scarce any thing more to be said, with regad to the article of climate, or air, than what i have said of my northern division of East Florida, it agreeing in every respect there­with, except that the winter is something more se­vere, it often killing tender fruit trees; ^* however, as the sickness of 1765 at Mobile, has been a sub­ject of much discourse, and as it has been set up (by people who would if possible prevent the po­pulation of so fine a country) as a scarecrow to such, as are easily deceived by appearances, and never enquire deeper than external shews; this fa­tal disorder has been followed by the entire ruin of Mobile, and had nearly spoiled the reputation of Pensacola, which though situate in as fine, airy, dry and healthy a site as any on the continent, and at least at a distance of sixty miles from Mo­bile, had yet the misfortune to be confounded with it, and to be thought liable to the same mis­fortunes; i will give as faithful an account of that illness, as has come within the verge of my know­ledge.

Mobile was originally built by the French, af­ter they had left their old Fort Condè, thirty miles higher up the Tombecbé, having found that situation very inconvenient; they now made at least as injudicious a choice in another respect, by placing themselves at a distance from good water, on low ground, and directly opposite to some marshy islands, at the division between the salt and fresh water, a situation well known in America not to be eligible for the sake of health, but the [Page 11] convenience of the navigation up to it being the best in their possession at that time, its being a bar­rier against the Spaniards, and the easy communi­cation with the Chactaw and Upper Creek nations, as well as with the Mississippi, made people forget the evils attending it, and it soon became, from a fort, a pretty town, with some very good houses built in no inelegant taste, yet the French inhabi­tants duly observing the inconveniencies of this unhealthy spot, adapted their constitutions to it, by a regular sober life, being uncommonly care­ful to get their drinking water from a rivulet at the distance of three miles, where it is very good, nei­ther did they give into excess of drinking spiritu­ous liquors and wine, and at the season, when the continued heat caused a putrefaction of the water in pools, and exhaled the moisture of this low ground, thereby filling the air with noxious vapours, and thus occasioning the acute epidemical disorders (that proved so fatal in the year 1765) those pru­dent inhabitants retired to their plantations up or down the river, some even at a small distance, there to enjoy a freer circulation of a less putrified air, thus also by the depopulation of the town, the remaining inhabitants suffered less by being less crowded together, and there were such instances of longevity here as are not to be outdone in any part of America. Let me beg leave to mention among many others, one more commonly known, it is the Chevalier de Lucere's family, who are now all very old, and whose mother not many years since died by breaking one of her legs, that had been so much calcarizated by the gout, that it snapped by stepping into bed, she died aged far above one hundred years. One other i shall men­tion, [Page 12] more familiar to me, which is that of one Mr. François, who lives now about five miles be­low the river Poule: In September 1771, i cal­led there, the old man told me he was then past eighty three years of age, that the old woman, whom i saw putting bread into the oven, was his mother; and that she was one of the first women that came from France to this country; i saw her about her domestick business in many ways; in a very cheerful manner, singing and running from place to place as briskly as a girl of twenty; Mr. François told me, that at the age of sixty he fell out of a pine tree, above fifty feet high, with his loins over a fallen one, that he with difficulty recover­ed, and that had it not been for that accident, he would not, as he thinks, yet have been sensible of the heavy hand of time; that he was still a hearty cheerful old man, was evidently to be seen; when i came to the river Poule in October 1772, i met the same old gentleman fishing at the mouth of the river, on my asking him whether this diversion was agreeable to him, he told me; that his mother had an inclination to eat fish, and he was come to get her a mess; he was then on foot and had five miles to come to this place, and as much back with his prey, after catching it; a very dutiful son this at eighty five! He lives comfortably at an agreeable place, and on the produce of a mid­ling large stock of cattle.

Many more of this kind might be mentioned, but these two being more universally known, i chose to relate them only. Far otherwise was it with our sons of incontinence, who upon their arri­val, and after their first taking possession of this country, lived there so fast, that their race was [Page 13] too soon scampered over; midnight carouzals, and the converting day into night, and night into day was all the study of those gay, those thought­less men, who sported with their lives; as with a toy not worth esteeming; the fatal effects of their debauches; joined to the consequences of the situ­ation of their residence, made their lives indeed comparable to grass, flourishing to day, and wi­thering to morrow; but as if a punishment for this abandoned life, was not sufficiently inc [...]rred by its own fatality, in the year 1765 arrived a regiment (i think the twenty first) from Jamaica, with them they brought a contagious distemper; con­tracted either in the island, or on their passage; these men, like most soldiers; lived a life of intem­perance, and besides, drank the water out of the stagnated pools, which i myself have even in the winter, seen such as to fill a man with horror at the thought of making use thereof, this and other inconveniences of a soldier's life, joined to their arriving in a bad season, swept them off so as scarce to leave a living one to bury the dead. See there the true reason of the sickly character of the climate, and of the destruction of this once flou­rishing town, whose situation by far exceeds that of Savannah in Georgia, in every respect.

It is an almost invariable rule for people, who intend going to a different climate, to consult some friend or acquaintance on the manner of life, he would advise him to lead, i have never yet heard of one going to Florida, who was not told by his friend, that a free glass was necessary; how true this is, i shall not pretend to say, but certain it is, that the advice is almost always too freely followed, the free glass generally degenerating in­to a glass of excess.

[Page 14]Notwithstanding all i have above asserted, it is not to be denied, that during the hot months, the air is not so wholesome as in the other seasons, but even then it does not so much affect careful stran­gers, and new comers, as those who have been some time there and live irregular lives.

The night air is not so much to be dreaded here, as in countries where the sun is vertical, or nearly so, and consequently, by its long absence, makes a chilling penetrating night follow a burn­ing day, but here it is not long enough absent to cool the atmosphere sufficiently to hurt the unwea­ry sleeper, who during the first heat of a sultry night perhaps has exposed his open pores to the mercy of the air.

The atmosphere is, during this season, so burn­ing hot, that undoubtedly very sudden rarefacti­ons of the humours are often experienced, which cause such abundant perspiration, that water, as soon as drank, penetrates the open pores, so that the human skin seems to be comparable to a wet spunge when squeezed; yet although the water is here very cool (and if it has not this quality natu­rally, it is artificially made to acquire it) we ne­ver hear of the fatal effects of water drinking, so often experienced in the cities of New York and Philadelphia, the reason perhaps is, that it is sel­dom if ever drank unmixed.

I will however venture to foretell, that on open­ing the woods of this country for cultivation, which will naturally drain ponds, gullies, &c. the air will be here very little affected by those perni­cious vapours, which have so uncommon an influ­ence over the humours and fibrous parts of the hu­man frame, as to destroy their harmonious con­cordance [Page 15] (may i be admitted the phrase?) and occasioning them to relax, and thereby producing weaknesses, lassitudes, and finally dangerous and fatal disorders.

If we consider the effects of heat and humidi­ty on the hardest substances, such as wood, and even metals, which are thereby expanded, and have the union of their solid parts relaxed, it may give us an idea, how much more their effects must be felt in the animal oeconomy at times, when fire and water unite their dissolving powers to act on all nature.

A very dry hot air, though less dangerous to the body, than a hot moist one, has yet very near­ly the same effects, as it partially dries the Ponds, Marshes, Swamps, &c. leaving the re­maining water and mud to exhale, and spread their noxious vapours through the atmosphere.

Every inhabitant of any part of America knows, that the sudden transitions from cold to heat so prevalent on that continent, are much more to be dreaded, than any of the above named causes of immoderate heat, cold, moisture, and drought.

I am now to consider the nature and appearance of the earth, which in this part of America, may be divided into six different sorts, much the same as in Carolina, with this distinction, that it is much more unequally divided.

I shall treat of them by the names of pine land, Hammock land, savannahs, swamps, marshes, and bay, or cypress galls.

First the pine land, commonly called pine bar­ren, which makes up the largest body by far, the Peninsula being scarce any thing else; but about an hundred miles towards the north west from St. [Page 16] Augustine, and about two hundred from the sea in West Florida, carry us intirely out of it. This land consists of a grey, or white sand, and in ma­ny places of a red or yellow gravel; it produces a great variety of shrubs or plants, of which i shall hereafter describe some, the principal produce from whence it derives its name is the pinus foliis longissimis ex una theca ternis, or yellow pine and pitch pine tree, which i take to be a variety of the same species, both excellent and good timber.

Also the chamoerops frondibus palmatis plicatis stipitibus serratis, of whose fruit all animals are very fond.

It is on this kind of land, that immense stocks of cattle are maintained, although the most natural grass on this soil is of a very harsh nature, and the cattle not at all fond of it, it is known by the name of wire grass; and they only eat it while young; for the procuring it young or renewing this kind of pasture, the woods are frequently fired, and at different seasons, in order to have a succession of young grass, but the savannahs that are interspersed in this kind of land furnish a more plentiful and more proper food for the cattle.

Some high pine hills are so covered with two or three varieties of the quercus or oak so as to make an underwood to the lofty pines; and a species of dwarf chesnut is often found here; another species of a larger growth is also found in the lower parts, particularly in the edges of the bay or cypress galls.

This barren and unfavourable soil in a wet sea­son bears many things far beyond expectation; and is very useful for the cultivation of peach and mulberry orchards; this land might also be ren­dered useful for many other purposes, but either [Page 17] the people do not choose to go out of the old beaten track, or content themselves with looking elsewhere for new land improveable with less cost; the me­thod of meliorating it is certainly obvious to the meanest capacity, as it every where, at a greater or less depth, covers a st [...]ff marly kind of clay, which i am certain, was it properly mixed with the land; would render it fertile, and this might be done with little expence, the clay laying in some places within half a foot or a foot of the surface; in most places it is found at the depth of three, four, or five feet, consequently not very hard to come at. In East Florida, in the southern parts, this kind of land is often very rocky, but especially from the latitude 25:50, southward to the point, where it is a solid rock, of a kind of lime stone covered with innumerable small, loose and sharp stones, every where.

In West Florida the pine land is also frequently found rocky, with an iron stone, especially near where the pines are found growing in a gravelly tract, which is frequently the case here,

The hammock land so called from its ap­pearing in tufts among the lofty pines; some small spots of this kind, if seen at a distance, have a very romantick appearance; the large parcels of it often divide swamps, creeks, or rivers from the pine land, this is indeed its most common situati­on; the whole of the up lands, remote from the sea in the northern parts, is this kind of land, its soil is various, in some places a sand of divers co­lours, and in East Florida, often a white sand; but the true hammock soil is a mixture of clay and a blackish sand, and in some spots a kind of ochre, in East Florida some of this is also sometimes [Page 18] found rocky; on every kind of this land lays a stratum of black mould, made by the decayed leaves &c. of the wood and other plants growing upon it; the salts contained in this stratum render it very fruitful, and when cleared this is the best; nay the only fit land for the production of indigo, potatoes, and pulse; the first crops, by means of the manure above mentioned, generally are very plentiful, but the salts being soon evaporated, if the soil over which it lay, should prove to be sand, it is not better than pine land; the other sort bears many years planting; its natural produce is so various in this climate, that the compleat descrip­tion of all, would be more work than one man's life time would be sufficient for, the principal how­ever are the following:

• Quercus alba Virginiana. Virginian white oak.
• Quercus alba pumilis. Dwarf white oak, or post oak.
• Quercus, foliis oblongis non sinuatis, semper vi­rens. Evergreen oak with ob­long entire leaves, or live oak.
• Quercus nigra, folio non serrato, in summitate quasi triangulo. Black oak, with leaves serrated, and their tops almost triangu­lar.
• Quercus nigra foliis cunei forma, obsolete trilo­bis. Black oak, with wedge shaped leaves, and having imperfectly three lobes.
• Quercus nigra Marilandi­ca, folio trifido, ad sassafras accidente: Black Maryland oak, with trifid leaves re­sembling sassafras.
• [Page 19] Quercus rubra Carolinen­sis, virens muricata. Carolina red oak, prick­ly when young.
• Quercus castaneae foliis, procera arbor. Chesnut leaved oak of a large size.
• Juglans alba, fructu ova­to compresso profundè insculpio durissimo, ca­vitate intus minima. White walnut, or hick­ory with egg shaped fruit closely grasped, and buried, in a very hard shell, with the smallest inward cavi­ties
• Juglans Virginiana alba minor. Small Virginian hicko­ry tree.
• Nux juglans nigra. Black walnut.
• Fagus humilis (seu casta­nea, pumila) racemosa fructu parvo; in capsu­lis echinatis, singulo. Smallest fagus (or dwarf chesnut) having the fruit in bunches, and contained singly in a prickly pod, vulgo chinkapin.
• Fagus foliis lanceolatis ovatis, acute serratis subtus tomentosis, a­mentis filiformi nodo­sis, fructu in capsulis echinatis, duplice. Fagus, with leaves be­tween egg and spear shaped, sharply ser­rated and woolly underneath, slender knotty catkins, and a double fruit in a prickly pod.
• Morus foliis subtus tomen­tosis amentis longis, di­oecis. Mulberry with the un­der part of the leaves woolly, having long catkins; and trees of different sexes.
• Morus, loti arboris instan, [Page 20] ramosa; foliis amplissi­mis. Mulberry resembling the lote-tree full of branches; and large leaves.
• Morus foliis palmatis, cortice filamentosa, fructu nigro, radice tinctoria. Mulberry with hand shaped leaves a threa­dy bark, black fruit, and the root contain­ing a dye.
• Diospyros guajacana. Parsimmon.
• Liquidambar, styraciflua; aceris folio. Maple leaved liquidam­ber, yielding storax or sweet gum.
• Borassus frondibus palma­tis (seu) palma cocci­fera latifolio, fructu a­tro purpureo, omnium minimo. Borassus, with hand or fan shaped leaves (or) scarlet yielding palm, with broad leaves, and a deep purple fruit which is the least of all.
• Palma humilis (seu) cha­maeriphis. Dwarf palm, or cha­maeriphis.
• Laurus foliis acuminatis, baccis caeruleis, pedicel­lis longis rubris insiden­tibus. Laurel, with pointed leaves, and blue ber­ries, sitting on long red foot stalks.
• Laurus (seu cinnamomum sylvestre) Americana. The wild American cin­namon Laurel.
• Laurus (seu) cornus mas odorata, folio trefido, margine plano, sassa­fras dicta. The male scented cornel or laurel tree, with a trifid leaf, having plain edges, called sassafras.
• Liliodendron tulipifera, tripartito, aceris folio, [Page 21] media lacinia velut abscissa. Tulip bearing lilioden­dron, with a tripar­tite maple leaf, hav­ing the middle piece seemingly cut off.
• Magnolia maximo store, foliis subtus ferrugi­neis. Magnolia, with the lar­gest flower, and the lower side of the leaves ferrugineous.
• Magnolia glauea laurifo­lio subtus albicante. Magnolia, with a grey laurel leaf whitish be­low.
• Magnolia flore albo, folio majore acuminato baud albicante. Magnolia, with a white flower, a larger point­ed leaf, and not whitish.
• Magnolia tripetala am­plissimo flore albo, fruc­tu coccineo. Magnolia, with a very large white flower of three petals; and a scarlet fruit.
• Citrus (seu) malus au­rantia acida. The sour orange.
• ^* Illicium floridanum (seu) anisum stellatum. Starry anniseed, or skimmi.
• Kalmia, foliis glabris lan­ceolatis; et corolla cam­panulae lypocraterique forma. Kalmia, with smooth lanceolate leaves, and a corolla between sal­ver and bell shaped.
• Ficus Americana, citri folio, fructu parvo pur­pureo. American fig, with a citron leaf and a small purple fruit.
• Coccoleba (seu) prunus maritima racemosa, fo­lio subrot [...]ndo, ve [...]oso [Page 22] fructu caeruleo quasi purpureo. Coccoloba, or sea side plumb, growing in bunches, an almost round veined leaf, & the fruit blue, inclin­ed to purple.
• Coccoloba foliis oblongis o­vatis venosis, uvis mi­neribus corinthiacis. Coccoloba, with oblong egg shaped veined leaves, with pointed grape like fruit less than currants.
• Zantoxylum spinosum al­bum, quasi fraxini fo­lio, evonymi fructu capsulari. Tooth ach tree, with white spines almost an ash leaf, and the cap­sulum like the fruit of the spindle tree.

The savannah's are in this country of two very different kinds, the one is to be found in the pine lands; and notwithstanding the black appearance of the soil, they are as much a white sand as the higher lands round them; true it is that clay is very often much nearer to their surface, than in the higher pine lands; they are a kind of sinks or drains to those higher lands, and their low situa­tion only prevents the growth of pines in them. In wet weather the roads leading through them are almost impassable. On account of their pro­ducing some species of grass of a better kind than the wire grass, they are very often stiled meadows, and i believe, if they could be improved by drain­ing them, without taking away all their moisture, very useful grass might be raised in them; but on draining them completely, they prove to be as arrant a sand as any in this country. These sa­vannahs often have spots in them more low than common, and filled with water; they are over grown with different species of the crataegus, or hawthorn, as also very often a species of shrub [Page 23] much resembling the Laurus in appearance, but a [...] i never had an opportunity of seeing it in blossom, i cannot describe it, so as to ascertain the genus it belongs to; in its fruit it is widely different from any of the laurel kind, that have fallen un­der my inspection; it is a bacca with several cells full of an agreeable acid like the common lime from the West Indies; it is of the size of a large pigeon's egg, but more oblong; we also find it on the low banks of rivers in Georgia, and know it by the name of the Ogeechee lime. The other savannahs differ very widely from these, and are chiefly to be found in West Florida, they consist of a high ground often with small gentle risings in them, some are of a vast extent, and on the west of Mississippi, they are said to be many days jour­ney over, the l [...]rgest within my knowledge is on the road from the Chactaw to the Chicasaw nation, and is in length near forty miles over from north to south, and from one end to the other, a hori­zon, similar to that at sea, appears; there is gene­rally a rivulet at one or other, or at each end of the savannahs, and some come to the river banks; in one or two of them i have seen some very small remains of ancient huts, by which i judge, they were formerly inhabited by indians; the soil here is very fertile; in some i have seen fossil shells in great numbers, in others, flint, in others again, some chalk and marl; it is remarkable, that cattle are very fond of the grasses growing here; the Chi­casaw old field, as it is termed, is a clear demonstrati­on of this, for the cattle will come to it from any dis­tance, even when the grass scarcely appears; and in all the circumjacent tract, are abundance of both winter and summer canes to be found, on which [Page 24] they might more luxuriously feed. In these savan­nahs if a well or pond is dug, the water has a very strong nitrous taste. I have seen some very curi­ous plants in this kind of ground, but there was no time for my examining any of them, except a nondescript of the genus Tagetes of a fine crim­son colour. I shall in some measure describe and give the figure of this plant. The only high growth i have seen in these savannahs are some willows and other aquatic plants, by the side of rivulets, in or near them; some of the smaller kind of oaks and a few small junipers are also to be seen in those places, the fragaria or strawberry is very common in them.

Swamps are also found of two kinds, river and inland swamps, those on the rivers are justly esteemed the most valuable, and the more so, if they are in the tide way, because then the river water may be at pleasure let on or kept out, with much less labour and expence than in the other kinds; these lands are the sources of riches in these provinces, because where they lay between the sandy pine barrens, they produce that valuable staple Rice, and on the Mississippi (where much of this river land is situated a great deal higher, than the common run of it in Carolina, and other similar countries) this soil is the best adapted for corn and indigo, yet known; some of these grounds are clay, others sand, and others again partake of both; when used for rice, it matters not which of these soils they are made up of, but I believe, were the sandy ones to be quite drained, they would prove barren enough; the use of water on rice is more to suppress the growth of noxious weeds and grass, which would otherwise stifle the grain, than for promoting the growth of the rice itself, for none [Page 25] of the grasses can stand the water, but rice does, as long as it is not totally immersed, therefore it is, that after weeding, the planter (if he has it con­venient) lets on water to about half the height of his grain; by swamps then in general is to be un­derstood any low ground subject to inundations, distinguished from marshes, in having a large growth of timber, and much underwood, canes, reeds, wythes, vines, briars and such like, so matted together, that they are in a great measure impenetrable to man or beast; the produce of these swamps if sandy is more generally the cypress tree, which is here of three species; two of these grow in this kind of land; the common sort grows to an enormous size, but none so large, as what is seen on or near the banks of the Mississippi, the other kind vulgarly miscalled white cedar, is in great quantities near Pensacola, particularly in the swamps of Chester River; this likewise grows to a tree which may be ranked among those of the first magnitude: If these swamps are not altogether sand, but mixed with clay, and other earth, their produce is in general.

• Cupressus Americana fo­liis deciduis. American deciduous cypress
• Cupressus semper virens seu cupressus Thyoides. Evergreen cypress, vul­go white cedar.
• Quercus alba aquatica sa­licis folio breviore. White swamp oak, with a short willow leaf, vulgo water oak.
• Quercus folio longo angus­to salicis. Oak with a long nar­row willow leaf, vul­go willow oak.
• [Page 26] Quercus alba foliis super­ne latioribus, opposite sinuatis, sinubus angu­lisque obtusis. White oak, with the up­per leaves broad, op­positely sinuated, the sinusses having obtuse angles, or the true white oak.
• Ilex floridana, foliis den­tatis, baccis rubris. Floridan holly, with indented leaves and red berries.
• Acer foliis compositis, flo­ribus racemosis. Maple, with composite leaves and the flowers in bunches.
• Acer foliis quinque par­tito palmatis acumina­to dentatis. Maple, with a palmated leaf of five parts sharply indented.
• Acer foliis quinquelobis subdentatis, subtus glau­cis pedunculis simplissi­mis aggregatis. Maple, with a five lo­bed leaf faintly in­dented, their lower part of a blue cast, with simply aggre­gate flower stalks.
• Fraxinus floridana, foliis angustioribus utrinque acuminatis pendulis. Floridan ash, with nar­row hanging leaves on both ends point­ed.
• Nyssa foliis latis acumina­tis et dentatis fructu aeleagui majore. Tupelo, with broad pointed and indented leaves, with a fruit like the largest wild olive.
• Populus alba majoribus foliis subcordatis. Great white popular, with almost heart shaped leaves.
• Populus nigra folio max­imo, gemmis balsamum [Page 27] odoratissimum funden­tibus. Black popular, with the largest leaves, whose buds exude an odori­ferous gum or bal­sam.
• Platanus occidentalis foliis lobatis. Western plantane, with lobated leaves (vul­go button wood, water beech, or syca­more.
• Salix folio angustissimo, longissimo subtus albo. Willow, with narrow long leaves, being white below.
• Bignonia foliis simplici­bus cordatis, flore sor­didè albo, intus macu­lis caeruleis et purpureis irregulariter adspersis; silique longissima et an­gustissima. Bignonia, or trumpet flower, with single heart shaped leaves, flowers of a dirty white, through whose inside blue and pur­ple spots are irregu­larly scattered, hav­ing a long and nar­row seed pod (vulgo) catalpa.
• Bignonia, fraxini foliis. Bignonia, with an ash leaf.
• Laurus foliis acuminatis, baccis caeruleis; pedi­cellis longis rubris insi­dentibus. Laurel, with a pointed leaf, blue berries sit­ting on long foot­stalks.
• Crataegus fructu parvo rubro. Hawthorn, with a small red fruit.
• Genista capsulo aromatico. Broom, with an aroma­tic seed pod.
• Vitis nigra, vulpina dicta. Black vine, called fox grape.
• Vitis foliis api, uva co­rymbosa [Page 28] purpura mi­nore. Parsley leaved vine, with small purple grapes in a corymbus.
• Vitis vinifera silvestris. Wild wine vine.
• Betula nigra foliis rhom­beis ovatis acuminatis duplicato serratis Black birch; with ovate rhomboid leaves, be­ing doubly serrated.
• Coriaria foliis gladiatis serratis (seu) nicotia­na Indiorum. Shumac, with serrated sword like leaves, or Savages tobacco,
• Rhus vernix (seu) toxi­codendron foliis alatis fructu rhomboide. Shumac or poison tree, with winged leaves, and a rhomboidal fruit.
• Juglans alba aquatica, cortice glabro, arbor humilis; fructu amaro. White swamp hickory, with a smooth bark being a dwarf tree and a bitter fruit.
• Sambucus racemosa-acinis nigris, caula herbacea. Elder, with bunches of black berries, and an herbaceous stalk.
• Sambucus cymis quinque­partitis foliis subpinna­tis. Elder, with the cyma of five parts and im­perfectly winged leaves.
• Magnolia, glauca lauri folio subtus albicante. Magnolia, with a green laurel leaf whitish be­low-
• Fagus foliis ovatis obso­lete serratis; fructu triangulo. Beech, with almost egg shaped slightly serrat­ed leaves and a trian­gular fruit.
• Myrica (seu) myrtus (bra­bantica similis) florida­na, baccisera, baccis sessilis; fructu cerifero. Florida berry-bearing myrtle, the berries squat; and yielding wax.
• [Page 29] Canna foliis enervibus. Reed, with very week leaves
• Gleditsia spinosa, spinis triplicibus axillaribus, capsula ovali, unicum semen claudente. Locust, with triple axillary spines, an o­val seed pod inclosing a single seed.
• Salix folio angustissimo serrato glabro, petiolis dentatis glandu losis. Willow, with very nar­row smooth serrated leaves, the stalks dentated and full of glandules.

The back or inland swamps answer in situation to what are called the meadows or savannahs (among the pine lands) their soil being rich, oc­casions them to bear trees. The true back swamps, that are in wet seasons full of standing water, bear scarcely any other tree, than a variety of that spe­cies of Nyssa distinguished by Botanists by the name of Nyssa foliis latis acuminatis non dentatis fruc­tu aeleagni minore, pedunculis multiflore, vulgarly called bottle arsed tupelo; the continuance of wa­ter on this kind of ground, is the reason why scarce any undergrowth is found here. There are swamps also called back swamps, but they are either at the head of some stream, or have more or less wa­ter running through them; these are generally easy to drain. I would have confined my description of back swamps to the first or standing ones, and rank­ed the last (which i think might properly be done) among the river swamps, but i was apprehensive, that it might have displeased some person, who entertains the more established opinion; these last described often are found meer cypress swamps, in that case, they are almost impassable, by reason [Page 30] of the cypress spurs, even when dry, and for horses, they are extremely dangerous, as they of­ten get staked on those spurs. This vegetable monster i shall hereafter describe; i do not remem­ber to have ever seen it mentioned any where; when this kind of swamp is not over grown with cypress alone, its product is the same as that of the river swamps above mentioned, and in that case the soil is certainly good; these last when pro­perly drained, are the best land for the cultivation of hemp.

The marshes are next to be considered, they are of four kinds, two in the salt, and two in the fresh water; they are either soft or hard, the soft marshes consisting of a very wet clay or mud, are as yet of no use, without a very great expence to drain them; the hard ones are made up of a kind of marly clay, which in dry seasons is almost burned up, true it is they afford a pasture suffici­ent to keep any gramenivorous animals in good order; but the milk and flesh of them in seasons, when the cattle near the sea side cannot find any other food, and consequently feed on this alone, are of so horrible a taste, that no stranger to the country can make use of them. Hard marshes in general are such, whose soil has too much solidity, for the water to disunite its particles by penetrating them; the soft marshes are those, whose spungy nature allows the water easily to penetrate them; i have seen of both kinds on Turtle River, about twenty miles up, in which, at about eight or ten feet be­low the surface, there are numbers of cypress and other stumps remaining, but chiefly cypress, and many of the fallen trees crossing each other; this is only to be seen at low water, and to the height [Page]

[Page 31] above named; these trees are covered with a rich nitrous muddy soil; but i beg leave to expect, that better Naturalists may explain this extraordi­nary appearance; i believe them ruins of ancient forests on which the sea has encroached. ^*

The marshes on fresh water are in every respect similar to those on the salt, except, that they are not impregnated with the saline particles, of which the first are very replete; therefore the hard ones, with little trouble, are adapted to cultivatïon; the soft ones cost a considerable deal more of ex­pence, to render them fit to answer this purpose, but when so drained as to answer this end, they certainly are by no means inferior to any land in this country; in the lower part of these marshes grows a kind of hitherto undescribed grain, of which the western Indians make a great use for bread, i never could see it in blossom, therefore, cannot describe it, but joined to this is a figure of it, nearly equal in size to one eighth of the com­mon growth of the plant when in perfection, it is known by the name of wild oats.

This kind of land produces rice very willingly, but if sufficiently made dry, always proves the best for corn, indigo and hemp; i have seen at Mr. Brewington's plantation, about three miles below savannah in Georgia, very good corn and rice to­gether, with the two kinds of melons, and cu­cumbers in great perfection on this species of soil.

I shall next describe the bay and cypress galls; these intersect the pine lands, and are seldom of any breadth; the bay galls are properly water courses, covered with a spungy earth mixed with [Page 32] a kind of matted vegetable fibres; they are so very unstable, as to shake for a great extent round a person, who, standing on some part thereof, moves himself slightly up and down; they often prove fatal to cattle, and sometimes i have been detained for above an hour at the narrowest passes of them, they being so dangerous to cross, that frequently a horse plunges in, so as to leave only his head in sight; their natural produce is a stately tree called loblolly bay, ^* and many different vines, briars, thorny withs, and on their edges a species of red or summer cane, which together combine to make this ground impenetrable, as if nature had thus intended to prevent the destruction of cattle in these dismal bogs, which would be particularly fatal to many of them in spring, when the early produce of grass and green leaves in these galls, might en­tice them into this danger, was not such a natural obstacle in their way; as these have generally vent, they are sometimes drained, and rice planted there­in, which for one or two years thrives there tole­rably, but this ground is so replete with vitriolic principles, that the water standing in them is im­pregnated with acid, insomuch, that i have tasted it sour enough to have persuaded a person, unac­quainted with this circumstance, that it was an equal portion of vinegar and water mixed toge­ther, therefore it requires to lay open at least one year before it will bear any thing, and they gene­rally, by laying open four or five years without any other draining, become quite dry, and might be advantageously used for pasture ground.

The cypress galls differ from these, in being a firm sandy soil, in having no vitriolic taste in the [Page 33] water, and very seldom vent; i never knew these made use of for the purpose of planting, and the cypress they produce, is a dwarf kind, not fit for use, being very much twisted and often hollow, there is no undergrowth here, but in dry seasons some tolerable grass. Through all the above spe­cies of land we find a distribution of very fine clay, fit for manufacturing; the finest i ever saw is at the village on Mobile Bay, where i have seen the inhabitants, in imitation of the Savages, have several rough made vessels thereof; there is also a great variety of nitrous and bituminous earths, fossills, marles, boles, magnetic and other iron ore, lead, coal, chalk, slate, free stone, chrys­tals, and white topazes, these last in the beds of rivers; ambergris is sometimes found; one Stir­rup a few years ago found a piece of a very enor­mous size on one of the keys; there is also much of a natural pitch or asphalthus, vulgarly called mungiac, thrown up by the sea: The uplands also afford a metallic substance appearing like musket bullets, which on being thrown into the fire go off in smoak with a very sulphureous stench.

The water in this country is very various as to taste, quality and use, there are salt, brackish, ni­trous, sulphureous, and good fresh springs in most parts of this country, as well as salt and fresh lakes, lagoons and rivers, the rivers also vary in many respects, and so does the sea as well in the colour, and clearness of the water as in its degree of saltness; the water of St. Mary's and Nassau, and all the brooks that run into them is very good, wholesome, and well tasted, the colour in the ri­vers is dark, as in all the American rivers of the [Page 34] southern district; St. John's is a curiosity among ri­vers indeed, this rises at a small distance from the la­goon called Indian river, somewhere in or near the latitude of 27, perhaps out of the lake Mayacco, which i have reason to believe really exists, and is the head of the river St. Lucia, as i am told by a credible Spanish hunter, who had been carried there by way of this last river; from its origin it runs through wide extended plains and marshes, till near the latitude 28, where it approaches the lagoon much, it then continues its course with a considerable current northward, and glides thro' five great lakes, of which the last, called Lake George, is by much the most considerable; in this last lake is about eight feet water, it is twenty miles long and about eleven or twelve wide; all these lakes and the river in general is very plea­sant; endless orange groves are found here, and indeed on every part of the river; below these the river grows wider, loses it current, and has in some places none, in others a retrograde one, when yet lower down it is again in its true direction; the banks of this river are very poor land. and ex­hibit in a number of places sad monuments of the folly and extravagant ideas of the first European adventurers and schemers, and the villany of their managers; the tide does not effect this river very far up. In many places high up this river are found some extraordinary springs, which at a small distance from the river on both sides, rush or boil out of the earth, at once becoming navi­gable for boats, and from twenty five to forty yards wide, their course is seldom half a mile be­fore they meet the river; their water is (contrary to that of the river) clear, so as to admit of the [Page 35] seeing a small piece of money at the depth of ten feet or more; they smell strong of sulphur, and whatever is thrown in them becomes soon incrusted with a white fungous matter; their taste is bitu­minous, very disagreeable, and they in my opi­nion cause the green cloudings we see on the sur­face of the water of this river, and make it putrid, and so unwholesome as experience has taught us it is. I have no sufficient ground to decide upon another circumstance, which i am told, viz: That when rice is overflown with this river water, it kills it; above these springs the water of the river is good: This river is from one and a half to three miles wide, except at the house of Mr. Rolle, who has here made an odd attempt towards settling and making an estate in as complete a sandy desart as can be found; just above this, it is full of islands, exhibiting every where a very romantic appearance; there is a fine piece of water, called Dun's Lake, this is about nine miles from the ri­ver, eastward from this place, this empties itself by a stream into the river; another called the Doctor's Lake, is on the west side, about sixty miles from the mouth, we see a variety of aquatic plants floating thereon. In my journey by land from the Bay of Tampe across the Peninsula to St. Augustine, i crossed twenty three miles from east to west of miserable barren sand hills, the grain of the sand is very small and ferrugineous; these hills rise a considerable height; on them is some growth of very small pines, and a very humble kind of oak grows so thick, that with the addition of some wythes and other plants, to me ut­terly unknown, they render it absolutely impe­netrable. in this Ridge, which, as far as i can [Page 36] learn, extends from North to South, between the rivers St. John and Ocklaw-wawhaw, for about an hundred and fifty miles▪ having no where any water in its whole extent, and i am told, that where we crossed it, is its narrowest place; my Indian guide had the precaution to carry water for ourselves and horses, which proved very ser­viceable as it was a verv hot day, no growth of trees to shade us, and such a burning sand for the sun to reflect on; i leave the reader to judge what we suffered, though it was but a short distance over, both ourselves and beasts often experienced the necessity of carrying water; what must travelling over this place be in a hot day, where it is forty or more miles wide?

Before i leave St. John's River, i must not for­get the river running from south to north, called Pablo: This originates at a small distance from St. Marks or North River, and empties into St. Johns at a small distance from the mouth. The water of this river is good, so is the land on it; and it is thought that a communication with St. Mark's or the North River might be effected without much difficulty: this would open an inland navi­gation by canoes or boats, all the way from Ca­rolina to near the Musketo.

The river St. Mary although it is said to origi­nate in the Aehanphanaekin swamp has a current of fine clear and wholesome water supplied from the pine lands through which it flows, with many fine springs, runs, and rivulets of very clear water, Nassau has also the same blessings, but doth not spring far distant from the sea. On Amelia Island near the sea, is a very good spring, which makes a fine stream for some miles, dividing the island al­most [Page 37] into two; but below the spring its water is not commendable. On the beach betwen St. John's and St. Augustine, at or near a place called the Horseguards, there are three good springs running into the sea, and in every part where the beach is clear sand, water is obtained by digging. About four miles north of St. Augustine rises St. Sebastian's Creek, being a good fresh spring, it soon joins a creek in salt marshes, and at a small distance from town it becomes very large and deep; it empties into St. Anastasia's Sound two miles south of St. Augustine, making a Peninsula of this territory nearly in form of a crescent; three miles farther south is the mouth of the river St. Nicholas not very considerable; St. Cecilia in the same sound, the North west, south of the Matanca and Penon; the Tomoke and Spruce Creek in the Musketo Lagoon, and in short every river and creek in the country except those above named, are excellent wholesome water; thus much i sup­pose will suffice as to the nature and quality of the water. All the rivers and springs in West Florida are good.

The aborigines of the country come most natu­rally under our next consideration, no one is ig­norant, that the epithet of indians is given to those people, though no doubt, the French name of savage is a much more proper one, as the man­ners of the red men are in every respect such as betray that disposition, and shew the savage thro' the best wrought veil of civilization; we might call them Americans, as the inhabitants of the old world are each distinguished by a name expressive of, or relative to the quarters, from which they respectively originate, but this would be con­founding [Page 38] them with the other natives, as well white as black, which i think by no means rea­sonable.

Oldmixon with all his failings is undoubtedly the only writer, who speaks with truth and per­tinence on this subject; all other English, French, and Spanish authors, which have fallen in my way (and they are not a few) have made of this story a confused heap of nonsense and falshood; i shall relate what i know and have found from real ex­perience among four or five nations, and as i can vouch for the similarity, that will be found among them, i believe my reader will be of my opinion, that from one end of America to the other, the red people are the same nation and draw their ori­gin from a different source, than either Europe­ans, Chinese, Negroes, Moors, Indians, or any other different species of the human genus, of which i think there are many species, as well as among most other animals, and that they are not a variety occasioned by a commixture of any of the above species must also appear.

The above account will perhaps raise a conjec­ture that i believe the red men are not come from the westward out of the east of Asia; i do not believe it, i am firmly of opinion, that God cre­ated an original man and woman in this part of the globe, of different species from any in the other parts, and if per chance in the Russian do­minions, there are a people of similar make and manners, is it not more natural to think they were colonies from the numerous nations on the conti­nent of America, than to imagine, that from the small comparative number of those Russian sub­jects, such a vast country should have been so nu­merously [Page 39] peopled, and by what we know from the geographical discoveries that have been made within this century, it was undoubtedly easier for these people to have crossed out of America into Asia, than it was for the white people we find in Labrador to come from Lapland, yet who will deny that a Laplander and Eskimaux are of the same original stock; add to this, that i have both sacred and prophane history, besides daily expe­rience on my side to prove, that population, as well as all other things we find in nature, have always moved from the eastward, and still continue so to do, why then should we insist on one part of this system to move in a retrograde way, when for a further proof we find, by what we learn from the savages that have been far to the northwest, that some white people answering to the Japonese, sometimes come on that coast, but do not stay, nor have ever attempted colonization.

But alas! what a people do we find them, a people not only rude and uncultivated, but inca­pable of civilization: a people that would think themselves degraded in the lowest degree, were they to imitate us in any respect whatever, and that look down on us and all our manners with the highest contempt: and of whom experience has taught us, that on the least opportunity they will return like the dog to his vomit. See there the boasted, the admired state of nature, in which these brutes enjoy and pass their time here! How justly did the above named author exclaim:— ‘Let the learned say all the fine things that wit, eloquence, and art can inspire them with, of the simplicity of pure nature, and its beauty and innocence, the savage wretches of America [Page 40] are an instance, that this innocence is a downright stupidity, and this pretended beau­ty a deformity, which puts man, the Lord of the creation, on an equal foot (yea below) the brute beasts of the fields and forests.’

In describing a people an historian is obliged to speak as they generally are; Dr. Blackwell, draw­ing consequences from what he imagined a state of nature to be (and what i believe it may have been) among most of the nations on the old con­tinent, says:

‘In the infancy of states, men generally re­semble the publick constitution, they have on­ly that turn, which the rough culture of ac­cidents, perhaps dismal enough, through which they have passed, could give them, they are ig­norant and undesigning, governed by fear, and superstition its companion; there is a vast void in their minds, they know not what will happen, nor according to what tenor things will take their course, every new object finds them unprepared, and they gaze and stare like infants taking in their first ideas of light.’

How opposite is the savage, he is cunning and designing, knows no fear, nor has he any idea of religion to make him superstitious, on the contra­ry, the pretended conjurer who lives with him, runs a perpetual risque of his life, he has no void in his mind, but is very deliberate and careful in his mischief and cruelty; the study of what may occur in the next war or hunting season always employs him, he can ever so plan his schemes, as to be certain of his future safety, and success; without this last he neither undertakes nor risks any thing; new objects are but a momentary sur­prize [Page 41] to him, and his gazing and staring always end in sovereign contempt.

But to demonstrate more clearly the contrast be­tween a savage and the people of the old conti­nent, i beg leave to observe a few things, which have fallen under my inspection and consideration, which i apprehend will be thought pertinent to this purpose: A savage comes into this world with all the possibility of opposition to us; his mother on her approaching labour, retires from all company, aid, or assistance, into some lone­some wood, and there without perceptible pain or inconvenience, disburthens herself, goes into cold water to cleanse herself and her offspring, and re­turns to her daily vocation.

A savage has the most determined resolution against labouring or tilling the ground, the slave his wife must do that, and a boy of seven or eight years old is ashamed to be seen in his mother's company. No greater distance can be thrown on a man than calling him by the odious epithet of Woman; what other nation do we find so ab­solutely neglecting agriculture? What people are ashamed to be seen eating or drinking in company with the fairer sex?

Our women carry their children with their fa­ces towards their own, a she savage puts the back of hers towards her own back. When we make fire, we pile the fuel parrallel to each other; the savage puts his wood in a circular form, lights the central ends, and by the help of one of the sticks, which he shoves always to the center, he keeps it in.

We make war in an open brave way, a savage by hiding himself surprizes; our prisoners are sure [Page 42] of life, the prisoner of a savage is sure to die by cruel tortures. When we take a sweat, we keep ourselves warm with the utmost care; a savage with his open pores, plunges head long into the almost frozen river, or into a hole in the ice if quite frozen.

A savage man discharges his urine in a sitting posture, and a savage woman standing, i need not tell how opposite this is to our common prac­tice.

A savage never eats salted meats, nor boils any thing in salted water, though he has salt in abun­dance, but when he has been a long while from salt and then gets it, he will frequently eat a pound of it without any thing else. A savage ei­ther buries none of his dead, or if he does he puts the body in a sitting or standing posture; in a word, if they had always studied to be in contrast with us, they could not be more so, than nature has made them.

All savages, with whom i have been acquaint­ed, are, generally speaking, well made, of a good stature, and neatly limbed; crooked, lame, or otherwise deformed persons are seldom or never seen among these people; and if per chance we find a savage labouring under these misfortunes, we always find them accidental, never natural. Their colour resembles that of cinnamon, with a copperish cast; they are born white, but retain that hue a very short time; their hair is lank, strong, black, and long; they prevent the growth of what little beard nature has given them, by plucking it out by the roots; they never suffer any hair to grow on any part of the body except [Page 43] the head, their eyes are black, lively and pierc­ing, and they are blessed with an amazing faculty of discovering objects at a vast distance; their teeth are very good, and to the last they retain them, being never subject to the tooth ach; they are strong and active, patient in hunger and the fatigue of hunting and journeying, but im­patient and incapable of bearing labour, they are incredibly swift of foot; their discourse is gene­rally of war, hunting, or indecency; their wo­men are handsome, well made, only wanting the colour and cleanliness of our ladies, to make them appear lovely in every eye; their strength is great, and they labour hard, carrying very heavy burdens a great distance; they are lascivi­ous, and have no idea of chastity in a girl, but in married women, incontinence is severely pu­nished; a savage never forgives that crime. They are capable of an attachment, rather than a friend­ship; addicted to lying in a high degree; their seeming candour and simplicity is an effect of dis­simulation; they know how to save appearances, and will always find ways to cover their knavish, thieving tricks; their notions of faith and honour are such as make them violate their word of pro­mise, even when they are in treaty, unless com­pelled to be true by fear or force. They are bru­tal and have not the most distant idea of decorum; without taste they are terrible drunkards, in which last state, there is no villany new crime, they will not commit, and when they recover their senses, throw the blame on the liquor, holding themselves entirely excused; no religion of any kind can we trace among them. Possessed of indifference and want of sentiment, they drag themselves through [Page 44] a kind of life, which would make us pass our days very irksomely, and tire us in a short time with the disagreeable similitude of our hours; in a word, they have nothing in their way of life to tempt a man of the least reflection, to envy them their miserable state of nature.

But with all these bad qualities, they have one virtue, which is hospitality, and this they carry to excess; a savage will share his last ounce of meat with a visitant stranger. What travellers have related of their giving their daughters to transient persons, is not true, and it is not till after some acquaintance, that they will give a white man, what they call a wife, unless he chooses an aban­doned prostitute, which are here to be found as well as elsewhere. Among the nations, which i have frequented, a young stranger (led away by the notion of this traveller's story) that would attempt, on his first acquaintance, to ask a man for his daughter, might pay dear for it. The Chactaws, who have a greater idea of a meum and tuum than any of their neighbours, are not so hospitable as they; but although they will on this principle require pay for even the least morsel, they set before one, yet the same idea of proper­ty has taken off much of their savage dispositions in many other cases.

I cannot think it foreign to my subject to men­tion, before i proceed to the particular descripti­on of each nation, something farther about the origin of the native Americans: Great pains have been taken to prove these people descended from the Phaenicians; among others i find an ano­nimous Gentleman, who gravely tells us, that Phaenicians or Erythreans in Greek, carry the same [Page 45] sense as Esau or Edom in Hebrew, both meaning red, hence that nation was red, so are the sava­ges, ergo, they are the same people; as ridicu­lous as this argument is, the pains taken to shew that the extensive navigation of the Phaenicians amounts to a proof of their having crossed rhe Atlantic to America, is no less void of sense, al­though far fetched annotations are made use of to prove their naval power, by Cambyses being o­bliged to renounce his design on Carthage, by rea­son of the Phaenicians refusing to put to sea, yet neither that, nor the proof of their having built Leptis, Utica, Hippo, Adrumetum, on the African continent, nor Calis, and Tartessus in Europe, or their colonizations in Iberia, and Lybia, nor all the power ascribed to them by Curtius, seems in the least to indicate any transit to this western world.

Equally absurd are the reveries of Comtaeus, of those who construe the island discovered by the Phaenicians (which Diodorus Siculus mentions L. 6 C. 7, and the passages of Pliny L. 5 C. 1 and Pomponius Mela L. 1 C. 4) likewise the common wealth of the alegorical dialogue between Midas and Silenus by Theopompus, and the quotation of Pausanias concerning the discovery of the Satyri­des by Euphemius of Caria) into America; also Bossu father Laffiteau, du Pratz, and others, as the re­futation of these would be uninteresting and there­fore tedious, i shall content myself with having only mentioned them, and proceed to take some notice of the more general hypothesis; that the savages are the dispersions of the ten lost tribes of Israel.

We are told, that the Americans agree in ma­ny of their customs with the Jews; but in which? [Page 46] We see not the smallest similarity in any of their ways, unless the seperation of women among the Chicasaws, at the time of their Catamenia; but not to urge how naturally this fashion might point itself out, and its being confined to one small tribe only, let us argue a little on the jew­ish grand and characteristic ceremony of circum­cision, of which the boldest genealogist in this way, cannot find any the least mark, nor traces among those people. How have the jews ne­glected to introduce this sign of the covenant here, when they have made it obtain among so many of the Easterns where they lived even as slaves and exiles; and they always thought their salvation dependent thereon? How many tribes in Africa still retain that custom, though with­out any other of the Isralitish rites, which they have forgot? but where can we discover even the most distant appearance of this ceremony in Ame­rica?

Just so is it with that pretended migration to Assareth, as mentioned in the fourth book of Esdras, in the thirteenth chapter; but without insisting on the apocryphal quality of this evi­dence, i would only ask, why this Assareth should be more America, than any other far distant country? And how they found their way by the Euphrates to this continent? Further it is evi­dent, that St. Jerome (who flourished under The­odosius in the latter end of the fourth century, lived in Asia, and held a close correspondence with the Jews, for the sake of learning their lan­guage) plainly tells us in his Ezech: L. 5, and Jerem: L. 6, that those very ten tribes, were then groaning under the severe yoke of slavery, in the [Page 47] cities of Media and Persia; this i judge to be proof enough to invalidate this journey to Assareth, and rank it along with the fables of the loss of the whole law, the confinement of souls in subterra­neous apartments, and with the childish tales of Behemoth and Leviathan in the same fourth book of Esdras.

Yet, as a farther proof of the falshood of this American expedition, by the ten tribes of Israel, i would beg leave to ask my readers, whether they can imagine, that so prodigious a migration could possibly happen at a time of the most despe­rate wars, and desolations in the very countries through which they must necessarily pass, for it is evident, that since St. Jerome's time, although the Persians had again regained their empire, yet for several centuries together, they were con­stantly warring with the Romans, Indians, and other Eastern nations, and lastly with the Saracens. 'Till the famous Tartarian expedition under Zen­gis Chan, this whole country swam in the blood of its natives, and before this period, the Greci­an wars, the conquests of Alexander, with the di­visions of his captains at his death, furnished as little opportunity for this journey, which also must have been strangely overlooked, by such a number of historians of credit, as flourished dur­ing the above space of time. I could with as much force of argument invalidate Emanuel de Moras (a Spaniard;) who, to prove that Ameri­ca is peopled from Carthage, and by the Jews, makes numerous far fetched comparisons, of the manners of these nations and the Brazilians; nor can i think, that after this, any of the favourers of this Jewish ancestry will insist, that the natives [Page 48] of America are descended from the other two tribes, since they were not only not allowed to see the land of their fathers, even in quality of travellers, but on pain of death, were they forbid to assemble in large companies, which it was however ne­cessary they should do for such a migration; but i am afraid my reader, as well as myself, is by this time tired of so much argumentation against so silly an Hypothesis.

No less idle is the argument used by Grotius concerning the Mexicans telling the Spaniards, that they came out of the North, where he thinks to find the Norwegian descent in the city Norum­bega, but who can find in North America, traces of any ancient city at all? That the Americans divide their time by nights (or sleeps, as they stile them) is true, also their dipping new born infants in cold water, their going naked, and their eating separate from the women, with many other customs of the savages, similar to the anci­ent manners of the Germans, but this only proves to me, that in the times of Tacitus and the other Roman historians, the Teutonick nations were in as savage a state of nature, as we now see the Ame­ricans; a sameness in colour, and stature, as well as, or rather than similarity of Languages is to me a requisite proof, and for that reason i believe, that the Eskimaux came from Lapland, but by what accident, we are ignorant of, and so we might guess at some eventual passage of the red savages, were we able to trace any similarity be­tween them and any nation of the old world, but we see none; yet all the islands of America, even New Zealand, are peopled by the same race as this vast continent; therefore i will rather sup­pose, [Page 49] that the savages, have sent out colonies, than that they are a colony from any other part of the earth. The same Gentleman endeavours to fetch the Peruvians from China, but with as little foundation in truth. Mr. Powell's story of Maddock the Welshman's voyage, cannot be thought fit, to ascribe a Welsh origin to the sava­ges, because they could by no means either grow to such numbers, nor degenerate so much in colour, as they must have done, in two centuries; yet even this has been made use of by a certain Dutch writer, whose name i do not now recollect; and how unluckily does Bossu here bring forth the black headed Pinguin, to prove that the Welsh word Pen-gwin, was given to this bird for a name, by Maddock's followers, because Pen is head, and gwyn is white, and Mr. Foster in his note on that passage, is as unlucky in saying Penguin is Spanish for a fat bird.

I find a more powerful argument used by those who bring the savages from Tartary; because i do not at all doubt, from my judgment of geography, that America joins Asia; but the ex­pedition of Hoccota, the son of Canguista, first King of the Tartars, as mentioned by Michalon Lituanus, in his Ennead 9, L. 6, which has like­wise been construed to have reached America, is also too late to allow them time to become so nu­merous a people; because this man lived about the year 1240; but although i believe a possibili­ty of the passage by land, yet i cannot find, that there is any similarity in the persons of the North Eastern Tarters▪ and the American savages, and much less in their manners; and if there is be­tween those of Kamschatka and America, i still [Page 50] think, that the first are more naturally to be sup­posed a small colony from the latter, than that the latter prodigious numerous people are sprung from so small a tribe as the Kamschatkans; every one of the red men over the whole continent, and those who still remain in a few of the islands, is exactly similar in person to his neighbour, and their numbers are to this day vastly great, not­withstanding the cruel depredations of the several European nations,

The contemptible light, in which Bossu en­deavours to place the number of the savages, is well confuted by Mr. Hutchin's account of the nations near our settlements, who having mutu­ally destroyed each other, and been destroyed by the sword, and liquid fire of the Europeans, at a shocking rate, yet amount by that Gentleman's moderate calculation, even at this day, to near three hundred thousand souls; therefore it is not their small number, but the vast extent of this continent, that causes their nomadic life.

But to treat more particularly against this no­tion, of the American descent from the Tartars, who can suppose that their darling animal, as well for food, labour, and war, as other uses, i mean the horse, should not have been brought along with the colony? Who knows not, that the Tartars use most, and can least spare this no­ble creature? Does not all their martial power consist in horsemen? Does not their very main­tenance depend on horses? Have we not suffici­ent proof, that many Tartarian Lords keep hun­dreds of horses, and even stable them? None are so poor as not to have two or three; when they shift their abode, do not horses carry [Page 51] their tents and provisions? When all other food fails them, garlick and mare's milk is their re­source; the very blood out of the veins of these animals supplies the place of an agreeable drink; what stream so rapid which they do not cross on their horses backs, or by holding their manes, and guiding them with a twig, while they swim at their side? making a small raft of their bag­gage, they tie it to the tail, and thus cross every river in their way; a horse's skin makes a boat to cross a very wide river, lake, or even an arm of the sea; the supposed narrow division between Asia and America, near Cape Tchukshi, could then by no means, be an obstacle to the trans­portation of these animals the division of the se­veral places, named by Bossu, through earth­quakes, is absurdly introduced, to prove that this migration happened before such a convulsion of nature, which prevented the return of any of these emigrants. A Tartarian army ap­pears larger than it is, on account of each man having two or three horses; and notwithstanding their horses die by the sword, or are killed for food, yet many thousands are yearly delivered to Russia, by the European Tartars only; this much premised, how had the savages no horses on the arrival of the Spaniards? Had the Tartars in­habited a country near America, the very horses would have increased so as to come over to this continent; how many instances do we find even among the settled provinces of America, of horses going wild! but the greatest proof, that this must have infallibly happened, is to be found in South America, where now many millions are found wild, in the great plains south of Brazil, [Page 52] especially near Rio de la Plata; yet these take their origin from the Northern America, and have crossed vast mountains; how came it then, that a dozen or two of horsemen routed myriads of Ame­ricans? only one objection remains to be confuted; there may be an arm of the sea between Asia and America, and this colony came by water; but can it even then be supposed, that these people would have forgot their favourite horses? or will any say that if the horses could come by land, yet every climate does not maintain them; one summer would suffice for the journey: A horse when traveling alone, is experienced to go very fast forward on his journey, and we learn also from the same great teacher (experience) that thousands of horses in North America, even breeding mares, live in the woods in deep snows, through hard winters, without human assistance; but no, these Tartars could not bring horses, nor other useful animals, and yet a colony of Panthers, Lynxes, Wolves, Foxes, Otters, and other destructive animals must be supposed to have found their way as well as these emigrants. Here language is tortured into a proof; a certain Abraham a Mylis has found out, that in the em­pire of Cathay, which lays nearest America, they speak the Teutonic dialect, and this same empire being divided, into seven provinces, the Eastermost is called Tendhuk, very like to het eynde des hoeks, or the end of the point, and Anyan is very like, Aangang, or passage (a passage to be sure out of Tartary, to America;) again beyond Anyan, is the vast country of Bergo, this certainly is very much like Bergen, or sheltering, because the Scythians leaving their native country, shel­tered [Page 53] themselves here; fine Etymology! noble Geography! (risum teneatis amici!)

The passage from Asia to America, is by no means proved by the pretended Elephants bones found in the swamp near Ohio, since by later ob­servations, and examinations of the bones, by men of more knowledge than the meer vulgar, they appear never to have belonged to elephants, but more probably are the remains of some Hip­popotami, especially as near that river, the Indians, often at this day, discover large foot steps, and hear great bellowings, both proceeding from ani­mals they never see themselves.

I think if Mr. Bossu had obliged us with the knowledge of the particular nation that calls the Ginseng, ^* Gareloguen, he would have thrown more light on his far fetched notion of the parallel between the Tartars and Savages; and since he has himself invalidated the pretended etymology, i would beg leave to deal with his similar signifi­cations in the same manner, for why should not the same idea strike Bossus's nation and the Mant­cheoux Tartars upon sight of the Ginseng, and make both compare it to men's thighs? But as but one nation among so many has accepted this idea, it cannot be allowed, even as the most distant proof; the fable of the Escaaniba by Bossu also, is too ridiculous and absurd to merit confu­tation.

Nothing now remains, but a few words about the migration of the Chinese into Peru, from whence some suppose America is peopled, but how different the colour and figure of the peo­ple! and where do we find any Chinese finesse a­mong the savages? besides, what Geographer [Page 54] does not know that the Chinese might more ea­sily, have come over to the eastern shore of Ame­rica, across the Atlantic, than over the wilder, wider, and more stormy South Sea, to land on Perus's or Chilis's unhospitable shore, where our large European vessels can scarcely live, much less a Chinese junk; nor did the Peruvians know any thing of large Vessels till the arrival of the Spaniards; strange indeed, that their naval knowledge, and mother country, should be thus forgotten! the more so, as it is much easier, to go from America to China, than the contrary, by reason of the constant easterly winds reigning here, which also make it more improbable that the Chinese vessels came here by chance, or stress of weather; nor could they in that case, but by chance, be provided with the provisions necessary for so long a voyage.

Methinks i hear some critical person say, whence then came the savages? That indeed, is a difficult question to answer; it is easier to con­fute the different opinions, than to say any thing with certainty on this head, more especially as these people want all manner of record; yet a tolerable guess may be made to extricate us out of this difficult labyrinth.

Without doubt Moses's account of the Creati­on is true, but why should this Historian's books, in this one thing, be taken so universally, when he evidently has confined himself to a kind of chronicle concerning one small part of the earth, and in this to one nation only; this account therefore must be understood with the same limi­tation as many others in holy writ are generally allowed to be; i think therefore that (as menti­oned [Page 55] before) we do not at all derogate from God's greatness, nor in any ways dishonour the sacred evidence given us by his servants, when we think, that there were as many Adams and Eves (every body knows these names to have an alle­gorical sense) as we find different species of the human genus; is this not a more natural way, agreeing more with the proceedings of a God of order, than the silly suppositions that the variety is an effect of chance, much less a consequence of curses? the more so, as neither has any foun­dation in God's holy word; why must we think that the curses of a head of a family, should ef­fect each race with a peculiar set of features, and shape of body? Or one tribe with a red, a se­cond with a sallow, a third with a yellow, and a fourth with a black colour, &c? Besides we read of but one curse of this kind; they are dif­ferent species then. Anatomy has taught us, that the bone of a Negroe's skull, is always black, that besides the Tunies of which our skins are composed, they have an additional one, consist­ing of numerous vesicles, filled wish a black ink-like humour; see here then two character­isticks, besides the blackness of the skin, where­by this sable race is distinguished; may not ex­perience teach us, that when the other species are more carefully examined, they will all be found to have some such peculiar character of distinction? Why then shall we involve our­selves into numberless, needless difficulties about the origin of these so singular people, so very dif­ferent from all other tribes on the globe, yet so very similar to each other: Throughout their own continent their wild manners are universally [Page 56] alike; their languages only differ; why then can we not take the more easy way in saying, God has created an original pair here as well as else­where: Is not this opinion supported by our finding numberless other kinds of the animal kingdom on this continent peculiar to itself; where (besides in America) do we find the Bos Americanus? Where the Paca, and Vecunha (both American sheep?) where the Ursus Luscus or racoon, the Armadillo, the Agouti, the Lacerta Americana, called Leguana? the Ignavo (an a­nimal called the American Sloth?) where the same kind of Simiae, and the Vespertilio Cynoce­phalus? where the Warri or the Pecaire (two species of the Sus?) The many kinds of Myr­mecophaga, the Mus Marsupialis, Mus Scalopes, Mus Palustris hispidus, of the same kind, as those in America? Where again the Struthio Americanus, or the immense variety of the Psittacus, peculiar to America? Where the Toucan, the Phaenicop­teros and Arquato, with the red Platea? Where the beautiful wood duck, and the kinds of Pha­sianus called Quama and Curasoa? Where the little Mellisuga, or the beautiful, and remarkable aquatic Muscophagus, called a sun bird? and ma­ny more of the quadruped and winged tribes, large and small, too tedious to enumerate? Where again the rattle Snake, and others of the reptile kind? Even among Fishes, the same observation holds; has Pliny among all his fabu­lous animals, described any like these really ex­isting ones?

Again, whence was America stocked with men in our likeness? Where were the oxen, the horses, the swine, dogs, cats, or even rats? or [Page 57] where were our poultry to be found on this con­tinent? Yet we see how immensely they have multiplied since their first importation, so that the air and food are certainly well adapted to them; a wise effect of providence, which knew this quarter must one day become inhabited by animals not originally created in it.

What can now be said against this my argu­ment for a separate origin of the savages? No­thing that will amount to an absolute proof of the contrary. But a difficulty arises as to the ef­fect of the deluge; to remove which i must observe, that America, even in its mountains, re­tains very few if any of the so often quoted marks of this inundation; on the contrary, it is a smooth regularly rising country; and i think, that to believe the flood so far partial, as to have reach­ed the only lands of Egypt, Palestine, Armenia, and Greece, is by no means an absurd opinion, nor inconsistent with the destruction of the race of men of which Moses treats, nor with the water being fifteen cubits above the highest hill then known, supposed to be Arrarat; and had it been absolutely universal, yet the Andes, Cordileras, Aceytas, and Santa Martha, are many hundred cubits higher and consequently, might remain a vast way dry; but grant the deluge universal, who will dispute with me, that the omnipotent Lord of the universe could create a red man after his own image, suffer him to fall as well as a white man, destroy his posterity except a few, and find a way to save a remnant of man and beast, and then for reasons, into which we have no right to enter, any more than the clay has to contend with the potter, leave this race without [Page 58] extending his tender mercies to them, as he did to us, not even sending his apostles into this quarter of the world; and when the christians, so called, arrived here first, to suffer the pretend­ed Missionaries to preach a false, absurd doctrine to those wretches, nay, even to this day to harden their hearts against the light drawn from under a bushel, and placed conspicuously on a candle­stick.

However among none of the savages do we find any tradition of such a flood, except among some southern nations, who tell of six persons creeping out of a hole, whereby the earth was peopled; these have been construed into Noah's sons and their wives.

The Chactaws have told me of a hole between their nation and the Chicasaws, out of which their whole very numerous nation walked forth at once, without so much as warning any neigh­bours; i cannot find any relation between this and a deluge: On the Isthmus of Darien i have indeed been warned by the savages of an ap­proaching flood on a certain day, and when i had stayed till then and saw the event to be nothing, i ridiculed them about it; and they told me that a great while ago they had such an inundation, and that their Sukies or conjurors, had foretold a similar one now, but had proved themselves ly­ars; this is the only hint i could ever trace of any notion of a great flood; and i leave my reader to judge of the weakness or force of this evidence, and of the justness of the opinion advanced, which i offer only because i think that truth should be the object of man's enquiries, and that God has given us the only advantage we [Page]

[Page 59] have over brutes, in order to spur us on to en­quiries into the mysteries of nature.

I shall now treat of the four most noted nati­ons connected with Florida in particular, begin­ning with the Chicasaws, they being (although a small tribe) accounted the mother nation on this part of the continent, and their language, universally adopted by most, if not all the west­ern nations. This is the most fierce, cruel, insolent, and haughty people, among the southern nati­ons; they are very intrepid in the wars with their Meridional neighbours, and the French under Messrs. Artaguette and Bienville, in 1736 expe­rienced their valour (when aided by a few En­glishmen of tried courage) and in 1752, and 1753, Messrs. Benoist and Reggio likewise found them successful to their cost; but with the nor­thern nations it stands otherways; the Kikapoos, Piancashas and others are their terror; notwith­standing their boast of scalps from the northward, it has appeared that, except some private murders among nations, who think the insult to come from some other quarter, and some slaves and scalps obtained from the dastardly Chigtagiks, they have really not been able so much as to find the Kika­poos, Piancasha, Wyogtani, Shogteys, Musquakey, Otogami towns; this appeared clearly while i was in the Chicasaw nation in the winter of 1771 and 1772, when one Mr. James (who had been a prisoner with the Kikapoos, for the space of three years, and had found means to escape from them) arrived there, and told, that in all that time ne­ver one of the Chicasaws appeared, or did mis­chief among these nations, nor could he learn they ever did; yet it is evident that these come [Page 60] to the very Chicasaw towns to commit depredati­ons, as well as in their hunting grounds, where the Chicasaws always take care to fortify them­selves.

It is also observable, that to the north of their towns they never venture any plantations, and to the southward they have many; nay they scarcely venture to get fire wood north of their habitati­on; in short they have never shewn their brave­ry but against the Chactaws and Creeks, with the French their allies; the Northerns have al­ways been their masters, and the Arkansas and Catawbas their match; the Cherokees have gene­rally had the worst of the wars between them; they have always been staunch allies to the Eng­lish, but i think there is no very great dependance to be had on them now, for i can (not without reason) affirm, that that alliance was all owing to the French being their irreconcilable, and mortal enemies; now these are out of the way, little re­liance is to be had on them; and in the winter of 1771 and 1772, the traders were under daily apprehensions of a quarrel. It is true that those monsters in human form, the very scum and out cast of the earth, are always more prone to savage barbarity than the savages themselves; but it is no less true, that the traders were of as dissolute a life, and of as profligate manners, with as great an inclination for deceit and over reaching during the French time, as they are now; but then the policy of these savages curbed their thoughts of revenge; whereas now they frequently dare to vent threats of a disagreeable nature, which are the more dangerous because those savage politici­ans are always very much upon their guard when [Page 61] they are treating with our men in office, how they behave themselves in this respect, well knowing that the ancient fame of their faithful alliance is sufficiently rooted in the hearts of the open minded English, to enable them to impose on their credulity.

As an instance of Chicasaw honour or faith, which is indeed equal to that of any nation of American savages whatever; i would mention the tryal that has been made for concluding an union between the Arkansas, Quappas, or Kappas, and the Chicasaws; the first attempted at least an alliance with the latter so long ago as 1764, but no kind of solemn embassy, or deputation was employed for the effecting this before the summer 1771, and then at this meeting the insolence of the Chicasaws run so high, as to insult one of the Quapa deputies by calling him a woman, and spit­ting rum in his face, which was put up with; but the Arkansas never have made an attempt to finish the treaty since, and i dare venture to fore­tell, that such an union would by no means be for our good, let it happen when it may.

The morals of this nation are more corrupt than those of any of their neighbours; the Chac­taws are said to be thieves, but i can assure the reader that the Chicasaws are a thousand times more so; i have had ample proof of it by losing incomparably more in one day at the Chicasaw town than i did in two months going through se­venty four Chactaw towns, notwithstanding i had been warned, and was on my guard against the Chicasaws; my razors and a case of instruments, and other trifles of no real use to them, besides every horse i had with me, vanished in one day [Page 62] among these deceitful people. Their discourse is really intolerable, nothing but filth is heard from them; the vanity of being accounted great hunters and warriors has the better of every con­sideration, and rather than condescend to culti­vate the earth (which they think beneath them) they will sit and toy with their women; or if they send them to labour, they play on an auk­ward kind of flute made of a cane, lolling thus their time away with great indifference, which obliges them yearly to apply for corn and pulse to the Chactaws.

They live nearly in the center of a very large and somewhat uneven savannah, of a diameter of above three miles; this savannah at all times has but a barren look, the earth is very Nitrous, and the savages get their water out of holes or wells dug near the town; in any drought the ground will gape infissures of about six or seven inches wide, and again, two or three days rain will cause an inundation; the water is always ni­trous, and this field abounds, with flint, marl, and those kinds of anomilous fossils mistaken for oyster shells, which cannot be burnt into lime; yet this produces a grass of which cattle are so fond as to leave the richest cane brakes for it; and notwithstanding the soil appears barren and burnt up, they thrive to admiration; it also af­fords a vast, or even immense store of the salu­brious Fragaria, vulgarly known by the name of wood strawberry.

They have in this field what might be called one town, or rather an assemblage of hutts, of the length of about one mile and a half, and very narrow and irregular; this however they [Page 63] divide into seven, by the names of Melattaw (i. e.) hat and feather, Chatelaw (i. e.) copper town, Chukafalaya (i. e.) long town, Hikihaw (i. e.) stand still, Chucalissa (i. e.) great town, Tuckahaw (i. e.) a certain weed, and Ashuck hoo­ma (i. e.) red grass; this was formerly inclosed in palisadoes, and thus well fortified against the attacks of small arms, but now it lays open; a second Artaguette, a little more prudent than the first, would now find them an easy prey.

The nearest running water, is about one mile and a half off, to the south of the town, in the edge of the field, but it is of no note; the next is four miles off; and at high times, canoes might come up here out of the river Tombechbé; this place is a ford, which often proves difficult, and on this account is called Nahoola Inalchubba (i. e.) the white mens hard labour.

Horses and cattle thrive well in this nation, their breed of the former was once famous, being de­scended from some Arabian horses brought from Spain to Mexico, but of late they have so mixed them with meaner kinds, as to cause them to de­generate much.

The traders who for fear of causing jealousy by their discourse have formed nick names for all the savage nations, have called these by the whimsical name of the breed; as cunningly sus­picious as the savages are, yet i never found that any of them ever took notice of this distinction.

One remarkable thing i cannot omit of this na­tion: There were in 1771, only two real origi­nal Chicasaws left; one of them, who goes by the name of North West, scruples not to tell them all very often, that they are of a slave race.

[Page 64]Their grand Chief is called Opaya Mataha, and it is said he has killed his man upwards of forty times, for which great feats he has been raised to this nominal dignity, which by all savages is as much regarded, as among us a titular nobleman would be if he should be obliged to be a journey­man taylor for his maintenance.

These savages are the only ones i ever heard of who make their females observe a separation at the time of their Menses (some ancient almost extirpated tribes to the northward only excepted, and these used to avoid their own dwelling houses) the wo­men then retire into a small hut set apart for that purpose, of which there are from two to six round each habitation, and by them called moon houses.

The whole tribe are remarkably strong made fellows, but few of their women have regular features, or deserve to be called handsome; these labour vastly hard, either in the field for culti­vation of corn, or fetching nuts, fire wood and water, which they chiefly carry on their backs; the two first articles generally two or three miles, and the last often a mile, their burthens would amaze a stranger, being rather fit for asses than women to carry.

This nation is the most imperious in their car­riage towards their women, of any i have met with; they are very jealous of their wives, and adultery in them is punished by the loss of the tip of the nose, which they sometimes cut, but more generally bite off, but this does not deter them, for they are a very salacious race, and the mark is pretty general. They are all good swimmers, notwithstanding they live so far from waters, but [Page 65] they learn their children to swim in clay holes, that are filled in wet seasons by rain.

They are the most expert of any perhaps in America in tracking what they are in pursuit of, and they will follow their flying enemy, on a long gallop, over any kind of ground without mistaking.

Since i am on this subject, i cannot forbear taking notice of one thing related by many wri­ters on America; which is the knowledge the savages have by the track of what kind of people they pursue; this is very true, and this sagaci­ous particular deserved admiration, but the won­der must cease when i tell my reader, that i have found in it much of a juggle, for instead of knowing it by the foot steps (which they pretend to measure very ceremoniously with their hands) they know it by the strokes of the hatchets in the trees and branches as they go along, which no two savage nations agree in, be it in the height from the ground, or in the slope of the cut; they can also distinguish the different ways of making camps and fires; for instance; a Chactaw war camp is circular, with a fire in the center, and each man has a crutched branch at his head to hang his powder and shot upon, and to set his gun against, and the feet of all to the fire; a Cherokee war camp is a long line of fire, against which they also lay their feet; a Chactaw makes his camp in travelling in form of a sugar loaf; a Chicasaw makes it in form of our arbours; a Creek like to our sheds, or piazzas, to a timber house; in this manner every nation has some distinguish­ing way.

The Chicasaws are esteemed good hunters, they [Page 66] have extensive hunting grounds and make excel­lent use of them; they extend them to the branch of the Ohio, called Tanassé, Hogoheechee or Cherokee ri­ver, and claim to the mouth of the Ohio, but this ground they frequent with great caution, only in the depth of winter when their northern enemies are close at home; they are often surprised on the rivers Margot and Yasoo, but below the Yasoo as far east as the eastern branches of Tombechbè, and as low as Oka Tibehaw, they hunt safely; this last they regard as their boundary with the Chactaws, but these two nations are by no means jealous of each other in this respect, and hunt in each others grounds without lett or hindrance from either side; although their country abounds in beaver, they kill none, leaving that to the white men; they think this kind of hunting be­neath them, saying any body can kill beaver, but men only deer; this is exactly the reverse of a northern Indian; they hunt like all their neigh­bours with the skin and frontal bone of a deer's head, dried and stretched on elastic chips; the horns they scoup out very curiously, employing so much patience on this, that such a head and antlers often do not exceed ten or twelve ounces; they fix this on the left hand, and imitating the motions of the deer in sight, they decoy them within sure shot. I cannot forbear to mention a merry accident on this occasion; a Chactaw In­dian, who was hunting with one of these decoys on his fist, saw a deer, and thinking to bring it to him, imitated the deer's motions of feeding and looking round in a very natural way, ano­ther savage within shot, mistaking the head for a real one, shot the ball through it, scarcely missing [Page 67] the fingers of the first; the affair ended in fifty cuffs, but was no farther resented.

Their habitations at home consist of three buildings, a summer house, a corn house, and a winter house, called a hot house; the two first are oblong squares, the latter is circular, they have no chimnies but let the smoke find its way out through a hole at the top in their dwelling houses, but in the hot houses, where it can; in these they make large wood fires, on the middle of the floor, which being by evening all coals, they enter in, and sleep on benches made round the inside of the building; this would stifle any one not used to it, and be it never so sharp a morning, they come out sweating and naked as soon as it is day; i believe this proceeding kills numbers of them, as in lattitude 35 00, where they live, it is often very cold; they also use for an universal cure of all diseases, excessive sweat­ing in these hot houses, and then with their pores open jump into a hole of cold water, this treat­ment of those that had the small pox killed num­bers; these hot houses of a morning emitting smoke through every crevice, seem to a stranger to be all on fire on the inside.

Their common food is the zea or the Indian corn, of which they make meal, and boil it; they also parch it, and then pound it; thus tak­ing it on their journey, they mix it with cold wa­ter, and will travel a great way without any other food; they begin to have the knowledge of keeping cattle; but at present they enjoy little or no fresh meats while at home, but in the hunting season in the woods, it is almost the only food they make use of; they have also a way of dry­ing [Page 68] and pounding their corn, before it comes to maturity; this they call Boota Copassa (i. e.) cold flour; this, in small quantities, thrown into cold water, boils and swells as much as common meal boiled over a fire; it is hearty food, and being sweet, they are fond of it; but as the process for making it is troublesome, their laziness seldom allows them to have it; they likewise use hickory nuts in plenty, and make a milkey liquor of them, which they call milk of nuts; the process is at bottom the same as what we use to make milk of almonds; this milk they are very fond of, and eat it with sweet potatoes in it; they also make a great use of Bears fat as oil; the flesh the traders have learned them to make into ba­con, exactly resembling that of a hog; but all these dishes suit but ill the palate of an European, and when they have any deer or buffalo flesh at home, it is so dried as to have no taste in it.

The knowledge they have of cattle keeping is borrowed from the traders among them, who, notwithstanding the ordinance against settling on Indian grounds, have many of them plantations, and raise cattle and hogs; one Caldwell has the greatest stock; and Opaya Mingo Luxi went in 1771 to complain of it, but Caldwell, knowing that no savage can withstand the words of a white man, took advantage thereof, and so intimidated the savage, by his meer presence at Pensacola, when in the superintendant's hall, in order to lodge his information, and make his complaint that Opaya Mingo Luxi himself said he had nothing against him; but as the very Com­missary has a plantation and cattle, and keeps negroes &c. for the cultivation thereof (though [Page 69] he keeps his cattle under the name of Opaya Ma­taha) i think very little will be done to hinder it; and upon the whole, i think the affair of ad­vantage to the savages, who must soon ge­nerally give into this way of life for their own preservation, or else remove further from us.

This office of Commissary seems to me the most needless expence the crown is at, as it only serves for a subject of ridicule both to the traders and savages, which last scruple not often to give the officer in this nation the (among them) scanda­lous epithet of old woman; and he can do but little towards preventing disorders among them, or in regulating the standard of the trade; besides, i am sure that whatever Commissiary dared to pretend to be any thing more than a cypher, would run an imminent risque of his life.

Their numbers have been very large, and they themselves have a tradition that they were a colony from another nation in the West, and that they first set themselves down near the Ohio, but soon removed to their present Site; the greatest number that their gunmen can now be reckoned at, does not exceed too hundred and fifty; it is really amazing, to think, that such a handfull keeps about ten thousand of the men of the other tribes from destroying them; but their ferocity and the way of making war among the savages which gives no advantage to numbers, because the war parties of a small nation are as numerous as those of a larger one) has long saved them from destruction.

Strong liquors make a sad havock among these as among all other nations of the savages in the North.

[Page 70]They are strong, and swift of foot, and their exercise at home is chiefly their ball play, a very laborious diversion.

They are horridly given to sodomy, commit­ting that crime even on the dead bodies of their enemies, thereby (as they say) degrading them into women.

In their war parties, they have generally one who has done most mischief to the enemy for their leader; but he is so far from having a com­mand, that an attempt, to do more than pro­posing whether such or such an undertaking would not be most adviseable, or at most per­suading them to it, would at least be followed by a total desertion.

They are very ceremonious in their preparati­ons for war, and their fondness for witchcraft makes them look for omens of futurity.

They and all other savages have the greatest share of patience imaginable; when a scalp or prisoner is in question, they will travel hundreds of miles in the desarts, with amazing precaution, enduring hunger, and often thirst, at a great rate; nay if their provisions fail before they strike the blow, they have been known to return to hunt for more in some safe place, and without going home, to make a second or third attempt.

They make war by stratagem, surprise or am­bush, despising us as fools for exposing ourselves to be shot at like marks. A man's valour with them consists in their cunning, and he is deemed the greatest hero who employs most art in sur­prising his enemy; they never strike a blow un­less they think themselves sure of a retreat, and the loss of many men is an infamous crime laid to the charge of the party,

[Page 71]They bury their dead almost the moment the breath is out of the body, in the very spot under the couch on which the deceased died, and the nearest relations mourn over it with woeful la­mentations; the women are very vociferous in it, but the men do it in silence, taking great care not to be seen any more than heard at this busi­ness; the mourning continues about a year, which they know by counting the moons, they are eve­ry morning and evening, and at first throughout the day at different times, employed in the exer­cise of this last duty.

A people who by many peculiar customs, are very different from the other red men on the continent, will next amuse us: They are the Chactaws, more commonly known by the name of the Flatheads. These people are the only na­tion from whom i could learn any idea of a tra­ditional account of a first origin; and that is their coming out of a hole in the ground, which they shew between their nation and the Chica­saws; they tell us also that their neighbours were surprised at seeing a people rise at once out of the earth; dark as this account of a first ex­istence of these people is to us, we discover in it a higher idea of an origin than among their neighbours, who never pretend to tell from whence they came, and have only loose ideas of a migration from the north west; which prevail among the Chicasaws and all other southern nati­ons.

The Chactaws may more properly be called a nation of farmers than any savages i have met with; they are the most considerable people in Florida, and their situation may be known by [Page 72] the annexed plan of their country: Their hunt­ing grounds are in proportion less considerable than any of their neighbours; but as they are ve­ry little jealous of their territories, nay with ease part with them, the Chicasaws and they never interrupt each other in their hunting; as i menti­oned before.

They are in their warlike temper far from be­ing such cowards as people in general will pre­tend, but it is true they are not so fond of wan­dering abroad to do mischief as the other savages are; few of such expeditions are undertaken by them, and they g [...]ve for a reason, that in going abroad they may chance to be obliged to content themselves with a woman's or child's scalp, but in staying at home and waiting the attack of the enemy, they by pursuing them, are sure to take men, which is a greater mark of valour: be this as it will, it is certain they are carefully, cun­ningly, and bravely watchfull at home, and on several occasions they have, after many insults, boldly offered to meet their enemies in equal numbers on a plain, which has always been by the other savages treated with scorn, as cowar­dice; however when it has happened by chance that they meet so, we have seen them brave and victorious. Even in the very town of Mobile, an action of this kind happened deserving a re­cord, when they drove their enemies (the Creeks) through the river, and but for their inability to swim, they would have totally destroyed them; the Captain Hooma or red Captain fighting with forty Men against three hundred Creeks, and with his own hand destroying thirteen of their Chiefs, even when fighting on his knees, and [Page 73] when he fell, bravely telling who he was, and his being flead alive for his heroism, is so fresh in every one's memory (being not above six Years ago) that many living evidences can testify it; I thought the action worthy of this attempt, to save it from oblivion. They have deserted ma­ny of their eastern frontier towns since their pre­sent war with the Creeks, but during my stay in their nation, i saw four or five instances of their not suffering their enemy to escape unpu­nished, when he dared to commit depredations, and they valued themselves on the event of the present war, when in 1771, news coming among the Traders, that the Creeks computed their loss at near three hundred persons, and they having guessed the number of their's, lost much the same; they said, we have lost many women and children and even of them some Scalps have been retaken, but we like men, have killed men only, and got all the marks thereof; this war began in August 1765; the readers may judge at the greatness of their exploits, when i assure them, that that number was the total loss during all that time.

These savages were the staunch and firm friends of the French while they continued on the continent, until some English traders found means to draw the east party, and the district of Coosa (which together are called Oypat-oocooloo, or the small nation) into a civil war with the western divisions called Oocooloo-Falaya, Oocooloo-Hanalé, and Chickasawhays, which after many conflicts and the destruction of east Congeeto, ended with the peace in 1763. I believe they are a nation whose word may be depended on [Page 74] when they give into the interest of any person, and that their faith is to be better relied on than that of the Chicasaws or Creeks, which two last are really versed in all the gallic tricks of deceit.

At the congress of 1771, there were two thou­sand three hundred of this nation nearly all men, at Mobile on the superintendants books; in the nation i found at above seventy of their villages, about two thousand men, and in the woods and hunting grounds, i was at and heard of as many camps as could make no less than six hundred men more. The French used to keep them very poor, but the yearly small gifts they were ac­customed to, were more proper to leave an idea of gratitude on the mind of a savage, than our septennial great ones.

Monsieur de Kerlerec and others made a fine juggle and kind of monopoly of this trade, which was very ill brooked by the French; but al­though i make no doubt of the Gentlemen's hav­ing gone beyond the orders of their court, and notwithstanding i am a bitter enemy to unreason­able regraters, yet i am certain that a monopoly of this trade under proper restrictions would prove an advantage and security to the colonies, since now the villainous over reachings, chica­nery, and mutual calumniations of the abandoned wretches, who reside among the savages, joined to their worse than brutish or savage way of life, tend to the rendering the nation to which they belong infamous, despicable, and scandalous a­mong the savages, as well as to turn the hopes of advantage into a real disadvantage; and i dare venture to say, that unless such restrictions take place, the different savages will always find [Page 75] reason to complain against the colonies, and join in cabals against the poor settlers in the remote counties, and at last oblige the colonies to take the disagreable step of realizing our mock au­thority, by extirpating all savages that dare to remain on the East of the Mississippi.

But to return to the war-like inclinations of the Chactaws, and not to involve myself in poli­ticks; i take them to be a brave people, who can upon occasion defend themselves very coolly, for during my stay in the nation, a woman of that tribe made a bargain with me to give her ammu­nition for some provisions i bought of her; and when i expressed my surprise thereat, she in­formed me that she kept a gun to defend her­self as well as her husband did; and i have seve­ral times seen armed women in motion with the parties going in pursuit of the invading enemy, who having completed their intended murder, were flying off.

They never exercised so much cruelty upon their captive enemies as the other savages; they almost always brought them home to shew them, and then dispatched them with a bullet or hatch­et; after which, the body being cut into many parts, and all the hairy pieces of skin converted into scalps, the remainder is buried and the above trophies carried home, where the women dance with them till tired; then they are exposed on the tops of the hot houses till they are annihiliated. The same treatment is exercised on those who are killed near the nation, but he that falls in battle at a distance is barely scalped.

Their addictedness to pretended witchcraft leads them into a very superstitious behavour [Page 76] when on an expedition which is remarkable, they carry with them a certain thing which they look on as the genius of the party; it is most com­monly the stuffed skin of an owl of a large kind; they are very careful of him, keep a guard over him, and offer him a part of their meat; should he fall, or any other ways be disordered in posi­tion, the expedition is frustrated; they always set him with his head towards the place of desti­nation, and if he should prove to be turned di­rectly contrary, they consider this as portending some very bad omen, and an absolute order to return; should therefore any one's heart fail him, he needs only watch his opportunity to do this to save his character of a brave or true man. There is also a species of Motacilla (which i often endeavoured to catch, in vain) whose chirping near the camp, will occasion their immediate re­turn.

Their war camps are already mentioned.

They are given to pilfering, but not so much as the Chicasaws.

They are the swiftest of foot of any savages in America, and very expert in tracking a flying enemy, who very seldom escapes.

Their leader can not pretend to command on an expedition, the most he can do, is to endea­vour to persuade, or at the extent, he can only pretend to a greater experience in order to en­force his counsel; should he pretend to order, desertion would at least be his punishment, if not death.

Their exercises agree pretty much with what i have seen among other nations: from their infan­cy they learn the use of bows and arrows; they [Page 77] are never beaten or otherways rudely chastised, and very seldom chid; this education renders them very willful and wayward, yet i think it preferable to the cruel and barbarous treatment indiscriminately used by some European parents, who might with slight punishments by the ex­cellency of wholesome christian Admonitions, work in a very different manner on the tender inclinations of pliable infancy.

The young savages also use a very strait cane eight or nine feet long, cleared of its inward divisions of the joints; in this they put a small arrow, whose one end is covered one third of the whole length with cotton or something simi­lar to it: this they hold nearest their mouth and blow it so expertly as seldom to miss a mark fifteen or twenty yards off and that so violently as to kill squirrils and birds therewith; with this instrument they often plague dogs and other animals according to the innate disposition to cruelty of all savages, being encouraged to take a delight in torturing any poor animal that has the misfortune to fall into their hands; thinking best of him, who can longest keep the victim in pain, and invent the greatest variety of tor­ture. When growing up, they use wrestling, running, heaving and lifting great weights, the playing with the ball two different ways, and their favourite game of chunké, all very violent exercises.

The excess in spirituous liquors to which they use themselves, is really incredible.

Their meetings about serious matters are at night. Their belief in charms and exorcisms is firm and out of reason, and he that should dare [Page 78] openly to boast of this gift is sure to lose his life on the first misfortune in the town where he re­sides; but if it is only pretended to extend to the cure of wounds and diseases it is overlooked; when they prepare for war, and when they return they use exorcisms, they call them all physic though only bare words or actions; and if they prove unsuccessful, they say the physic was not strong enough; it is no small diversion to see a Chactaw during this preparation act all his strange gestures, and the day before his departure paint­ed scarlet and black almost naked and with swan wings to his arms run like a bacchant up and down through the place of his abode; not drunk neither, as rum is by them avoided like poison during this preparation.

While i was in this nation, i had the misfor­tune to be afflicted with a violent fever which ended in a flux; my own skill being baffled, i applied to my guide, who had the reputation of being a knowing Physician well acquainted with the simples used among them. I submitted to his prescription; he got some herbs and roots, and made a decoction of them; i drank it; while the effect was expected, he alternately burnt some of the simples and sat down by me blowing upon me to drive away the disorder; i found no bene­fit by it; and on my refusing an other trial he said i was a fool, the next time the physic would be stronger, but he was not affronted.

The French have made great attempts to ren­der this nation Christians; at Chicasawhay there resided a missionary and a chapel was built, but they were absolutely unsuccessful; the savages always derided the Jesuit, called him a woman, [Page 79] and would frequently desire him to take away his physic, thereby meaning he would undo his ceremony of baptism; and when the English ar­rived there they would go up to the altar and imitate all the jesuitical farce, telling them that they were not such fools as to hear him; the cha­pel was destroyed before i came there in 1771, but the cross (being of lightwood ^*) stood yet.

Their play at ball is either with a small ball of deer skin or a large one of woollen rags; the first is thrown with battledores, the second with the hand only; this is a trial of skill between village and village; after having appointed the day and field for meeting, they assemble at the time and place, fix two poles across each other at about an hundred and fifty feet apart, they then at­tempt to throw the ball through the lower part of them, and the opposite party trying to prevent it, throw it back among themselves, which the first again try to prevent; thus they attempt to beat it about from one to the other with amazing violence, and not seldom broken limbs or dislo­cated joints are the consequence; their being al­most naked, painted and ornamented with fea­thers, has a good effect on the eye of the by stander during this violent diversion; a number is agreed on for the score, and the party who first gets this number wins.

The women play among themselves (after the men have done) disputing with as much eagerness as the men; the stakes or betts are generally high. There is no difference in the other game with the large ball, only the men and women play pro­miscuously, and they use no battledores.

Their favourite game of chunké is a plain proof of the evil consequences of a violent passion for [Page 80] gaming upon all kinds, classes and orders of men; at this they play from morning till night, with an unwearied application, and they bet high; here you may see a savage come and bring all his skins, stake them and lose them; next his pipe, his beads, trinkets and ornaments; at last his blanket, and other garment, and even all their arms, and after all it is not uncommon for them to go home, borrow a gun and shoot them­selves; an instance of this happened in 1771 at East Yasoo a short time before my arrival. Sui­cide has also been practised here on other occasi­ons, and they regard the act as a crime, and bury the body as unworthy of their ordinary funeral rites.

The mannner of playing this game is thus: They make an alley of about two hundred feet in length, where a very smooth caly ground is laid, which when dry is very hard; they play two to­gether having each a streight pole of about fif­teen feet long; one holds a stone, which is in shape of a truck, which he throws before him over this alley, and the instant of its departure, they set off and run; in running they cast their poles after the stone, he that did not throw it endeavours to hit it, the other strives to strike the pole of his antagonist in its flight so as to prevent its hitting the stone; if the first should strike the stone he counts one for it, and if the other by the dexterity of his cast should prevent the pole of his opponent hitting the stone, he counts one, but should both miss their aim the throw is re­newed; and in case a score is won the winner casts the stone and eleven is up; they hurl this stone and pole with wonderful dexterity and vio­lence, and fatigue themselves much at it.

[Page 81]The women also have a game where they take a small stick, or something else off the ground after having thrown up a small ball which they are to catch again, having picked up the other; they are fond of it, but ashamed to be seen at it. I believe it is this propensity to gaming which has given these savages an idea of a meum and tuum above all other nations of America.

They are extravagant in their debauches; when met for a drinking match some women at­tend them, when these find the men beginning to be heated with liquor they will take away all the weapons found near them and return with a callebash under their wrappers, then mixing with them, the men offer them their bottles, they take a draught and when not observed they empty it into the callebash, which when full they empty into bottles brought for that purpose, and thus they will accumulate two or three bottles full, and with the help of a little water, still make them more; after a while rum fails among the men, and the women acquaint them, that they have got some; they are told to fetch it; they refuse, saying it cost them much and they cannot give it for nothing; a bargain ensues, they receive the consideration first, and then bring it; in this way of trade they will often get all the effects the men can command for such a deli­cate nectar.

I have a great opinion of a Chactaw's faith­fully performing his promises, i have seen several little instances thereof; they detest a liar, and shew gratitude to a man that keeps his word; my guide whose name was Pooskoos Mingo gave [Page 82] me an instance of this; when i left him he said i had satisfied him for every thing like a true man, but if i would give him a speaking paper to the great white man at Mobile (meaning John Stuart Esq) then he would still better know it; i gave him a note recommending him to that gentleman, and because he had been of extraordinary service on the journey, begged he would allow him something more than common; it had the desired effect, he got a good many things extraordinary; when i was afterwards missing, and it was thought the Creeks had destroyed us in coming from the Chicasaw nation, this savage armed to avenge my death, and was actually taking the war phy­sick as they term it, when news was brought to the nation of my arrival at Mobile.

They are well made both men and women; the women have agreeable features and counte­nances, but their nasty way of life in general dis­figures them; those that are cleanly are really at­tractive; the women disfigure the heads of their male children by means of bags of sand, flattening them into different shapes, thinking it adds to their beauty; both men and women wear long hair, ex­cept some young fellows who begin to imitate the Chicasaw fashion, and both sexes mark their faces and bodies, particularly the women with indelible blue figures of fancy, among which is a great deal of voluted work of vast variety.

Before the English traders came among them, there were scarcely any half breed, but now they abound among the younger sort.

Both sexes are wanton to the highest degree, and a certain fashionable disorder is very com­mon among them. Sodom is also practised but [Page]

[Page 83] not to the same excess as among the Creeks and Chicasaws, and the Cinaedi among the Chactaws are obliged to dress themselves in woman's attire, and are highly despised especially by the women.

Their buildings are exactly similar to those of the Chicasaws.

Their way of life in general may be called in­dustrious, they will do what no uncompelled sa­vage will do, that is work in the field to raise grain; and one may among them hire not only a guide, or a man to build a house, or make a fence, but even to hoe his grounds; nay they will for payment be your menial servants to the meanest offices; no other unsubdued savage will do any more of all these than be your guide; they are very ingenious in making tools, utensils and furniture; i have seen a narrow tooth comb made by one of these savages with a knife only out of a root of the Diospyros that was as well finished as i ever saw one with all the necessary tools; this shews their patience.

The Chactaws are very hospitable at their hun­ting camps, and there only they will entertain a stranger at free cost.

Here i must relate a particular custom of these people: When a deer or bear is killed by them, they divide the liver into as many pieces as there are fires, and send a boy to each with a piece, that the men belonging to each fire may burn it, but the women's fires are excluded from this ce­remony, and if each party kills one or more ani­mals, the livers of them are all treated in the same manner.

Horses of a good kind are in such plenty as to be sold for a kegg of four gallons half water half [Page 84] rum; they would be excellent were it not that they back them before the animals attain two years of age.

They cultivate for bread all the species and varieties of the Zea, likewise two varieties of that species of Panicum vulgarly called guinea corn; a greater number of different Phaseolus and Dolichos than any i have seen elsewhere; the esculent Convolvulus (vulgo) sweet potatoes, and the Helianthus Giganteus; with the seed of the last made into flour and mixed with flour of the Zea they make a very palatable bread; they have carried the spirit of husbandry so far as to culti­vate leeks, garlic, cabbage and some other gar­den plants, of which they make no use, in order to make profit of them to the traders; they also used to carry poultry to market at Mobile, al­though it lays at the distance of an hundred and twenty miles from the nearest town; dunghill fowls, and a very few ducks, with some hogs, are the only esculent animals raised in the nation.

They make many kinds of bread of the above grains with the help of water, Eggs, or hickory milk; they boil the esculent convolvulus and eat it with the hickory milk; they boil green ears of corn, they boil corn and beans together, and make many other preparations of their vegetables, but fresh meat they have only at the hunting season, and then they never fail to eat while it lasts; of their fowls and hogs they seldom eat any as they keep them for profit.

In failure of their crops, they make bread of the different kinds of Fagus, of the Diospyros, of a species of Convolvulus with a tuberous root found in the low cane grounds, of the root of a [Page 85] species of Smilax, of live oak acorns, and of the young shoots of the Canna; in summer many wild plants chiefly of the Drupi and Bacciferous kind supply them.

They raise some tobacco, and even sell some to the traders, but when they use it for smoaking they mix it with the leaves of two species of the Cariaria or of the Liquidambar Styracifiua dried and rubbed to pieces.

They prepare a kind of cloth out of the bark of a species of Morus, and with its root dye it yellow; i have all the reason in the world to be­lieve, that this cloth might be manufactured into paper.

Buffaloe's wool also furnishes them a material for a useful manufacture.

They likewise make blankets and other co­verings out of the feathers of the breasts of wild turkies by a process similar to that of our wig makers, when they knit hair together for the purpose of making wigs.

They have a root by means of which they dye most substances of a bright lading scarlet, but hitherto i have not been able to discover what it was.

Many among them are well acquainted with plants of every kind, and apply them judicially both externally and internally; to others again they attribute supernatural virtues, for instance, there is one which they make use of to procure rain; for this purpose they have a number of people in their nation called rainmakers; these assemble in a deserted field, and they boil this plant in a large pot, dancing and singing round it with numberless aukward gestures; then if it [Page 86] should happen to rain soon after the jugglers boast the virtue of the plant; but should no rain follow, they say the physick was not strong enough; they take care however not to employ this rain compelling herb unless a cloudy day forebodes rain. The plant is very singular, and i believe a nondescript; i saw two species of it, but could not ascertain the genius; the savages call it Esta Hoola or the most beloved.

The most remarkable thing of these savages is their inability to swim, occasioned by their being remote from large waters; this art the people of Chicasahay and Yoani who live on the banks of the Pasca Oocooloo enjoy alone, and incredible as it may appear, even most of their horses partake of this inability, as many people and among others the Commissary for the nation have in­formed me from their own experience.

They help their wives in the labour of the fields and many other works; near one half of the men have never killed a deer or turkey dur­ing their lives. Game is so scarce, that during my circuit through the nation we never saw any, and we had but two or three opportunities of eating venison in as many months; they take wives without much ceremony, and live to­gether during pleasure, and after separation which is not very frequent, they often leave the second to retake the first wife.

Fornication is among them thought to be a natural accident, therefore a girl is not the worse looked on for ten or a dozen slips; but although they are not over jealous of their wives, they pu­nish adultery in the woman, unless she happens to belong to a stronger or more noted and nume­rous [Page 87] family than the husband; in which case he scarce ventures even to put her away; but if she is doomed to suffer, her punishment is to be at a publick place (for that purpose set apart at every town) carnally known by all who choose to be present, young and old; thus the poor wretch after defending herself and struggling hard with the first three or four, at last suffers motion­less the brutality of perhaps an hundred or an hundred and fifty of these barbarians; the same treatment is undergone by a girl or woman who belonging to another town or quarter of the na­tion, comes to a place where she is a stranger and cannot give a very good account of herself and business, or the reason of her coming there; this they call running through the meadow, and if a white man happens to be in the town, they send him an offer or invitation to take the first heat; they plead in excuse for so barbarous a cu­stom, that the only way to disgust lewd women is to give them at once what they so constantly and eagerly pursue.

The education of their children i have already mentioned.

The women suffer no more by child birth than any other savage women; they retire into a place of solitude at the time, and after delivery return to their daily labour; however while i staid at Oka Altakkala in this nation one died in labour within about eighty yards of the house i resided in.

There are no laws or regulations observable among these people, except the Lex Talionis, and although they have a strict notion of distinction in property, and even divide their lands, we ne­ver [Page 88] hear them quarrel about boundaries; the above law is so strictly followed, that i am fur­nished with the following anecdote: It hap­pened that a young Chactaw having done some­thing deserving reproof, he was therefore chid by his mother, this he took so ill as in the fury of his shame to resolve his own death, which he ef­fected with a gun; his sister as his nearest rela­tion thought herself bound to avenge his death, and knowing the circumstance told her mother she had caused her brother's death and must pay for his life; the old woman resigned herself to her fate, and died by the hands of her daughter, who shot her with a gun which she had provided for the catastrophe.

In sickness the juggling Quacks are consulted, and as they are naturally good connoisseurs in simples, and judge pretty well of the nature of diseases, they often succeed; but if a disorder is obstinate or incurable, the relations of the pati­ent assemble in his house, bewail his misfortune, cry bitterly, take their leave of him, and he tells them how tired he is of life, that his misfortunes are unsufferable, and that it is good he should die; upon this an universal howl is raised, the nearest male relation jumps on him, and violent­ly in a moment breaks the neck of the patient, and then they rejoice that his misery is over, but lamentations for his departure soon succeed.

The following treatment of the dead is very strange, yet we find Apollonius Rhodius mention a similar custom of the inhabitants of Col [...]his near Pontus; we find Ives in his voyage relating the like of the remainder of the ancient Persians, and we find again in Hawkesworth's voyage the peo­ple [Page]

[Page 89] of Otaheite, performing their obsequies in a manner little or nothing different from the Chac­taws; but it would be an hard matter to assign a reason for it among the latter; that it is not with any solicitude about the disposition of the body in regard to a future state is plain; all the reason i could hear of them was, that they would not so soon forget their deceased friends, and might be the oftener stimulated to weep over their remains. As soon as the deceased is departed, a stage is erected (as in the annexed plate is represented) and the corpse is laid on it and covered with a bear skin; if he be a man of note, it is deco­rated, and the poles painted red with vermillion and bears oil; if a child, it is put upon stakes set across; at this stage the relations come and weep, asking many questions of the corpse, such as, why he left them? did not his wife serve him well? was he not contented with his children? had he not corn enough? did not his land pro­duce sufficient of every thing? was he afraid of his enemies? &c. and this accompanied by loud howlings; the women will be there constantly, and sometimes with the corrupted air and heat of the sun faint so as to oblige the by standers to carry them home; the men will also come and mourn in the same manner, but in the night or at other unseasonable times, when they are least likely to be discovered.

The stage is fenced round with poles, it re­mains thus a certain time but not a fixed space, this is sometimes extended to three or four months, but seldom more than half that time. A certain set of venerable old Gentlemen who wea [...] very long nails as a distinguishing badge on the [Page 90] thumb, fore and middle finger of each hand, constantly travel through the nation (when i was there, i was told there were but five of this re­spectable order) that one of them may acquaint those concerned, of the expiration of this period, which is according to their own fancy; the day being come, the friends and relations assemble near the stage, a fire is made, and the respecta­ble operator, after the body is taken down, with his nails tears the remaining flesh off the bones, and throws it with the intrails into the fire, where it is consumed; then he scrapes the bones and burns the scrapings likewise; the head being painted red with vermillion is with the rest of the bones put into a neatly made chest (which for a Chief is also made red) and deposited in the loft of a hut built for that purpose, and called bone house; each town has one of these; after remain­ing here one year or thereabouts, if he be a man of any note, they take the chest down, and in an assembly of relations and friends they weep once more over him, refresh the colour of the head, paint the box red, and then deposit him to last­ing oblivion.

An enemy and one who commits suicide is bu­ried under the earth as one to be directly forgot­ten and unworthy the above ceremonial obsequies and mourning.

A mixture of the remains of the Cawittas, Ta­lepoosas, Coosas, Apalachias, Conshacs or Coosades, Oakmulgis, Oconis, Okchoys, Alibamons, Natchez, Weetumkus, Pakanas, Taënsas, Chacsihoomas, Abé­kas and some other tribes whose names i do not recollect, will be the next subject of our attention; they call themselves Muscokees and are at present [Page 91] known to us by the general name of Creeks, and divided into upper and lower Creeks; also those they call allies and are a colony from the others living far south in East Florida.

They inhabit a noble and fruitful country, where a civilized people in future will enjoy all the earthly sweets they can wish for, and where the inhabitants will always be placed commodi­ously for navigation, so as with little trouble to bring all the valuable produce of a rich soil situ­ate in a temperate air of the middle latitudes to a market; in a word, i foresee this will become the seat of trade and its attendant riches in North America.

They are the next most numerous nation after the Chactaws; but because i have not been so universally through this nation as through the the others, i cannot so nearly calculate their num­bers, but to all appearance, three thousand five hundred gun men is all the extent; this confede­racy of remnants is a race of very cunning fel­lows, and with regard to us, the most to be dreaded of any nation on the continent, as well for their indefatigable thirst for blood (which makes them travel incredibly for a scalp or pri­soner) as for their being truly politicians bred, and so very jealous of their lands, that they will not only not part with any, but endeavour con­stantly to enlarge their territories by conquest and claiming large tracts from the Cherokees and Chactaws.

As an instance of their politicks, i beg leave to relate the following fact: When in 1764 and 1765, Messrs. Rea and Galphus of Georgia, had the contract of providing Pensacola with beef, [Page 92] they were of necessity obliged to have the cattle drove through this nation, who never suffered any but oxen to pass, the tendency of this prohi­bition must be obvious to every reader.

They are all remarkably well shaped, they live in a level country full of rivers, are expert swim­mers, and in general a very hardy race; what deserves notice here is that their Thorax is very shallow, so that a savage of this race may appear almost a giant by the breadth of his shoulders and yet not measure so much in circumference as an ordinary European; but whether this is the effect of art or nature, i cannot pretend to de­cide; their women are handsome and many of them very cleanly, they are very hospitable and never fail of making a stranger heartily welcome, offering him the pipe as soon as he arrives, while the good women are employed to prepare a dish of venison and homany,^* with some bread made of maize and flour, and being wraped in maize leaves, baked under the ashes; when it is served up they accompany it with bears fat purified to a perfect chrystalline oyl, and a bottle of honey with which last article the country abounds, and it is of so good a quality, as in my opinion to ex­ceed that of Calabria and Minorca.

In the lower nation and the allied tribes, there are many who keep rice by them and have plen­ty of beef; of all which articles they are profuse­ly liberal, and i believe had they only a single potatoe, they would share it with a stranger. In the fruit season they never fail to accompany these regales with melons, peaches, plumbs, grapes, or some other wild fruit.

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[Page 93]After the traveller is made welcome by his host, the latter introduces him into the assembly, which is kept every evening at a place called the square, of which we find one in each town. At this place he is entertained with tobacco and cassine drink; this is also the common resort of their old men and warriors to deliberate on mat­ters of peace and war, to judge what steps are to be taken for the welfare of the nation, and to de­cide the fate of their neighbours; so that this square doth not ill answer to the description we have of the Roman Forum or Athenian Areopage; the evening ends in a dance, which is the com­mon practice every night.

To relate any thing concerning the wars of this nation, would be no more than repeating what has been said of the Chicasaws.

Their way of life is in general very abundant; they have much more of venison, Bear, turkies; and small game in their country than their neigh­bours have, and they raise abundance of small cattle, hogs, turkeys, ducks and dunghill fowls (all which are very good in their kind) and of these they spare not; the labour of the field is all done by the women; no savages are more proud of being counted hunters, fishermen, and warri­ors: were they to cultivate their plentiful coun­try, they might raise amazing quantities of grain and pulse, as it is they have enough for their home consumption, they buy a good deal of rice, and they are the only savages that ever i saw that could bear to have some rum in store; yet they drink to excess as well as others; there are few towns in this nation where there is not some sa­vage residing, who either trades of his own stock, [Page 94] or is employed as a factor. They have more va­riety in their diet than other savages: They make pancakes; they dry the tongues of their venison; they make a caustick salt out of a kind of moss found at the bottom of creeks and rivers, which although a vegetable salt, does not deli­quiate on exposing to the air; this they dissolve in water and pound their dried venison till it looks like oakum and then eat it dipped in the above sauce; they eat much roasted and boiled venison, a great deal of milk and eggs; they dry peaches and persimmons, chesnuts and the fruit of the chamaerops, they also prepare a cake of the pulp of the species of the passi flora, vulgarly called may apple; some kinds of acorns they also pre­pare into good bread; the common esculent con­volvulus and the sort found in the low woods, both called potatoes, are eat in abundance among them; they have plenty of the various species of Zea or maize, or the Phascolis and Dolichos, and of different kinds of Panicum; bears oyl, honey and hickory milk are the boast of the country; they have also many kinds of salt and fresh water turtle, and their eggs, and plenty of fish; we like­wise find among them salted meats, corned venison in particular, which is very fine; they cultivate a­bundance of melons; in a word, they have natu­rally the greatest plenty imaginable; were they to cultivate the earth they would have too much; vast numbers of horses are bred here, but of an indiffe­rent kind; and these savages are the greatest horse stealers yet known: it is impossible to be sure of a horse wherever [...]ese fellows come.

The Cassine is by them used as a drink, they barbacue or toast the leaves and make a strong [Page 95] decoction of them; the men only are permitted to drink this liquor to which they attribute many virtues, and it is made so strong as to be black and raise a froth; when they drink it at their as­semblies in the square, they call it black drink.

Every afternoon a young savage warns the vil­lage to dance; as soon as it is dusky they make a a fire of dry pitch pine, and round this they dance in a circle with many strange gestures, postures, and cries; the women sing regularly and some very prettily to the musick of a kind of drum. I have heard them sing, and seen them dance to no more than the words Yahoodela, Ya­hoyahena for above two hours.

On this occasion i must not forget to mention an instance of female fondness for dress, which i saw at one of these dancing assemblies: I observed the women dressed their legs in a kind of leather stockings, hung full of the hoofs of the roe deer in form of bells, in so much as to make a sound exactly like that of the Castagnettes; i was very desirous of examining these stockings and had an opportunity of satisfying my curiosity on those of my landlady at her return home. I counted in one of her stockings four hundred and ninety three of these claws; there were nine of the wo­men at the dance with this kind of ornament, so that allowing each of them to have had the same number of hoofs, and eight hoofs to a deer, there must have been killed eleven hundred and ten deer to furnish this small assembly of ladies with their ornaments, besides which, earrings, bracelets, &c. are by no means forgot; an in­stance of luxury in dress scarcely to be paralleled by our European ladies.

[Page 96]The men are also very fond of dress; my guide across the Peninsula, employed above two hours at his toilet, at Mr. Moultrie's house, four miles from St. Augustine, before he would venture to shew himself in town.

Their principal exercises at home are ball play­ing in the manner afore related, and the just men­tioned dances; the women are employed, besides the cultivation of the earth, in dressing the victu­als, preparing, scraping, braining, rubbing and smoaking the Roe skins, making macksens of them, spinning buffaloe wool, making salt, preparing cassine drink, drying the chamaerops and possiflora, making cold flour for travelling, ga­thering nuts and making their milk; likewise in making baskets, brooms, pots, bowls and other earthen and wooden vessels.

They live nearly in the same kind of habitati­ons as the two other nations already mentioned, except that their hot houses are not circular but oblong squares; they learn their boys from their youth to endure all manner of hardships particularly swimming in the coldest weather; they make them frequently undergo scratching from head to foot through the skin with broken glass or gar fish teeth, so as to make them all in a gore of blood, and then wash them with cold water; this is with them the Arcanum against all diseases, but when they design it as a punishment to the boys, they dry scratch them (i. e) they apply no water after the operation, which ren­ders it very painful; they endeavour as much as possible to teach them all manner of cruelty, by making them exercise it on the poor brute creati­on, in order to be the better versed in it when [Page 97] they want to exercise it on their own species, and others of the human genus, when they unhappily become their enemies.

As hospitable as this nation is to friends, as irreconcileably inhuman are they to their enemies; there is hardly an instance of one miserable pri­soner's ever having escaped their barbarity; the torments they put the wretched victims to, are too horrid to relate, and the account thereof can only serve to make human nature shudder.

No nation has so contemptible an opinion of us as these. They practice unnatural commerce with their own sex to as high a degree as the Chicasaws; they, like all other savages, are very fond of dogs, in so much as never to kill one out of a litter, and it is not uncommon in the nation to see a dog very lean, and so sensible of his misfortune as to seek a wall or post for his support before he ventures to bark.

With regard to the women, their girls are the most arrant prudes and coquets in the world, though they will never scruple to sell the use of their bodies when they can do it in pri­vate; a person who wishes to be accommodated here can generally be supplied for payment, and the savages think a young woman nothing the worse for making use of her body, as they term it; but it is a great falshood which has been re­lated of these savages, that they exhort their young women to cohabitation with white men.

Polygamy is here allowed, though not gene­rally made use of; they marry without much ce­remony, seldom any more than to make some presents to the parents, and to have a feast or hearty regale at the hut of the wife's Father; [Page 98] when once married the women are bound to the strictest observation of obedience and conjugal fidelity, saying that she that has once sold herself, can not any more dispose of any thing whatever; and of their wives they are the most unreasonably jealous of any nation under the sun. Adultery is punished by severe flagellations and loss of hair, nose, and ears, in both parties, if they are taken; sometimes they spare the nose of the man, and i have known some instances of white men having this misfortune and being obliged to ap­ply to the Commissary, or the nearest Governor for a certificate to secure them from the imputa­tion of the pillory.

Physick, or the knowledge of it, is another thing in which they pride themselves not a little, but they apply that name to all kinds of exor­cisms, juggling and legerdemain tricks, as well as to the knowledge of diseases and the simples proper to cure them.

Once a year, about July, these people put out all the fires throughout the nation; they fast the two next days; then the fire is lighted again ac­cording to their old fashion (i. e.) by drilling with a hard piece of wood on a soft one till it catches which soon happens, thus all the fires are again lighted and universal feasting ensues.

The women are just as easily delivered as those of the other savages, and immediately after birth the infant is plunged into cold water.

They revere old age to excess; in extreme sickness they will out of compassion break the neck of the decrepid or lingering patient.

The dead are buried in a sitting posture, and they are furnished with a musket, powder and ball, [Page 99] a hatchet, pipe, some tobacco, a club, a bow and arrows, a looking glass, some vermillion and other trinkets, in order to come well provided in the world of spirits.

The Arkanzas, Kanzas, Kappas, or Kwappas are the only nation of any note after the three above named, with whom West Florida has any connection, notwithstanding they live on the west side of the river; they are supposed to be about four hundred gun men.

This nation is famous for the death of Ferdi­nand Soto in the year 1543, after his immense journey from the Bay of Tampe through Apala­chia, Pensacola, Mobile, and the Chicasaw nati­on, &c. to the Mississippi, by his historian called Rio Grande; also the arrival of Mr. de la Salle, who in 1682, coming down this river and hav­ing taken formal possession of this country, went further down to its mouth, observed it in Lati­tude 29, went up again as far as Illinois, thence to Canada and France, from whence he returned with a small squadron in 1684 to find the mouth of the river once more, but through obstinacy passed it so far as to get into the Bay of St. Ber­nard and river Bravo, where losing his vessels he attempted to find the Arkanzas a second time, but after a long and tedious journey of almost three years he shared if possible a worse fate than Soto, being murdered by his own people near the nation of the Caeni on the 29th of May 1687; this we gather from the writings of Mr. Joutel who was present at all the scenes i have related, con­cerning this affair, and who pursued the journey to the Arkanzas and Canada; this nation were till lately the declared enemies of the Chicasaws; [Page 100] their country is said to be exceeding fine, but as i have not seen it i can not judge of it, i never saw above six of this race, therefore i only treat of them on account of their connection with the country i am describing.

In general their manners are very like those of all other savages, but among them i find a cu­stom not known by the other southern nations which is that of a feast of dogs flesh at the de­claration of war, which is a common practise among all the northern tribes; we are also told that an Arkanza is counted a warrior in his na­tion for having killed his enemies dog.

As many various accounts have been given of the manner of a declaration of war by different savages, i will here acquaint my reader of my having more or less personal knowledge or ac­quaintance with every tribe between the river St. Lawrence and the bottom of the gulph of Darien, and i think i can give the following as an account that will stand the universal test in all that ex­tent.

When war has been resolved on by the leading men of the nation, a feast is prepared and all the chief warriors are invited; after a great deal of swilling, the cause of the assembly is eloquently made knows by some Orator, and the intended ex­pedition submitted to the consideration of the as­sembly; as soon as it is approved of, they paint themselves red or black, assume a very gastly ap­pearance and behaviour, adorning themselves many uncouth ways; they dance their war dances under a continual roar of the death whoop, every one relates the great actions of his ancestors, and sings the praises of his own, as well past as fu­ture;

the insults of the enemy are painted in their blackest colours, and a great deal of bloody ad­vice to their young men with an universal cry of revenge! revenge! ends the farce, and then eve­ry one plans expeditions as he sees proper and convenient to execute.

The practice of scalping their slain enemy i believe is universal, but those in the neighbour­hood of the Dutch colonies have laid it by for another, that of cutting off the hands, which was in consequence of a reward the company gave them for the hands of such runaway blacks as joined the rebel Negroes, because there were in­stances of persons scalped who have recovered, but after the loss of hands they cannot any more use arms.

Juggling and pretence to witchcraft, as also consulting of omens, is common to the Arkanzas as well as others, and passes by the name of physick.

They have so far a veneration for the alligator as not to destroy him, nor have i seen a savage who would willingly kill a snake.

The pipe is used here as with others, Tobacco in some shape or other seems to be the American symbol of peace, friendship and social conversati­on, to which last the Europeans seem also to have applied it in imitation of the savages.

I am informed that they bury their dead like the Creeks with the addition of tying the head down to the knees.

To be particular about the remains of the To­nicas, Chitimachas, Yascos, Hoomas, Mobilians, Pasca-Oocoolos, Hattakappas, Taënsas, Biloxis, Ybi­toopas, Aquelon-Pissas, or Colla-Pissas, Tiaoux, Oak­tashippas, [Page 102] and many others, who have been de­stroyed by the French, would be needless, as there are not above from five to eighteen or twenty families of each of them left, who inhabit the banks of the Mississippi, dispersed among the plantations, where they serve as hunters, and for some other laborious uses; something similar to the subdued tribes of New England; and so un­natural is a humanized life to these people, that being as it were out of their element, this rem­nant melts daily like snow before the Sun.

To give an idea of Indian hieroglyphick painting, i have subjoined the two following cuts; the first is Chactaw, and means that an expedition by seventy men, led by seven princi­pal warriors, and eight of inferior rank, had in an action killed nine of their enemies, of which they brought the scalps, and that the place where it was marked was the first publick place in their territories where they arrived with the scalps.

The second is a painting in the Creek taste, it means, that ten of that nation of the Stag family came in three canoes into their enemies country, that six of the party near this place, which was at Oopah Ullah, a brook so called on the road to the Chactaws, had met two men, and two wo­men with a dog, that they lay in ambush for them, killed them, and that they all went home with the four scalps; the scalp in the stag's foot implies the honour of the action to the whole fa­mily.

Such my reader may be assured were the boasted hieroglyphick paintings of Muteczuma's people when Cortes landed in Mexico, and similar to my description were the people, the palaces and [Page]

[Page 103] temples of Mexico so gloriously painted in Spa­nish Rhodomontades, for what end i know not, but i can assure every one that these Iberian his­tories of the conquest of Mexico are no other than truth very thickly veiled with absurdities; for except the silver and gold which these savages might then have, believe me they differed no­thing from others; and as an evident proof of this we see the free unconquered nations of Darien in possession of gold and silver of their own find­ing, but very confined in their ideas of work­ing it.

The primum Mobile of the welfare of these countries and of the wealth of their inhabitants are the African slaves; the primary fine spun constitution of Georgia, is a recent and striking proof of this; that country would not this day have been worth the notice of any, had not the importation and use of Negroes been allowed on the arrival of Governor Reynolds; when this Gentleman came to the Government it had lan­guished under the administration of General Oglethorpe and the other trustees for about twenty years and then the land was worth less than at the first beginning, but no sooner had Mr. Reynolds arrived, and, among other useful regulations, the free use of slaves taken place, the country flourished; it is now about seven­teen years ago that this happened: Hutch­inson's island before Savannah was then sold for twenty pounds sterling, as yet there is a great deal of it unimproved and it cannot now be bought for ten thousand pound sterling, the im­provements likewise are far more perfect; amaz­ing as this increase of value is, yet i believe that [Page 104] there are many instances of a still greater, and i know some lands without any improvements on them of any kind, increase in six years time from five to forty shillings per acre, and many inha­bitants of savannah can now testify, that before the surrender of the trustees, almost every house there might have been bought for the considera­tion of doing the militia duty in the room of the first owner only. Last year the exports of the province amounted to above 121,000 l. sterling, as may be seen by a state of the custom house books then published, an amazing increase in seventeen years from nothing!

The late foolish, not to call them cruel at­tempts of settling East Florida by whites from Europe (i mean as well from England as from the Levant) are likewise a very absolute convic­tion of the necessity of having Negroe slaves; but as some people who are able to purchase, slaves, run away with the notion of the unlaw­fulness of holding a property in Negroes, and who are perhaps not a little misled by the silly pamphlet published in some of the colonies, called ‘an address to the inhabitants of the Bri­tish settlements in America upon slave keep­ing, &c.’ have attempted to settle without Negroes at all; i cannot in conscience forbear to give my advice to all adventurers in Florida, who desire to improve a plantation for their benefit, not to forget these useful though inferior members of society; not but poor families may live in plenty, and by honest labour acquire a comfort­able and easy situation in life as may be wished for, but until their industry helps them to the means of buying one slave and so on till they get

[Page]

Of the above Aggregate the Part of SUNBURY exported last Year £. 20,876.

N. B. The sudden Increase and Decrease of several Articles in certain [...]ea [...]. are [...] Produce from such seemingly so. The RICE from 1772 to 1773 amounted to 96,266 l. 9 s. DEER SKINS, [...] and dressed, to 18,740 l. 8 s. 11 d. and LUMBER of a [...] Kinds to 12,634 l. [...] of every Year 30 l. upon an Average for a Gain in the Islands of at least 200 per Cent. on Scantling, and 75 per Cent [...] Plank.

It is to be observed that the first ninth Year of the above Aggregate amounts to 47,551 l. and the second being 121, 677 is nearly equal to two and a half Times the first; so that in the third ninth Year (anno 1782) by an Increase in the same Pro­portion, the Exports must amount to 300,000 l. though [...] if we [...]on geometrically; especially we consider the great Bodies of [...]ed Swamp Lands still [...]maining in the Province, and near four Mil [...] of [...] Acres of Indian Hunting-Grounds, ceded anno 1773, of as rich upland Soil as any in America, and exactly adapted for rai [...] Grain of all Kinds, Tobacco, Hamp and Indigo. In short, [...]rgia may be justly deemed one of the most flou [...]hing Colonies in America. In the Year 1772 a Gentleman upon the Island of Skid-away, ten Miles below Savannah, cleared 50 l. sterl [...]by each Negroe employed in planting Indigo; and there is almost an equal Profit to be made by cutting Lumber, which, from its being so strongly impregnated with Turpentine, resists the Worm and Weather better than the Pine of the more northern Colonies; i [...]sequence of this it is in great Demand in the West-Indies.—As to Indian Corn, its common Produce in the lowlands is from forty to fifty Bushels per Acre; and up the Country, from sixty to seventy Bushels; but though there is also great Benefit to [...]ped by cultivating Rice, &c. only the wealthier Sort of People can attend to it, on account of the Number of Slaves, and the great Apparatus necessary for that Business. The Floridas may be regarded in the same Light with Georgia, allowing [...]heir State of Infancy.

[Page 105] more it will be vanity for them to hope for an ac­cumulation of wealth.

Do we not see Solomon's words fully verified in Negroes? A servant will not answer though he understand. The very perverse nature of this black race seems to require the harsh treatment they generally receive, but like all other things, this is carried into the extreme; far be it from me to approve or recommend the vile usage to which this useful part of the creation is subjected by some of our western nabobs, but against the Phyllis of Boston (who is the Phaenix of her race) i could bring at least twenty well known instan­ces of the contrary effect of education on this sa­ble generation.

Treachery, theft, stubbornness, and idleness, the first in the more northern Negroes, and the three last in the Ebo, Angola, and Benin slaves are such consequences of their manner of life at home as to put it out of all doubt that these qua­lities are natural to them and not originated by their state of slavery.

Had Montesquieu been well acquainted with the American colonies, he would not have made use of any argument so much below so great a man as the one quoted in the above named enthusi­astical production, which seems calculated to procure a greater number of vagabonds than we are already pestered with. I think no man ought to be allowed the manumission of his slave except he be bound for his good behaviour and industry, and idle free blacks ought to be sold for the good of the community.

The anecdotes of the sublimity of Negroes [Page 106] sentiments in their own country are very similar to my anecdote of a savage shooting himself be­cause his mother reprimanded him, or another doing the same because he lost his all at play.

Mr. Le Poivre has mentioned the making sugar in Cochin China, by free men, but it has not been observed, that those free men make small quan­tities, and sell it at the low rate they do, only because others who employ slaves in the same or in the adjacent countries, sell them at that price, which may be easily proved, and consequently oblige the others to do the same; nor that these free men live on the same diet as our slaves, and who will say that Cochin Chinese sugar after ex­portation sells at a more reasonable rate than Ja­van, Martinique, Jamaica, or any eastern or western sugar does.

Have not all the endeavours of the several Le­gislatures in the West Indies to introduce more white or free people proved abortive, by reason of their general inability for labour in those climates?

Is it not therefore better to employ those, who labour at a similar work in their own sultry coun­try, and in a state of slavery too, than to make victims of men who can by no means be qualified for the fatigue of a southern plantation.

We have known not long ago sugars &c. as cheap in the West Indies as in the East; it is the increase of consumption in Europe and North America that renders it dear: I affirm that in America, neither sugar, rice nor indigo can be made by whites at three times the price it is made now by the blacks, and i also affirm that the West India lands are distributed among all nati­ons [Page 107] with less reservation, than they are on the continent of British North America.

Can any one say that the favourites of man­kind (i mean liberty and property) are any where enjoyed in Africa?

The rhapsodical opinion that the earth pro­duces more when worked by free men than by slaves may do in theory but not in practice; the contrary is easily made to appear; and i am cer­tain from the nature of the climates, that the same colonies when cultivated by free men would not produce one tenth part of what they do now; as for an equal distribution of property it is like Har­rington's Oceana or Sir Thomas More's Utopia.

An European will outlive a Creole by means of his more regular life, not otherwise, and who knows not that Negroes attain with all their la­bour a much higher age than the generality of idle Whites.

The foolish argument of the shortness of the Jewish history, as well as lugging in the practice of Polygamy by the head and shoulders (al­though the text quoted is not to the purpose) is too mean to be refuted.

Let not therefore the narrow system of mora­lity adopted by some of our contemporary enthu­siastical Philosophers restrain us from properly using this naturally subjected species of mankind; the impossibility of an European's bearing the re­quisite labour in those climes is now so well as­certained as not to require any elucidation, nor can any one pretend to say, that the posterity of Eu­ropeans born in the torrid Zone ought to bear its inclemency; what labour can we expect from men brought up in ease and affluence? It is pretended [Page 108] that our employing slaves is contrary to the pre­cepts of the founder of our most holy religion, when he says: "Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself;" i need not make use of the confined ideas of the antient Jews, who thought that the title of neighbour did not extend to any thing beyond their own nation.

I will then affirm, that there is a fivefold state of slavery, not only known or permitted; but commanded in God's holy word.

1st. Those who are condemned to slavery for their crimes, which we but too often experience to be the case with the slaves imported to us from Africa.

2ly. Those that are taken in war, which is the most general way among the Negroes to furnish us with slaves, and who would be murdered; did we not induce their conquerors by our manu­factures and money to shew them mercy.

3ly. Those who are sold by their Parents, which custom obtains among many people even the refined and civilized Chinese, not to mention some christians, but most among the Negroes.

4ly Those who sell themselves or are sold for debts, or other wants, which not only the Ne­groes, but our own laws justify.

5ly Those who are born in slavery.

I need not seek assistance from the laws actually in force among us to prove the first; Noah in Genesis, chap. 9, v. 25, 27, condemns Ham to slavery for the crime he had committed, and in Exodus, chap. 22, v. 3, God commands us that, ‘If the Sun be risen upon a thief, it shall unto him be a crime of blood, for he should make full restitution, if he have nothing, let him be [Page 109] sold for his theft.’ Here let me remind my reader, how much easier the slavery of our Ne­groes is, than the cruel captivity of those, who for their misdemeanors are condemned to the chain, the wheelbarrow or the gallies.

For the second read Joshua, chap. 9, v. 23.

Does not Exodus, chap. 21, v. 7, shew, that a man might sell his child as a servant, only giving the maid servant a privilege above men servants?

In the fourth case i think that (without leaving the point in view) i may ask, does not the soldi­er sell his liberty to his sovereign or other Prince for his pay be it for a time or for life?

Proverbs, chap. 11, v. 29, tell us, ‘That the fool shall be servant to the wise of heart.’ Chap. 22, v. 7, ‘The rich ruleth over the poor and the borrower shall be servant to the lender.’ Does not Jesus himself, Math. chap. 18. v. 25 make use of a parable fully to my pur­pose? ‘when he says: But for as much as he had not to pay, his Lord commanded him to be sold, and his wife and children and all that he had, and payment to be made.’

Exodus chap. 21, v. 4, tells us that; ‘if the master have given his servant a wife, and she have born him sons or daughters, the wife and her children shall be her masters.’

For the perpetuity of slavery read Leviticus chap. 25, v. 39, to 47, how absurdly is Mon­tesquieu again quoted, when in his L. 10, C. 3, he speaks of a conquered nation, who through necessity are made slaves in their own country: every one knows that such conquered people, who are suffered to remain at home at first under oppression, ought by degrees to be made free [Page 110] subjects, their good behaviour being their ran­som; but who, even among those refined mora­lists, would emancipate his slave without some reward either private or publick?

How Tacitus comes to be so pat to the pur­pose of this acute Philosopher i have not been able to learn; nor is the quotation from the uni­versal history, or Mr. Robertson of any more force: Since we are able then to get slaves in a lawful manner, why should we now be restrained from buying them to cultivate our grounds, when all nations at all times have enjoyed that privilege?

Had not the well known Christian Doctor of the Colossian Church a slave called Onefimus? did not this slave run away (after having, as usu­al with slaves, robbed his master) come to Rome and go to see St. Paul? Paul treated him kindly, instructed, converted, and baptised him and sent him back to his master with a letter full of godly eloquence to persuade Philemon to forgive his slave and re-establish him in his favour, but by no means an exhortation, much less an order to set him free.

It is not religion then nor christian charity that forbids us to have slaves, but it commands us the duties we are to fulfil towards them, in­structing them to obey us, and us to use them as a part of the reasonable creation.

Who knows not, that the Spaniards are so much slaves that they can not well be more so, were they bought by their King: And who, that is acquainted in the Spanish dominions, knows not, that a modern Iberian does himself more honour by saying (Soi Blanco) i. e. I am a [Page 111] white man, than if he exclaimed, i am Noble!

Shall after what i have said, this Rhapsodist with his confined ideas, send us to some modern system of religion, or say, that i have offered any thing contrary to the sublime doctrine of the author of christianity? Had this anonymous writer instead of playing with the word slavery, told us, that the Northern colonies had no occa­sion for Negroes, he would have said more, than all he has advanced in his futile publication.

A Negroe at the Mississippi is reckoned to bring in his master an hundred dollars per annum, besides his share towards all the provision consu­med in the family; Negroes in general are used with more lenity there than in Carolina.

I have in my dissertation on the origin of the savages, which has swelled beyond my intenti­on, made mention of a peculiar characteristic of the Negroe species, here let me be allowed to mention that they, like all others of the different species, and varieties of the human genus are born white, which colour soon changes, but on the moment of birth in both sexes the exterior parts of generation will shew, whether the person will be black, yellow, brown, red or any other colour known among mankind.

There is among the Negroes a kind of anoma­lous beings with white skins, feeble eyes, &c. which have been so often described by other au­thors that i shall not trouble my reader with a particular account of them; yet one observation i cannot forbear to make, which i believe will be found no less curious than new:

Through all the Northern America the red men are universally so, but as soon as we come [Page 112] on the Isthmus we find some of those unhappy anomalous individuals among the savages; i have myself seen several of either sex of this forlorn kind among the Sant Blass nation, who call themselves Ayomalas; they inhabit the South Eastern part of the Isthmus, and i understand from others conversant farther South, that in South America it is common; these people are of such an exceeding tender texture of skin, that it is disagreeably fair and very liable to become scurfy and freckled; their eyes are nearly as red as those of a white rabbit and very weak, seeing objects plainly only after Sun set, before Sun rise, or in a cloudy day: Their hair is straight, long, lank, and red, not participating of the harsh strong texture of the hair of common savages; their in ability for labour, for want of sight, causes the others of the nation to support them; the off­spring of these poor creatures however is again red and in the general course of nature.

The manners and way of life of the white peo­ple in Florida, differ very greatly from those in other provinces of America, particularly in re­spect of cloathing; they are very plain, their dress consists of a slight waistcoast of striped cot­ton, and a pair of trowsers of the same, and often no coat; if any, it is a short one of some light stuff; in winter a kind of surtout, made of a blanket, and a pair of Indian boots is all the ad­dition; the women also dress light and are not very expensive; happy frugality! May the in­habitants of this blessed climate long continue to cherish thee as their greatest temporary blessing! Manufactures of cotton for their own use also prevail greatly among the industrious Acadians; [Page 113] may the new comer under the free government of the English not be ashamed to follow this excel­lent example! sorry i am though, that i find myself obliged to say that when in anno 1772 i was in Orleans i could not forbear to feel the weight and justice of an exclamation made by a French gen­tleman to me upon seeing some English gentlemen walk upon the Levis "^* Dites moy Monsieur (says he) lesquels sont les petits maitres de la Louifiane Messrs. les Anglois ou nous autres, with grief i was obliged tacitly to own the English were.

The amazing plenty of the country in its west­ern regions makes them keep princely tables at a small expence, thus i can not call this luxury a fault; to form an idea at what a good table may be furnished, i beg my reader to peruse the follow­ing account, as this really stood in the year 1772 in the months of November and December, and in January and February 1773: Beef at 13s6. per hundred; fresh pork of the best corn fed 18s. per hundred; country flour from 12s. to 13s6. the North American flour 15s6. to 16s6. per hundred; a bushel of good clean full grained Indian corn about 13d. ½; a barrel of the best clean merchantable rice being about two gross hundred weight of neat grain, from 9s. to 11s3; sweet potatoes about 8d. per bushel; a sheep of about 12 pound per quarter, if pur­chased above New Orleans, will cost 6s9, if be­low, 9s; a tame goose of the best kind from 10d. to 1s; a turkey about 20d. to 2s; if a very fine wild one, some times 2s6; a common dunghill [Page 114] fowl about 6d; a tame duck from 6d. to 8d; venison variable according to the caprice or nati­on of the hunter, but always very cheap, this has a noble peculiar fine flavour here; butter is little used, yet the best the Acadians make which is very good sells at about 6d. ¾; bears oil care­fully clarified supplies its place; this is bought at about 3s6 a gallon; and in my opinion, as well as in the opinion of all who once try it, richly deserves the pre-eminence of butter; be­sides these the lakes Pont-Chartrain, Maurepas, Borgne, and O [...]achas supply the country with a vast variety of excellent fish at an exceeding low price, and in winter large quantities of fine oysters and a great choice of water game in high perfection, so low as seldom to be asked more than 6d. for a goose, about 4d. for a duck, mallard, widgeon, or other of that size, and about 2d. for a teal; ^* all these have here a peculiar flavour and are much admired; the river abounds likewise in fish, but being very deep and little pains taken to catch them, the different kinds are scarcely known; the planters all keep their hunters for providing their tables, and their yards abound in poultry; small game, such as quails, pheasants, hares, squirrels, snipes, godwits, curlews, meadow larks, fieldfares, rice birds, &c. &c. are very frequent­ly had.

It is true that Pensacola and Mobile especially the first are not so abundant; but in regard of meat, venison and fish, i pronounce it to be ow­ing to the indolence of the inhabitants, who con­tent [Page 115] themselves to pay any price fixed thereon by one or two butchers, and three or four industri­ous Spanish hunters and fishermen.

Mobile has plenty of bread kind already, and notwithstanding the barren miserable appearance of the sea coast here and at Pensacola, their fine ri­vers will e're long oblige propitious plenty to rear her at present hidden head.

In respect of vegetables, from Mobile west­ward there is an amazing supply of every kind the year round in their highest perfection and of the finest flavour; but the barren sand of Pensa­cola will not admit of gardening in June, July, and August, the proportion of moisture being then too small for that of heat.

In the gardens we find various kinds of cab­bage and sallading, carrots, turnips, radishes, skir­rets, leaks, scallions and other roots, asparagus, artichoakes, cucumbers, green pease (in some the year round) vast variety of beans, and choice of best flavoured pot herbs, in short every fine esculent plant Europe can boast of, they have beyond description perfect, neither has the boun­teous hand of nature here been sparing in the most delicious fruits for the table, nor forgot to stock the fields and woods with fine mush­rooms, truffles and morels for the most exquisite sauces.

Happy climate where through all seasons of the year the inestimable gifts of Flora and Pomona are common, where snow or ice are very seldom seen, [Page 116] and where the cruel necessity of roasting one's self before a fire is utterly unknown!

With respect to drink, among the English in­habitants it is generally water tempered with a mo­derate quantity of the best West India rum, and among the better sort the Portuguese and Spanish wines; the French drink their favorite claret of the two kinds called vin cabor and vin de ville; the Spaniards add the St. Lucar wine to it, New England rum (that bane of health and happiness) has found its way here also, among the lower classes; a low kind of rum from the French Isles is likewise used by some, and its cheapness makes it preferred for the trade with the savages.

A transition to the agriculture of these colonies comes most naturally in course; this science (un­doubtedly the most noble and most useful of all employments) has not only had the protection and countenance of Monarchs and other great men, but they have even practised it, our present gracious Sovereign has shewn instances of his care of the art, and many individuals of rank in Eng­land, Holland and France now practise it and stu­dy its improvement, and the annals of all nations tell us, that the flourishing state of that art was the happy period of their grandeur; and it un­doubtedly is and always will be an honourable, innocent, pleasant, and usefull pursuit.

The amazing multiplication of mankind in America, which since eighteen years that i have been acquainted with the continent has proceeded nearly, if not wholly, in a triplicate proportion, is entirely owing to this great art, and to the room this wide waste of new world affords for its improvement; this art is the source of our gran­deur, [Page 117] and the cause of our happy strides to great­ness; the welfare of the people depends thereon, all the consequence of a nation is owing to it, and the national independency of the greatest comuni­ties is in a great measure inseparable from it.

In this noble country then (which will afford not only all the necessaries but even the superflu­ities of life) it ought therefore to be the principal object of our most arduous pursuits; all the products of the torrid Zone as well as of the tem­perate are capable of being produced in this per­fect climate, let us see which of them most de­serves our attention.

Before i descend to particulars a thought claims my notice; West Florida is beyond measure hap­py in having its fertile soil more equally divided than the barren sands which were chosen by the ^* monopolizers of East Florida; these even over­looked the most usefull places there, and planted their baronies in the pine barrens. There let the lords be lumber cutters! The fertile part of West Florida is more equally divided, and there popu­lation through agriculture does and must continue to flourish, happy circumstance! for which Dr. Stork and the self taught Pennsylvanian Philoso­pher deserve our perpetual thanks.

I. Wheat will always be produced in West Flo­rida especially in the higher latitudes on the river, so that all attempts to starve that country by blockade would be vain and frustrated; barley, and oats grow well in all the lighter soils, and rye may be produced in the most barren sands of the province.

[Page 118]The cultivation of these are so universally known, that to describe them would be spen­ding paper in vain, but a remark in regard to wheat (which has fallen under my observation) must not be omitted; in the lower latitudes wheat will grow exceeding well till it comes almost to maturity; but then of a sudden a disease called the blast will often take it, and this in one night re­duces the hopes of a fine crop into a certainty that the best thing to be done next morning is to burn the straw to clear the ground for some thing else; to prevent this an observant farmer of my acquaintance in Georgia ^* having found that rye was never subject to this disease, mixed some rye among his wheat, and the field escaped the blast; he repeated the trial till he was convinced of its efficacy, and then sowed a field of about five acres with wheat, surrounding it with a list of about twenty feet of rye; he succeeded in this experiment also, and his repeated trials have now shewn that it may be depended upon as efficacious, and thus wheat may be truly made an universal grain.

II. The Zea, Maize or Indian corn is a grain by no means to be neglected; the rich grounds in the N. W. parts of East Florida about Alachua &c. and the lands in the N. E. of West Florida are peculiarly adapted thereto and will yield fifty or sixty bushels per acre, the intervale on the Tembechbè and the land on the Mississippi is capable of producing eighty bushels per acre; even the sandy land, or that which is little better than sand, will yield according to seasons from fifteen to twenty five bushels an acre.

The vast consumption of this grain in food for mankind is very well known, but its supe­rior [Page 119] goodness for the feeding of swine, poultry, and indeed all animals, joined to its easy culture and prodigious increase, makes it deserve a rank before all other grain after wheat: Its culture requires the ground to be thoroughly hoed ^* or plowed, so as to make it entirely mellow, and break every clod, then holes are made at equal distances in regular rows, and four or five grains dropped in each and covered; in this part of the husbandry the greatest mistake is often made through over greediness of land, the holes ought to be at the regular distance of five feet, which will leave room for the horse or hand hoeing it much better, than if it was placed at four feet; some people are so near minded as to plant them only three feet a part, but this prevents the free circulation of air through the rows, of which this grain stands very much in need; this is so evident, that on planting in the same field some corn at three, at four, or at five feet distance, (suppose the soil equally good) there will be a difference of six feet in the height of the plants, for the best land can not raise the crowded corn to above ten or twelve feet, whereas that through which the air has free access, is frequently raised to sixteen, eighteen, and even twenty feet; ^† nor is this the only difference, the crowded corn will not produce grain in any thing like the proporti­on of that which stands at proper distances; a stem of crowded corn will hardly ever furnish above three ears, and th [...]se not above eight inches [Page 120] long, nor have they their extremities ever filled, neither are the rows so compact nor close toge­ther as that of corn that has enjoyed more free­dom; a stem of which will produce generally from three to five well grown ears from nine to twelve inches long, compact, and to the end full grown and of a wholesome look; when the young plants are grown about five or six inches out of the ground, a man ought to go through the field, and pull up those plants that look least promising leav­ing only three plants in each hill and the ground must be kept weeded; when at the height of a foot or thereabouts, it must have the first hoeing, the earth is then to be drawn round upon the root in form of a cucumber hill; and now it may stand till it attains the height of three feet, when it must have a second hoeing, and be clear­ed of suckers, which will appear in num­bers; when the grain is got to the growth of about six or seven feet, or when the tassel or fe­male flower begins to appear, it must again be relieved from suckers, and have a third hoeing, throwing the ground well up round its foot; in a large field these hoeings are most commodiously performed by the hoe-plow drawn by one horse, but in new fields the hand hoe must assist, if not do all the work; all the trouble with which this culture seems burthened is amply repaid by this grateful grain, the time of ripening depends on the climate; the northern climes bring it tardily but the southern ones hastily.

After this third hoeing the spike or male flow­er will appear in perfection; you may now strip some superfluous leaves from the lower part of the plant which will prove excellent hay for a horse [Page 121] and some cows that are necessary to keep near the house; the corn having attained nearly its growth and the spikes not shewing any more pollen, which is the impregnating yellow dust, that is seen on it during its flowering state, we find the female flower or silken tassel change colour; the ears fill and some lower leaves begin to fade, it will not be bad husbandry to cut off all the tops above the uppermost ear; this is left two or three days to dry on the summit of the plant, then tied in sheaves, it is as fine a hay as any known for fee­ding such animals as are intended to be kept a­bout the farm yard, or in the stable, and every prudent planter will find it his interest to keep some milch cows (at least) at home; this lopping of the tops is also said to contribute to the filling of the ears and the sooner ripening of them: the corn ripens in four or five months from the planting, in Florida; the gathering is done by pulling the ear from the stem, and carrying it in baskets to a place where it is stript of all its husk except the inner coat, and then it is kept in some airy loft or granary: and when wanted for use, it is laid in heaps and threshed with flails, and afterwards winnowed like other grain.

A report has been spread that on the Missis­sippi it was only necessary to burn the canes, make a hole in the ground and put the grain in, and it will grow without culture; it is true, but less wise men than Solomon will know such a field at sight to be that of the sluggard, and know the owner by his shabby appearance.

To enumerate the vast variety of ways in employ­ing this noble grain for food such as hommany, mush, groats, parched flour, cold flour, pud­dings, [Page 122] Anagreeta ^* and a multitude of other dishes, that vary in the difference of ripeness, grinding or other ways of dressing it, would be too tedious and unfit for this work; however the mixing its flour in equal parts with wheat flour after macerating the first in water till the liquor becomes slightly acidulated makes so fine a bread that i could by no means think it just to forget the mention of this process, the meal coarsly ground and cleared of bran, then boiled with a little salt in water, and thus mixed with wheat flour, makes also a palata­ble bread of great use to the poor; i hope my reader will excuse this prolixity, so great a staff of life deserves some notice.

III. Pease, as they are here called but improper­ly, because species of the Phaseolus and Dolichos are meant, follow the maize in utility: It is well known that most people use them like European pease either green or dry, and some kinds, such as the small white sort, the bonavist, cuckolds in­crease, the white black eyed pea, the white crowder, and many others, are undoubtedly at least as good; add to this that while young, hull and all, they make a fine esculent dish for the table, and when hulled they are as good as green pease, and as much admired; the hulls after threshing are eagerly sought after by cattle, and increase milk, the hogs fattened with this pulse are the next best pork to those fed with maize; thus they infinitely increase the quantity of food; their culture is easy, they are [Page 123] generally now planted between the corn at the second time of hoeing; they want little or no at­tendance in that case, as the corn serves them for support to climb up by, and the further attendance on the corn also serves the crop of pease; i can not but think this husbandry a very good one as by the time that the Cirrhi take hold of the corn it is suf­ficiently filled to be out of all danger of hurt from this parasitical nature of the pease. I also believe that the haulm left behind supplies the land with sufficient manure to re-establish its vegetative vi­gour, which maize is but too apt to exhaust.

The proper pea is not so fit for the field in this part of America, therefore only cultivated in gar­dens for the purpose of eating them green.

IV. The esculent convolvulus, vulgo, sweet pota­toe, claims the next place in this list; this root is by agriculture meliorated so much that some of the varieties are by no means inferior to any food we use on the southern tables, although some pa­lates, for instance my own, can hardly accommo­date themselves to them; the following list will point out the varieties, in an ascending scale for goodness.

• 1st. Spanish, or the original root.
• 2d. Carolina, little superior to the first.
• 3d. Brimstone, from its internal colour, with a red skin.
• 4th. Purple potatoe, having that colour through­out except a very little of the heart.
• 5th. Bermudas, or round white potatoe.

The 1st. 4th. and a few of the 5th. are cultiva­ted in the Floridas.

The 1st. is scarce fit for the table being very fibrous, therefore most proper to feed cattle; how­ever [Page 124] pork from hogs fed with them is indifferent, and requires to be hardened a considerable time with corn; it is remarkable that in pork fed with them the fat always separates wholly from the lean, which is likewise the case with that fed on the common peruvian potatoe, vulgarly called the Irish.

The 4th and 5th are excellent food and deserve a place on every table, the 4th cut into longitu­dinal slices and fryed is a very good dish; plainly boiled they are a good succedaneum for bread.

The 5th being less sweet and more dry than the others are best for stewing with meat, such as fat pork or beef, or a fat goose or duck, to make what is called an Haricot; their very mealy texture renders them the most proper in room of bread, or to mix with flour and make bread of.

They are a profitable crop, and require a light sandy soil which must be made very clean and mellow; they are planted in beds or hills, being propagated from pieces that have what is called an eye in them; they require two or three hoe­ings, and with this management will produce from three hundred to five hundred bushels per acre; even the last, if we reckon ten hills ne­cessary to make a bushel.

About July, in rainy weather, slips are taken from them, and planted in beds to procure a crop of small ones for next years seed.

The very same treatment is here necessary for the peruvian potatoe, but it wants oftener co­vering because the heat of the summer sun would strengthen the poisonous juices (with which this genus of night shade abounds) in those that might be exposed to the air; therefore they are [Page 125] unfit for the field in this climate, nor will they bear to be kept any time but in the garden; they will yield six or eight crops yearly, of a very good kind for the table.

V. Buckwheat justly deserves the next rank, it being the most fattening grain to all animals, but especially hogs and poultry; which last are always surprisingly multiplied where this grain is raised; to man it is also an excellent food; it is well known that in Philadelphia buckwheat cakes are one of the articles of that city at their break­fasts; it is also a noble crop near an apiary, and will multiply honey greatly; it requires a light loamy soil well broke, and to be sowed very thin, it improves land where ever it is planted.

VI. The panicum or Guinea corn is next in this scale of the produce of the earth; it differs from maize in being more difficult to be reduced into food, and being of too hot a nature for brutes, especially poultry, who will become blind by eating it often; it impoverishes land, but when sown at broad cast will yield a fine and pro­fitable crop of hay for such as are inclined to keep horses or milch cows near home, nor has it in this case so bad an effect on the soil.

VII. Rice though so lucrative a commodity did not deserve an earlier place in this enumera­tion, because it is not properly a necessary arti­cle in the human Oeconomy in this country but a staple branch of trade, not likely to increase the number of profitable members of society; howe­ver notwithstanding it is (for our use) only fit for puddings, and to put in soops, or to make the wafer-like bread called journey cakes in Caro­lina, yet it must be mentioned here on account [Page 126] of its usefulness in feeding Negroes, cattle and poultry.

Its culture is in wet grounds, where in the dry season it is sowed in drills eighteen inches apart and kept very clean, first by hoeing, and afterwards by letting water on just sufficient to destroy the weeds, and not to drown the rice by covering its top; for rice will grow in any soil though it loves watery ones best; but the reason of letting water on is more to suppress other plants than to forward the growth of rice; for the crop grass and [...]ther weeds are kept under by being covered; [...]over the rice and you will also destroy it; and i have seen good crops in high lands, when the season was but moderately wet; it is therefore to save labour that the planter chuses wet ground, but should he not have the water at his command, the noxious growth in dry wea­ther, or a profusion of water in wet weather, would equally destroy the crop; it is therefore necessary that great banks and deep ditches should be made to secure the crop, and that is no work for new planters to begin.

The grain in the rough is very noble food for all quadrupeds and poultry; to manufacture it there is a great deal of labour necessary; when manufactured a quart per diem will very plenti­fully feed a working Negroe, and the dust, beaten husk &c. that comes off will cause all ani­mals on the plantation to be very fat, especially turkeys, which no place on earth furnishes equal to those on a rice plantation; it will require eigh­teen or twenty bushels of rough grain to make a manufactured barrel of 500 pounds weight: The time of planting is from the end of the frost [Page 127] to the 10th of June, and the season for reaping is generally in October; a second crop will rise fit for fodder. In the twelve mile swamp in East Florida i have seen a second crop come to perfec­tion, and no doubt in the grand marsh in latitude 25, 30, in that province it would always yield twice.

An acre will produce from sixteen to eighteen hundred pound weight, manufactured grain, and one Negroe will attend three acres in a very com­pleat manner.

This grain causes a great consumption of cy­press and pine wood to be made into casks; conse­quently a great deal of coopers labour is necessary, in which the planter ought to be obliged to em­ploy white men, it not being harder labour than is consistent with our temperament and constitu­tion.

The process of manufacturing rice in a great measure resembles that of peeling barley; the planter who has water at command manufactures by a water mill, consequently cheaper than he who is obliged to do it by horses or by the ma­nual labour of his slaves.

This grain has one great article in its favour, that is the number of hands it employs in trans­porting and exporting it, who may be truly said to live by it.

The machines for manufacturing it have been so often described and figured, that they hardly ought to be introduced into a work that bears the name of concise.

VIII. There is no doubt but beans would be found of use, were they cultivated on the strong clay grounds which are at some distance [Page 128] from the Mississippi, and such as the lands on the ridges of the Yasoo, and in the Chicasaw na­tion; but as long as the canes, reeds, and the numberless natural grasses are in such abundance, this article is not yet worth attending to, any more than crops of turnips, carrots, or cabbage, which however would undoubtedly answer here for cul­ture in the field as well as in any other part of the earth.

IX. The artificial grasses found here are 1st: That kind of grass known in the islands by the name of dog grass, and in Carolina and Georgia by that of crop grass, and by the French of Flo­rida chiendent; this so greatly resembles the annu­al meadow grass, that i would rank it as one of that class; its leaves are broader; this rises natu­rally after the ground is broke up and will conti­nue in the ground for two or three years, when the ground being again plowed up, a fresh crop ensues, and this is all the culture it wants; in Carolina and Georgia, this is apt to plague the planter much by reason of its continual renova­tion, and the strong matting of its roots whereby it renders the surface of the earth in a great mea­sure impenetrable to the hoe, wherefore they wish to destroy it; but in places where pasture is scarce and eagerly desired, they would do well to consider its excellent quality in fattening cat­tle, and the fondness all cattle shew for it; and if instead of trying clover and other foreign grass­es, which have so often baffled their utmost ef­forts, they would encourage this easily cultivat­ed grass by plowing their poorest grounds once in two years, they would soon find themselves amply repaid by their long wished for desidera­tum, [Page 129] pasture; this grass will grow kindly in the poorest soils of Florida.

2dly, A second species of the same kind with narrow leaves called by the French Herbe au che­val, from the fondness of horses for it; in Caroli­na it is called nutt grass from a nutt found at its root; this, when once it takes in the ground, is as easily entertained as the first and makes a very good pasture on poor ground, but it must be well fenced against hogs, which being very fond of the nutts would root all up in a short time.

It may be said that i describe these grasses as natural yet call them artificial, but when we re­flect, that they require some kind of culture, the name of artificial can not be thought improper.

3dly, A grass not ill resembling silver hair grass, which is called from the colour of its seed, black seed grass, makes an excellent pasture on the meanest sand we find in the country; the seed is easily procured in Carolina, Georgia and East Florida.

4thly, Scud grass vulgarly called Scots grass is a noble grass on poor land, it grows to the height of thirty inches and upwards; ^* an experiment made by Mr. Wegg at Pensacola convinces me that this grass will grow in the sandy land of the pro­vinces; the seed or plant may be procured at Ja­maica where i knew a gentleman of the name of Jones make 1500l. per annum of a penn by means [Page 130] of this grass alone: Cattle prefer it to every other.

5thly, The Panicum and maize are of use as grasses i have already shewn how.

6thly, A species of Dolichos lately introduced into Georgia from China although not properly a grass, yet as it thrives to admiration there and yields four or five crops per annum, i think it not improper to recommend, as deserving culti­vation for feeding cattle, the more so as all kinds are fond of it.

7thly, Experience has taught us that sain-foin, lucerne, clover and timothy grass thrive not in the eastern part of these provinces, the sun being too hot for them in summer, at which season clo­ver in particular can not resist it out of the shade; on the western part of West Florida i believe they might answer, but we need not yet look out for pasture there, while that noble grass Indian reed (canna) is so abundant.

X. Sago might be here produced as well as in Georgia, for the tree from which the basis of this drug is taken abounds particularly in East Flo­rida; every body knows of what a vast use it is.

XI. Sesamen or oily grain, This was intro­duced by some of the Negroes from the coast of Africa, into Carolina, and is the best thing yet known for extracting a fine esculent oil; it will grow in any sandy ground, even luxuriantly, and yields more oil than any thing we have as yet any knowledge of: Capt. P. M'Kay of Sun­bury in Georgia, told me that a quantity of this seed sent to Philadelphia, yielded him twelve quarts per bushel; incredible as this may appear, i have the greatest reason to believe him; the first run of this oil is always transparent, the se­cond [Page 131] expression, which is procured by the additi­on of hot water, is muddy, but on standing it will deposit a whi [...] sediment, and become as limpid as the first; this oil is at first of a slightly pungent taste, but soon loses that and will never grow rancid even if left exposed to the air; the Negroes use it as food either raw, toasted, or boiled in their soups and are very fond of it, they call it Benni.

All the culture it requires is to be sown in drills about eighteen inches apart and by frequent hoeings to be kept clean.

XII. The ground nut also introduced by the Blacks from Guinea, is next after this for its ea­sy cultivation, a good kind of oil that does not soon grow rancid, and the great quantity it yields; but the earth does not produce the seed in such plenty as the last, and it takes up more room.

XIII. The pumpkins as cultivated in the fields here, being of an easy culture in the poorest soils, and yielding a great and beneficial increase of food, should not be forgot, although on account of their being chiefly used as a sauce i have given them this late place; their culture is so easy as to require little or no attendance after the seed is in the ground; they overgrow every kind of grass or weed, and are generally planted by dropping some seeds in the potatoe or corn fields, and their increase is immense; was the shield shaped squash from the north added to this, it would prove a be­neficial addition; all these kinds are eagerly eaten by horses and cattle of every sort, and they in­crease milk.

XIV. Liquor is as necessary as victuals; i [Page 132] would therefore recommend the culture of vines, which will here succeed with certainty; ask the French inhabitants and the [...] will tell you, that they once were in a very fair way to make their own wines at least, until an order for the suppres­sion of the vineyards came from France; the re­mains of these vineyards in many places yet shew the practicability of this scheme; the Spaniards continue the proscription, but why should not we make this profitable use of a country, whose soil and climate are evidently inviting us to this at­tempt, and which experience has taught us are adapted to it?

XV. Apples and pears are here of very good quality, but are never likely to become an ob­ject of attention by growing in quantities suffici­ent to make cyder and perry; but peaches grow here of the finest flavour, and in the highest per­fection, on standard trees, and therefore are fit to be planted in orchards. It is well known that hogs fattened by them make an excellent pork; the superfluous quantity would not be ill employed in that way, but as in Virginia they have set us the example, why can we not in Florida also distill their juices, and by means of that spirit which becomes excellent by age, at least partially banish the money draining useless article rum? This tree should be grafted not so much on account of the choice of fruit (Flo­rida produces no indifferent ones) as because the tree in this climate, especially in sandy soils, is not so lasting when raised from the nut as when grafted on its own or any other proper stock.

XVI. Sugar is a matter at present of mere spe­culation, yet it is made already near Orleans, al­though [Page 133] acknowledged not to yield the profit of a rice or indigo plantation. At or near New Smyr­na some is also produced, and rum has been made there. Some of the lands between the latitude 25 and 27, would undoubtedly yield it to advantage particularly at the river Rattones and the grand marsh.

We gather from Horace and Virgil that severe frosts were common in their time at Rome; now ice is scarce known naturally there; so while i have been acquainted with New York govern­ment, which is about seventeen years, it seems to have altered its climate four or five degrees more southward; ^* of this we have many striking proofs; this being owing to the opening of the country it is not unlikely but in time, by clear­ing the woods of Florida, that country may be brought to produce sugar to advantage, till then its culture merits no place here.

XVII. Oranges of various kinds are worth no­tice as they are on many accounts usefull in drink and sauces, and their leaves a good fodder for some esculent animals, such as sheep, rabbits and goats; they thrive extremely well through­out all Florida.

XVIII. Olives are as yet a matter of specula­tion, but as the wild olive is found here, and the cultivated one has already shown its propensity to a naturalization in this country, i make no doubt but they will become a grand article here; their utility is so well known that it requires no [Page 134] comment; their culture can not yet claim room in this work.

XIX. ^* Hops grow spontaneously through all this country.

XX. Having now gone through most of the different esculent productions of the earth, i will examine the merits of those which are service­able in commerce, be they for manufactures or otherways; and among these indigo justly calls for the first rank.

The description of this plant will more pro­perly appear in the botanical part of the work.

For its culture it requires a middling rich loose soil, and the field ought to be as nearly as possible a perfect level; it will grow in any soil from the heaviest to the lightest, but rich ham­mock, or oak land, of a moist nature, is the best adapted to this purpose; the ground should be thoroughly cleaned, and reduced to a perfect garden mould; this is the most laborious part of [Page 135] the culture, and so absolutely necessary that no crops can be expected without it.

Seed of the best kind abounds on the Mississippi, about four bushels of seed are requisite for an acre, it must be sown in drills about two feet apart; the time of approaching rain is always best; the season for sowing sets in the beginning of March and may be continued down till May; if the season is any thing favourable it will afford five cuttings between March and November; se­ven weeks being a long allowance between each two cuttings; we must be very cautious about cutting, for if that be done in dry weather it will infallibly destroy the plant; but in rainy weather there is no manner of risque of this; by this treatment and care, the plant is continued for years toge­ther in the warmer climates; it ought to be cut as soon as there is any appearance of blossom, ten weeks from planting will generally ripen the seed perfectly; when cut, it is tied in bundles and carried to the vats.

The vats are three in number and ought to be, the first very large, the second one third less, and the third yet less: At the head of the large vat stands a pump to fill it with water; these vats par­ticularly the first or steeping vat, ought to be made of very hard timber; in this steeping vat the weed is thrown together, and pressed down with pieces of live oak or other solid and ponderous timber; it is then covered with water by means of the pump; here it remains to ferment; the crisis whereby to know the exact time it is to remain in this vat is when the liquor thickens, begins vio­lently to effervesce and assumes a purplish blue colour; this will be effected in a greater or less [Page 136] space of time from eight to twenty hours accor­ding to the temperature of the atmosphere.

The steeping vat projects with one edge about three feet over the second or beating vat; in this edge the bottom of the first has a hole and plug in it, this plug must be drawn as soon as the above signs of the perfection of fermentation ap­pear, to draw off the liquor from the weed, which last is absolutely useless; except perhaps it might be employed to good purpose in a saltpetre manu­facture.

In this second or beating vat as soon as the li­quor is in, it must be beat or stirred by a process similar to churning; this is a laborious work and used to be performed by Negroes, who draw up and down a lever that has either one or two bot­tomless square buckets at each end; but of late horses have been employed in large works; this churning is continued till the dying particles are separated from the liquor, or as it were sufficient­ly congealed to form a body or mass; here lies the secret of the art, for if the beating is ceased too soon a part of the dying matter remains undis­solved, and if beat too long some part will again dissolve; only experience can teach this criterion, and there is only one method to try it which is by taking up some of the liquor in a phial or cup and observing whether the dying matter is inclined to depose itself or not; all farther theoretical lessons are in vain, the young planter must have recourse to practice.

Lime water is in the English colonies used to hasten the separation, this i am inclined to believe spoils the indigo, neither the French, Dutch, nor Spaniards use any in their plantations.

[Page 137]The indigo being arrived at this crisis the chur­ning ceases, and it is left to subside at the bottom of the vat; when the liquor begins to look of a faint green transparent colour the water must be drawn off, first by a cock fixed at a certain height in the side of this second vat, till you come near to the superficies of the Residuum which is the in­digo; then another cock corresponding with the third vat must be opened to let the Residuum run into this last vat, where it remains to settle a little longer in order that it may totally discharge itself of all the tinging matter,^* it is then put into bags of the form of Hippocrates's sleave to drain it from all superfluous humidity; these bags must hang in the shade.

When all the water is drained from it, the re­mainder, which has all the appearance of mud is put into very shallow boxes, where it is left to dry; when it begins to have the consistence of clay fit to make brick with, it must be cut with a very thin bladed knife into square pieces, and then further left to become quite dry, which is the state in which indigo comes to us.

This last process must be all done under a shed where the air has free access but the sun none; should the sun touch indigo in this state, it would exhale all the tinging matter and leave the mass in a colourless state, similar to slate in appear­ance; beware also of moisture for that will keep it dissolved and incline it to putrefacton.

Some planters press their bags in a box of about [Page 138] six feet long three feet wide and two deep, having holes in the bottom to let the water off, and a strong thick board fitting exactly in it; in this box the indigo bags are laid and the board with a num­ber of weights on it, but whether this method is better than hanging them in a shed to dry i know not.

I should have observed, that in the drying sh [...] the pieces must be carefully turned three or four times a day, and that two young Negroes with a bush, wing, or bunch of feathers, ought to be employed in fanning the flies out of the drying shed, as they are hurtful to indigo; be cautious also in packing it in barrels not to put it in till it is thoroughly dryed.

The dimensions of a set of vats in Carolina is about sixteen feet square, and three feet deep, in the clear, for the steeper; and the battery twelve feet square and four and a half feet deep for eve­ry seven acres of indigo; they make them of two and a half inch plank of cypress, and the joints or studs of live oak; to these the planks are well secured by seven inch spikes; such a set will last seven or eight years.

The best indigo is called flotant or flora; this is light, pure and approaching to hard; it floats on water, is easily inflammable, and is almost to­tally consumed by fire; the colour is a fine dark blue inclining to violet, and by rubbing it with the nail it assumes the colour of old copper.

The next best is more ponderous, and is called violet or gorge de pigeon, its colour being alluded to; these two are best for dying or staining linen and cotton.

The third kind is of a copper colour deriv­ing [Page 139] its name from the coppery appearance it exhibits on being broke; this is the weightiest of all the merchantable indigo, and therefore the desideratum of the planters; and is most used for the woollen manufacture.

The inferior sorts are not worth describing as they are unsaleable and unfit for use; they disco­ver themselves by flintiness, or a muddy soft crumbling appearance accompanied by a dull blue colour, often appearing even like slate.

An indigo work should always be remote from the dwelling house on account of the disagreea­ble effluvia of the rotten weed and the quantity of flies it draws; by which means it is also scarce possible to keep any animal on an indigo plan­tation in any tolerable case, the fly being so trou­blesome, that even poultry thrive but little where indigo is made; nor is there scarce a possibility to live in a house nearer than a quarter of a mile to the vats; the stench at the work is likewise horrid: This is certainly a great inconvenience, but it is the only one this profitable business is subject to.

XXI. Cotton being so very useful a commodity that scarce any other exceeds it, and an article of which we can never raise too much (for like all other things, the more it is multiplied the more its consumption increases) it therefore behoves me to mention it as second in rank: We, by following the example of the industrious Acadi­ans, will do well to manufacture all our necessa­ry clothing in Florida of this staple, and although it has not yet been raised in a sufficient extent to export a considerable quantity thereof, yet when we consider the number of manufactures in Lan­cashire, [Page 140] Derbyshire, and Cheshire that consume this benificial commodity either alone or in mix­ture with silk, wool, flax, &c. and that England imports all the rough materials from abroad (chiefly from the Levant) to so great an amount as near 400,000 l. sterling value, we may perhaps find it worthy of a more universal propagation; i shall, in hopes that this may take place, give the method of culture and of cleaning this pro­duce of our earth.

The natural history of the plant and its cha­racters, species and varieties will be found in the botanical account.

Cotton will grow in any soil, even the most meagre and barren sand we can find.

The sort we must cultivate here is the Gossypi­um Anniversarium or Xylon Herbaceum; also known by the name of green seeded cotton, which grows about four or five feet in height. Give this plant a dry soil and further it will cost you little trouble or attention; it must be planted in rows at regular distances about six feet apart; plant the seed in rainy weather and in about five months time the fibres will be compleatly form­ed and the pods fit to gather, which will be known by their being compleatly expanded; it must now be carried to the mill of which take the following description.

It is a strong frame of four studs, each about four feet high and joined above and below by strong transverse pieces; across this are placed two round well polished iron spindles, having a small groove through their whole length, and by means of treddles are by the workman's foot put in directly opposite motions to each other; the [Page 141] workman sits before the frame having a thin board, of seven or eight inches wide and the length of the frame, before him; this board is so fixed to the frame that it may be moved, over again, and near the spindle; he has the cotton in a basket near him, and with his left hand spreads it on this board along the spindles which by their turning draw the cotton through them being wide enough to admit the cotton, but too near to permit the seed to go through, which being thus forced to leave the cotton in which it was contained, and by its rough coat entangled; falls on the ground between the workmans legs while the cotton drawn through falls on the other side into an open bag suspended for that purpose under the spin­dles.

The French in Florida have much improved this machine by a large wheel, which turns two of these mills at once, and with so much velocity as by means of a boy, who turns it, to employ two negroes at hard labour to shovel the seed from under the mill: One of these machines i saw at Mr. Krebs at Pasca Oocooloo, but as it was partly taken down, he claiming the invention was very cautious in answering my questions, i cannot pre­tend to describe it accurately; i am informed that one of those improving mills will deliver seventy or eighty pounds of clean cotton per diem.

The packing is done in large canvas bags, which must be wetted as the cotton is put in, that it may not hang to the cloth and may slide better down; the bag is suspended between two trees, posts or beams and a negro with his feet stamps it down; these bags are made to contain from three hundred and fifty to four hundred weight; with [Page 142] about twenty slaves moderately working a very large piece of poor ground might be finely impro­ved so as to yield to its owner a fine annual in­come by means of a staple which is much in de­mand in England, and here is raised by no means inferior in whiteness and fineness as well as length of fibres to that of the Levant.

XXII. The Mulberry, deserves our next notice for a two fold cloathing it provides us with.

Among my botanical articles the reader will find the description of one of this class, which i have all the reason in the world to believe to be the Morus papyrifera and which i have on page 20 of this volume distinguished by the name of Morus foliis palmatis, cortice filamentosa, fructu ni­gro, radice tinctoria.

This tree is found in abundance in the North Western parts of Florida: The chactaws put its inner bark in hot water along with a quantity of ashes and obtain filaments, with which they weave a kind of cloth not unlike a coarse hempen cloth; i would propose to boil the bark in a strong alkaline Lixivium, by which means i make no doubt but a very fine and durable thread of the nature of cotton, flax or hemp might be obtain­ed; the root of this same tree likewise yields an excellent yellow dye: But i shall here treat of the article, which is most commonly known to be produced by means of the mulberry tree, this is silk: A very short time about six weeks in the year will suffice for all the labour requisite to acquire this valuable article, and that labour is so light as only need children to attend it

The gathering of the leaves being the most la­borious part of the work i would advise the sow­ing [Page 143] the seed as it were at broad cast, so that it may spring up in form of wide hedges of about ten feet breadth leaving a lane of two feet between each pair, by this treatment the leaves may be gathered by means of a pair of sheers or if the hedges are narrower the hand may do it, without the disagreable necessity of climbing trees, which is always more or less attended with some danger, and as this is a female business, with indecency.

I am convinced mulberry bushes will grow thus and yield abundance of leaves and therefore this method is eligible before groves or orchards, which take up much room and have a dirty ef­fect during the fruit season.

All the species of mulberry trees grow kindly in Florida and some people pretend the white kind to be best, but on my strictest enquiries i could not find in what manner this affects the worms, but i would have the silk planter be very cautious if he has one kind in his nursery, strictly to banish the other, because this change of leaves is certainly the reason of some of the diseases attending the worms: The remainder of the silk culture is no more than to keep the worms well fed, and the apart­ment where they are kept thoroughly clean; when they begin to acquire a certain transparency, the period of their spinning or resolving themselves into a Chrysalis is at hand; then it is necessary to put up bundles of some slight thin twigs between the shelves. The wild or dogs fennel affords a ready and proper material for it; here the worms will naturally enough mount upon and pitch on a place where to metamorphose themselves into a cocoon; in Georgia we have a filature, likewise at Purys­burg; but as there are none in Florida i will sub­join [Page 144] the following account of its preparation for the manufactury.

1st. The cocoons are to be put into an oven just hot enough to deprive the Chrysalis it involves of life, without hurting, the fibres of the cocoon:

A heat something below Fahrenheits scale for boiling water will effect this: without this precau­tion the insect eats its way out and destroys the thread of silk.

2dly. It must then be put into a copper with water just on the boil and kept so, this will dis­charge the glutinous matter from the cocoon and discover the end of the clew; then taking several of these ends together they are gently reeled off, and afterwards spun and prepared for the loom.

This process is hurtful to the elasticity and strength of the silk, though it does not deprive it of its gloss: Therefore if we could attain the knowledge how the raw silk is managed in the Levant, it would be the most eligible way; all we know about this is, that it is performed with­out hot water: this is called raw silk and comes in bales to England and other manufacturing coun­tries.

The refuse cocoons either damaged by the in­sect or other ways, are carded in Europe, and are then improperly stiled raw silk; this should not be confounded with the above named from the Levant, being by no means equal to it. After the silk is reeled off, we find some irregular coar­ser kind on the inner division of the cocoon; da­maged cocoons are mixed with this, as also the inner division next over the Chrysalis, after being steeped in warm water to dissipate its gelatinous parts; this mixture is carded and called floretting.

[Page 145]All these carded silks loose their lustre by that process.

Of this commodity there is at present imported into Baitain

This account shews sufficiently how beneficial this business would be to America, would we by our industry in a very light labor try to oblige England to let this money circulate here instead of among Spaniards, Italians, Chinese, and Turks; which is by no means impossible, since the bounteous hand of nature has furnished us with the requisite plant among the number of those that are indigenous in Florida.

XXIII. The Carthamus Tinctorius or safflower is likewise found among the indigenous plants in the western part of Florida; this useful dying weed requires but little cultivation, and well de­serves our attention in that country.

XXIV. Hemp and flax (according to a very ingenious performance^‡) Britain imports from the Baltic annually to the value of 500,000l. sterling; another great encouragement for Flori­da; neither Carolina nor Georgia have any lands [Page 146] comparable to our fine lands on the Mississippi, and yet they have already exported considerable quantities of hemp, and thus set Florida an ex­ample well worthy of imitation; the lands are so rich on the Mississippi, that neither of these two impoverishing plants will exhaust them, therefore let us apply ourselves to this cultivation, which is so universally known as not to need descripti­on; thoroughly pulverizing the earth, and not sowing it too thick are almost the only things to be attended to in its cultivation, and the proper criterion of rotting the ligneous parts of the plant, so that they may be easily separated in the brake, is the only one of moment in preparing it for em­barkation.

Add to this, that ere long we shall have ex­tensive settlements producing immense quantities of materials for exportation on and near the banks of that almost unbounded interior ocean the Mis­sissippi, for three thousand miles up it; not to mention the products of the river Ohio, the Shawanese, Ouabache, Hogoheegee, Yasoo, Missouri, St. Peter. St. Francis, and the red and black ri­vers with many others of inferior note, all emp­tying themselves in it, where there is so much room for the increase of people; which always proceeds in proportion as there is more space for them to sit down in, this is beyond reply veri­fied by so amazing a rapidity of increase as Ame­rica has experienced within these twenty years, being no less than in triplicate proportion. Now it is evident, that to carry off the produce of this vast tract, it will be necessary to build ships in every part of it which together with their bulky commodities must be sold abroad, as very few [Page 147] small craft will be sufficient ro bring up the trifling returns the inhabitants of this happy country may stand in need of; this being the case let us consider that timber, iron, lead, &c. are found up this river, but without rigging and sails they cannot constitute a ship; likewise we must recollect, that rigging and sails are bulky articles and would cost much for carrying up so immense a distance. Think not reader, that these are chimerical ideas, by no means; every part above named has already in some degree ex­perienced more or less the effects of the industri­ous ax and hoe in the hands of the Herculea [...] sons of America.

There is a very strong kind of fibre called In­dian hemp in Florida; i would recommend an inquiry into what it is; the savages use it and i am persuaded we should find it worth improving.

The use of flax is too wellknown and its neces­sity so evident, that a description or recommenda­tion of its culture and preparation would be super­fluous.

The North American Annona, the Lime, and Mahoe tree; all indigenous in Florida, yield each a serviceable bark of great use if properly manu­factured.

XXV. Tobacco is a source of great riches in this country; the French have proved that this plant may be produced in great quantities and of the best quality; this may be made an article of great emolument especially as that trade is exces­sively on the decline in Virginia and Maryland, but if we cannot keep it clear from the multipli­city of incumbrances it is saddled with in those co­lonies, such as a trade by factors and many etcaetera [...] [Page 148] which makes its value to the planter very inconsiderable, i would rather cultivate none; it is a rank luxuriant, impoverishing vegetable, re­quiring a deep rich soil such as the Mississippi alone affords here; therefore it will undoubtedly thrive; its culture is almost identically the same as that of the Zea, but i would advise the planting it further apart, such as six feet at least; the only material thing this culture differs in, is because the seed being exceedingly diminutive in size it must be sown in beds of rich new ground, which has been well manured, with the ashes of the brush cut off from it; from hence it is transplanted in regular rows at the above named distances: In about three weeks time it will be advanced to the growth of a foot: Now the first hoeing takes place, and suckers and worms begin to appear; from both these the plants must be carefully cleared.

The plants are at this period out of danger of being scratched out of the ground by a large flock of turkies which may now be turned into the field, who will not touch the plants but carefully look for the worms that infect them, of which those birds are very fond; and thus they will save a great deal of labour, but the suckers must be at­tended to by human labour, which is also requir­ed to keep the ground clear from weeds; when the plant attains the heighth of eighteen inches it must be deprived of its head and stripped of its lowermost leaves, reserving a few with their heads on for seed: In about eleven weeks after they are transplanted the plants cease growing and the leaves assume a variegated colour of different green shades; this is an indication of their matu­rity; [Page 149] they are then cut and laid in heaps to sweat for about sixteen hours; next day they are car­ried to a shed, so constructed as to admit a free circulation of air through every part thereof, but well covered against rain; this is the practice in Virginia; in some countries they keep all the light out except where the rays cannot immedi­ately reflect on the tobacco; in this shed they are hung with their tops downwards for about six weeks; then taking advantage of a day when the atmosphere is pretty much loaden with mois­ture, they are laid on a kind of floor of poles, and left to sweat for about ten or twelve days; now the leaves are stripped off and the tops kept sepa­rate from the middle and the lower leaves; the uppermost leaves being the best tobacco and the lower the worst; they are then made up into very close packed bundles called in Florida Carrots, which are held together by a string of bark; there are at present but two sorts produced viz Nanqui­toche and Pointe coupée, the first infinitely superior to the second.

XXVI. Pitch, tar and turpentine being the produce of vegetables will not improperly come in here; the process of making the common tar is by splitting the heart of the pitch pine, fallen down (with which the ground is covered in the eastern and southern parts of Florida) into small sticks of the length of about three feet, and ar­range them into a kiln of a circular form; but as this is a process hardly to be learned by theory, i will recommend it to the inquisitive reader to in­form himself at a tar kiln great or small, which are a very common occurrence thoughout this continent,

[Page 150]Sometimes this kind of tar is made of pine knots without splitting.

The green tar has not yet been made in Flori­da and until i gave some account of the process to some of the planters there, it was intirely un­known in the country.

This is made from trees that have been tapped for turpentine, and continued running for about three years, by chopping the bark off by degrees to twelve or fifteen feet high; they are then cut down and split into small sticks; and the tar is made by the same operation as the common sort.

Notwithstanding the great quantities of pitch pine in Florida, turpentine has not yet been made there; even in February 1773 when i was at Orleans, there being a necessity for some turpen­tine on board of the vessel (in which i came from thence) the Captain was obliged to pay sixteen dollars for a half cask of it, and i have been in­formed, that even then it was sold in that town for medicinal uses at a great price by the pint and quart.

The process is very simple; a hole is cut in the tree on the side [...]st exposed to the solar rays (in large trees two of these may take place) these holes are cut slanting downwards leaving the bottom concave and large enough to intro­duce a calebash to dip out the gum, which depo­sits its self in the bottom of the hole; this hole is called a box, and the turpentine is dipped out of it and put in casks: Florida, especially the Eastern and Southern parts, has the advantage for this business of the more Northern provinces by not being tied down to any particular season, the climate admitting of this work the year round.

[Page 151] Pitch is in this country generally made by bur­ning the tar in the clay hole into which it runs from the kiln but i would recommend the use of a still for this purpose, which is agreeable to the practice in Sweden and Germany; by this means a very va­luable essential oil is saved which arises in the boiling; this oil is called Oleum pini or Oleum taedae.

It is of great use with painters, varnishers &c. on account of its drying quality, it soon becomes thick of a consistence like balsam: Along with this oil comes over a watery liquor, which the workmen injudiciously throw away; it is a good acid spirit, capable of being applied to sundry useful purposes: Neuman says he knew a person in France, who had saved by it several thousand dollars.^*

Resin commonly called Rosin is best made by distillation also, a considerable quantity of oil would be obtained, and the expence of a still would be amply repaid by these savings.

As pitch and tar are often used to pay roofs of houses &c. and the addition of red lead &c. made use of, which has proved ineffectual, and as the same observation takes place with regard to ships bot­toms, were water (as does air in the former case) corrodes the pitch, i think it not improper to in­sert the following note of the ingenious Dr. Lewis on Neuman's chymistry: ‘An anonymous cor­respondent of the Swedish academy observes, that the tarred or pitched boards or shingles, with which houses in many places are covered are soon damaged by the heat and moisture, the sun's heat melting off the tar so that the wood remains bare. Some have endevoured to [Page 152] prevent this, by laying on the tar late in the year, that the winter's cold might fix it; an expedient of some use, but very far from being effectual, for however the tar may be hardned by the winter, the return of summer soon makes it soft again. Others have mixed smith's cinders with the tar, which instead of mending the matter makes it worse, all pon­derous substances do the same. He says, he has never found any addition comparable to coal dust (that of charcoal he seems to mean) which is to be stirred into tar made hot in such a quantity as to make it thick: The mixture is to be laid on with wooden trowels in a hot day: tar thus prepared, he says, is fixed, ne­ver runs, binds and hardens surprisingly from heat and moisture and shines better than oil varnish.’

Pitch burnt in a close furnace, so that no smoak escapes causes a soot to arise, which is the lamp black so much in use.

The last quoted gentleman in the same page ^* favours us with the following annotations: As i think other words than his own, cannot be [...]o descriptive of any process whatever, i hope my reader will excuse these quotations:

‘What is called lamp black (originally per­haps the soot collected from lamps) is obtain­ed in different parts of Germany, Sweden, &c. not from pure resin or pitch, but from the dregs and pieces of bark of the trees separated in their preparation, for making common resin, the impure juice collected from incisions in pine and fir-trees is boiled down with a little [Page 153] water, and strained whilst hot through a sack, on cooling the resin congeals upon the surface of the water, and is then packed up in bar­rels; it is distinguished according to its color, into white, yellow and brown. The dross left on straining is burnt for lampblack in a low oven, from which the smoke is conveyed by a long passage into a square chamber, having an aperture in the top, upon which a large sack is fastened: the soot concretes partly in the sack, which is occasionally removed, and part­ly in the chamber and canal, from which it is swept out.’

XXVII. Gum elemi is a resin fit for many me­dicinal uses, and the product of a species of Pis­tachia, very common in the southern and south-eastern parts of Florida; the wood in itself is not valuable, but as the gum is one of those articles, that are generally brought to England in a so­phisticated state: this tree is worthy our atten­tion, and may prove a serviceable article to the country; but this is not the only use of this tree, it is very useful for cattle either in dry seasons in the southern part of the country, or for such as are kept up at the farm yard, they are very fond of the leaves of this tree, which are a whole­some food, increasing milk, and keeping cattle in a thriving condition.

XXVIII. A species of tree greatly resembling the poplar is found in West-Florida, which pro­duces, if not the Tacamahaca, at least something of the resinous kind so extremely like it, that it is not distinguishable from it; i am told, that the resin is obtained by digesting the buds, which appear early in the spring.

[Page 154]XXIX. The Liquidambar, or maple leaved Storax is also found in abundance in both Flori­das; from this the Storax is produced, by boil­ing the branches: this valuable gum may be worth attention, as a great deal might be gathered in these provinces.

XXX. Cortex Eleuthera, or Cortex Winteranus, is an article found in abundance in the southern parts of the Peninsula; the people from Provi­dence know it by the name of Cascarilla, and car­ry a good deal of it to market; it is a medical plant of good use, and worth our notice.

XXXI. Balaustians, or the double flowering Pome granate comes to a good perfection here, and as they are a profitable article they deserve our at­tention.

XXXII. China Root is found in both pro­vinces, but the prickly plant, commonly known by that name, does not yield the genuine kind; the true one, which is not thorny, is also found in abundance; and as in India this is paid for at the rate of from 6 to 16 shillings per hundred pounds, to send to Europe, it undoubtedly is an article worth exporting from America.

XXXIII. Ipecacuanha is found in almost eve­ry spot of oak land in this country, it may deserve to be manufactured from the spontaneous root, if not to be cultivated.

XXXIV. Jalap, an article of consequence in trade, not only on account of its use in physic, but likewise for its universal use in the fermenta­tion of liquors: Europe has hitherto been obliged to import this article from Mexico, in which kingdom is a place called Xaleppo, or Haleppo, of which this drug bears the name; the only place [Page 155] where it was supposed to grow: we have hitherto been at a loss to know the genus it belongs to, and many roots of purgative quality have been supposed to be it, and were substituted in its room: the late Doctor Houston introduced it from Mexico into Jamaica; but while he was gone to England the man whom he left in care of it, suffered hogs to destroy it; however, this gentleman brought a pencil drawing of it to Europe, but as this did not shew the colour, and the seed has been sown in the botanical garden, at Chelsea, without success, what it was remained still a secret, until i accidentally found it growing wild near Pensa­cola; being led to think, that a certain tuberous root made use of by the savages as a purgative might be it; i dried some slices of it, and found it so nearly agree with that drug in appearance, that it caused me to examine all the convolvuli i could find in this country, because i was inform­ed that to that genus the plant belonged: I suc­ceeded, and samples, which i sent to divers parts of Europe and America, have proved to be it, and of a good quality; this plant is pretty plen­tiful in some spots on the highest and driest lands, and i suppose its cultivation must be somewhat analogous to that of carrots.

XXXV. The above researches among the con­volvuli, have made me acquainted with another of that genus, which seems to answer to the Scam­mony plant; i am not yet able with certainty to determine whether it really is the Scammony or not, but have great reason to believe it is.

XXXVI. Seeds of the true Rhubarb ^* having [Page 156] been lately introduced into America, and the deep soil of the Mississippi, being very proper for its cultivation, i would by all means recommend trials to be made for raising that valuable root, which i think will not fail to answer our expec­tation.

XXXVII. A shrub resembling in its fructi­fication the Starry Anise is found in West-Florida, but it totally wants the aromatic taste of the seed; perhaps cultivation may bring it to the same state of perfection with the oriental.

XXXVIII. Silk Grass grows on the most bar­ren sand hills of Florida (called black Jack ridges) if it does not deserve a cultivation on account of its fibres; yet the root having been found by ex­perience to wash woollen the cleanest and whitest of any thing yet known. Quere, would it not be useful for the woollen manufactory?

XXXIX. Arnotto, a useful dye is introduced in the colony; i have seen some of the plants vi­gorous [Page 157] and in good health, in Mr. Wegg's gar­den; should it succeed, its cultivation is by no means to be neglected, however, if it fails in West-Florida, the southern parts of East-Florida will certainly produce it.

XL. My knowledge of Mosses being hitherto very confined, i shall not speak with certainty about the Argal (Lichen Ro [...]ella) but having seen some mosses on the rocky islands, and part of the Peninsula greatly resembling the Argal, gathered on the island of Orchilla, i verily believe this va­luable article to be there, if not it might easily be introduced from Orchilla; the face of this part of the country exactly resembling that island, and its climate being nearly the same.

XLI. Cochineal. This valuable insect is found in pretty large quantities in the Floridas, especially in the eastern province, of the kind, which is cal­led Sylvester, on a species of Cactus, or [...]puntia; could the true Cochineal Cactus be introduced into East-Florida, i make no doubt of its succeeding, and the vicinity of the Cochineal countries makes this not at all improbable; the people from the Mus­keto Shore, or Bay of Honduras might be service­able in obtaining it.

XLII. Sumach greatly necessary in dying and tanning, which is much used for preparing Turkey leather; several kinds grow in the southern parts of America, and therefore it is worth our wh [...] to enquire into the matter, to know which kind is used for this purpose. This plant is also known in medicine. The large kind is used to make vinegar with, and i am told by the French people, that a piece of the wood put into a cask of weak [Page 158] or faded vinegar, or even water, will produce an intensely sharp vinegar.

As a hint to travellers, in the southern parts of America, where the distance between the settle­ments often obliges us to carry our provisions with us, i will assure them, that the fruit of this kind, steeped a very short time in water, com­municates to it a very agreeable acid flavor, which will render it very fit to make punch; which agree­able liquor proves a great refreshment in a hot day, in the woods.

Another kind possesses a noxious quality; this grows in low grounds; beware therefore of mak­ing spits of this to roast meat on, and take it for a general rule not to employ any wood (unless you are well acquainted with it) growing in low grounds for that purpose, as almost all the noxious plants, of this country, are found in such situa­tions; in high grounds you may indiscriminately use any wood (which has no bad taste) for that purpose.

XLIII. If the acorns of the Quercus Suber could be introduced here, i make no doubt, in this part of the world (where above twenty kinds of oak are indigenous) the cork manufacture might be profitably carried on.

Since i am on the subject of oaks, i beg leave to mention, that in New-England there are works for making an extract of oak bark, which yields a considerable advantage by sending it to Europe for the use of the tanners.

I have seen also a kind of dwarf oak producing galls; quere, could they not be made use of?

XLIV. Madder, Rubia Tinctorum. This root is one of the most useful ingredients in dying [Page 159] wooll and stuffs red, as also cotton of an agree­able bloom color, and consequently much used in England for the different manufactures; but in­comparably the greatest quantity used is imported from abroad, to the amount of large sums.

It is likewise said, that Madder is an excellent food for cattle, that it increases milk, and causes the butter to have a most agreeable color and fla­vor; i know it to be sometimes cut for hay and we are told, that it makes an excellent fodder.

This plant does undoubtedly deserve our atten­tion in Florida, on the above accounts, especially as the many trials to grow it to advantage in Eng­land, seem for the most part unsuccessful. Ma­ny different kinds of madder have been tried for this purpose, but none have yet proved of real use except the Rubia Tinctorum Sativa of C. Bau­hine, which is the sort cultivated in Zealand, and some parts of Austrian Flanders.

If it be objected to the culture of Madder in Florida, that these are in a very different climate from the southern part of British America, let it be remembered that in the Levant it is cultivated with success, and that what comes from thence is a more valuable dye.

The ground in which Madder thrives best seems to be a deep black mould, in something of a low situation, which should not have a clay founda­tion, but sand or gravel; the land in Zeeland is, and that on the river Amite, seems to be in gene­ral of this kind.

It is cultivated in Zeeland by offsets, or shoots, which they take from an old plantation, and re­plant immediately in rows, about eighteen inches apart; the young plants have each a distance of [Page 160] four inches allowed them, and the ground is di­vided into beds of twelve feet wide, leaving a ditch of about twenty inches between them; this is done in the beginning of May, and great care is taken that no offset is planted, without it be furnished with fibres; as it is thought that for want of fibres they would miscarry, which they often do even in the most favourable seasons. The greatest labour, i think, i have seen the people at in Holland, in re­gard to this culture, is the covering the stalks, when they attain the height of about sixteen inches, leaving only the tops bare, in order to pro­mote the multiplication of roots, which is the part o [...] the plant manufactured and sold; when this covering is performed, there remains only the at­tention of weeding, which ought to be done often; the root is generally taken up the second year, but i think i have heard it said, as well as read it, that three summers are necessary for this crop to come to full maturity; the roots, which are said to yield the most and best dye, have been taken up, when they had obtained about three tenths of an inch diameter in size; it is thought that when they grow too large, they yield a dye more inclining to yellow than red.

The lateral fibrous ver [...]icular roots, are said to yield a superior dye, but not to pay for the expence necessary for gathering them.

From this general sketch of the Madder cul­ture, such as it is in Holland and Zeeland, my [...]rs may see, that it is not so expensive an af­ [...] as it is generally deemed to be, but like all o [...]er things the cultivation of this plant may be [...]d on at too costly a rate, and it likewise may be attempted in too penurious a way: I have en­deavoured [Page 161] to make my writing intelligible to every capacity, and therefore hope, that every one of my readers may be led into the true idea of this culture, to make it answer the purpose in Florida.

This cultivation by sets or shoots being prac­tised in countries where the seed does not at all, or very difficultly come to maturity, i think the seed ought to be introduced into Florida, or endea­vours made to obtain it, from plants to be car­ried or transplanted there, which, if productive of seed, it ought to be sown in drills, like rice; which i would think the most elegible in the mo­derate climates of those provinces. I believe this plant to be a great impoverisher of the soil, for in Zeeland they always allow some years between eve­ry two crops in the same spot.

As it has lately been said, that there was no ne­cessity for drying Madder, and that in using it green, there is even in the evaporation of dying matter a saving of one half, besides the greater saving of the expences of a kiln, a mill, a drying house, &c. I must inform my reader, that he will find all this true, but then it will be neces­sary for him to transport the dying houses from Europe to our Madder fields, and not the Madder to the dyers, in order to enjoy the profits of all this great and oeconomical frugality; for per­haps there is not a plant on earth so soon inclining to fermentation and putrefaction, which is occa­sioned by its succulency; yet for the planters pre­sent family-use it is certainly fit to use green; as soon as the roots have become spotted, or black, or lost a strong scent (similar to that of liquorice) they are utterly unfit for any use; i shall therefore make a few remarks, necessary to be known for [Page 162] the drying process in Florida. A hot, sun-shiny day may be used to advantage, to dry the roots partially; but if the weather be not favourable, when the roots are taken up, they must be spread within doors on a floor, taking care to spread them thinly, and stir them often; but this will never absolutely preserve them from changing, much less make them fit for transportation to any dis­tance; if the crop be small, a baker's oven may suffice, but beware of raising the heat above 180 degrees of Farenheit's thermometer in the place where the roots are put, which should be over the oven; but for larger crops kilns, similar to malt-kilns are necessary; take care to make them roomy, keep an equal and moderate heat, and by all means prevent any the least access of smoke to the roots; for which reason I would advise large ovens, such as the biscuit bakers in Holland use, as preferrable to every other method; a build­ing may be so contrived as to contain 13 ovens, viz. four on each side, three at one end, and two at the end where the door is, with one general brick floor over all; one or two windows may be so contrived as to give access to a sufficient light; let us suppose the oven ten feet long, by eight wide, and allow two feet for each partition, this will make an oblong apartment of forty-two feet by thirty-two in the clear below, and on the up­per floor fifty-two, by forty-two, room enough for any crop; provide good brick funnels to your chimnies, and there can be no danger of fire, the rest of the building may be of timber; in this process Madder will loose five sixths of its weight.

When the roots are sufficiently dried, they must be pounded in wooden mortars; for this purpose [Page 163] a mill constructed exactly like the old fashioned rice mills is very proper, only varying in the shape of the lower end of the pistil, or beetle; for in the rice mills their lower end is in form of an inverted cone; but here the lower end ought not only to terminate in a square, but the but-end ought to be cut into small squares, so as to render the pestle toothed; for this reason also the mortar ought to be of a different form from the rice mortar, which last is likewse an inverted cone, or shaped like the side of the top of a funnel, whereas this ought to be in form of a hollow globe, which has a neck like a decanter or bottle, in which neck the pestle ought nearly to fit. To empty the mortars and supply them with fresh roots, is a necessary occu­pation during the pounding. The roots ought to be cleared of their outer bark.

It will then be fit for packing into casks and exporting.

I remember to have heard it said in Holland, that poor people, in order not to be obliged to sell their small crops to the manufacturer, at his own price, preserve the roots from fermentation, by burying them between layers of earth in the ground, and that by this means it may be pre­served for any term of time, without perceptible alteration.

XLV. Coffee being an article to all appearance fit to be raised in the southern parts of the penin­sula, and some of the islands, i shall give it a place here. This is an object worth our notice, as its consumption is great already, and still increasing; there is little or none produced in the English West-India islands, in comparison of that which the Dutch and French colonies produce.

[Page 164]Its culture throughout all the settlements where it is raised, is now by the young shoots obtained from the larger trees; but originally it was intro­duced by seed, which being soaked for about twenty-four hours, is then planted in tubs, pots, or beds, at about three inches distance, covered lightly with earth, and carefully watered when no rain happens. Usually in about 14 days time the plant appears; when the young plants have attained the height of eight or ten inches, a rainy day is watched to transplant them into a walk, as it is there called, which answers to our orchards; the ground is here carefully cleared of all manner of roots and plants, and turned up at least a spit deep. About twelve feet is the distance which ought to be left between every two plants.

The growth of coffee is quick, provided the ground be kept clean, but perhaps no plant is sooner hurt than this by too luxuriant a growth of weeds or plants, round or near it. The second year Eddos ^†, or Taniers, or even patatoes, may be planted [...]mong them, which will be a means of raising provisions by the same labour, that is ne­cessary to keep the ground clean.

This plant bears fruit sufficient to defray the yearly expences at the end of the third year; its produce will then increase until the seventh year, and after this it will continue to bear in a degree nearly equal, until about the fortieth year of its age, when it begins to decay.

If any of the young plants should fail, they ought immediately to be replaced by others.

In the Dutch colonies, when a coffee walk de­cays, [Page 165] they root the trees out, and let the ground lay fallow for ten years, or upwards, during which time it affords pasture for cattle, and afterwards it is turned into a cocoa walk, or cotton plantation.

The ordinary height of this tree is from twelve to sixteen feet; in the Dutch colonies they are lopped, to reduce them to a kind of Espaliers, for the easier gathering of the fruit.

When the coffee has attained to ripeness, it is carried to drying sheds, which are constructed in the Dutch colonies on the following plan:

The Area of the ground generally applied to this use is seventy feet by thirty; a brick founda­tion of four, five or six feet high, is first laid to raise the building from the ground; on this the building is placed of timber, being of two stories; the upper floor is about twelve feet above the lower; in each side of the building are from twelve to sixteen large windows likewise two at each end, on each side of large doors, all this is necessary to give a free access to the air, to pre­vent the coffee from heating or shooting. In the lower part of the building a kind of drawers, of about six feet square are so contrived as to be drawn without side the building, where they rest on wooden rollers or blocks, these drawers re­ceive the coffee after the drying floor, and in fine weather are drawn out, but pushed back the mo­ment it begins to rain; by this contrivance a large quantity is, as it were, instantly sheltered from ru­in; no other invention can be so expeditious.

The building must be furnished with two pieces of square timber, of the length of twenty-five or thirty feet, and about eighteen, or twenty-four inches thick, made of hard wood; in these a row [Page 166] of mortars is sunk, to beat the coffee in, pestles or beatles for the same, fanning mills to clean the coffee, shovels for turning it often while it lies on the upper floor; a competent number of bas­kets, of different sizes, and a pair of scales with weights. Before this building there are generally one or two platforms, from forty to fifty feet square, called drying floors, intended to take all benefit of the fine drying weather during the cof­fee harvest. Adjoining to the building is general­ly a smaller one, containing a cooper's shop and a mill, called a breaking mill, through which the new gathered coffee passes, to deprive the grain of its pulp, or red outer skin; after coming from this mill it is soaked during one night in water, and next day spred upon the drying floors, where it remains till the air and wind have sufficiently dried it; if rain should happen it is quickly ga­thered into heaps, and covered with sear cloth.

The coffee, being thus dried, is put into the drawers, where it is left till thoroughly dry; from hence it is carried into the loft (being now only surrounded with a thin, semi-transparent husk over each pair of seeds) where it is left till the whole crop is gathered; the harvest lasting often two months; while it remains in the loft it must be daily turned, to prevent its heating, and in good weather all the air possible must be admitted; after harvest it is again returned into the drawers, and left there for three or four days, in order to become totally dry, it is then pounded or beat in the above mortars by hand, to deprive it of the thin, inner husk, which involves every pair of seeds; after this it is fanned, and when fanned the broken grains are separated from the whole, [Page 167] which last are put in bales, or casks, for the mar­ket, with all this seeming trouble a coffee walk is easier attended than a sugar plantation, and is said to be full as profitable.

XLVI. Cacao is a plant which i make no doubt would succeed in some of the lands found in the southern division of East-Florida, but as it is tender, and requires a deal of attention i shall only hint at it, as an object worth trying, and we ought to do this out of regard for our lives and constitutions; chocalate being become so com­mon an aliment, and the vilainous adulterations of it in the northern colonies, make it an enemy to the stomach, whereas if good and genuine it proves a very agreeable, nourishing and balsamic food.

XLVII. Tea, a despicable weed, and of late attempted to be made a dirty conduit, to lead a stream of oppressions into these happy regions, one of the greatest causes of the poverty, which seems for some years past to have preyed on the vitals of Britain, would not have deserved my attention, had it not so universally become a necessary of life; and were not most people so infatuated as more and more to establish this vile article of luxury in America; our gold and silver for this dirty return is sent to Europe, from whence, being joined by more from the mother-country, it finds its way to the Chinese, who, no doubt, find sport in this instance of superior wisdom of the Euro­peans. These considerations, joined to the addi­tional evil of its being a monopoly of the worst kind, and the frauds of mixing it with leaves of other plants, ought to rouse us here, to introduce the plant (which is of late become pretty com­mon [Page 168] in Europe) into these provinces, where the same climate reigns as in China, and where (no doubt) the same soil is to be found; by this means we may trample under foot this yoke of oppression, which has so long pressed the mo­ther country, and begins to gall us very sore; and will the Europeans (according to an unaccount­able custom of despising all our western produce, when compared to oriental ones) avoid drinking American tea? Be not ye so infatuated, ye sons of America, as not to drink of your own growth! Learn to save your money at home! I cannot think this advice contrary to the interest of Bri­tain, for whatever is beneficial to the colonies, will in the end be at least equally so to the mother country.

In hopes of some well minded planter taking this into consideration, i have thus hinted at it, and will write what i can, from hear-say, of its cul­ture. First then let me caution the attempter against imposition; be sure that you get the seeds in good order, and in their capsules, for the friend you employ may be deceived more in the plants than the seeds, there being a plant called by Lin­naeus, Camellia, and by Kaempfer, Tsubakki, so ex­actly like to Tea in its leaves, as not to be distin­guished therefrom; this has frequently been sold to the Europeans for Tea, and is thus introduced into Europe. If the seed cannot be procured in Europe, nor the real plant from a trusty friend, apply to some well-meaning Captain of an East Indiaman, no matter of what nation, he can get the seed in China, and it may be brought to Ame­rica, without any danger of decay, in a manner which I shall hereafter mention for the preserva­tion [Page 169] of seeds in general. After the tea seed is procured some may be sown on the passage from England here. Will any reader say this is build­ing castles in the air? let him remember, that se­venty years ago rice was an utter stranger in Ame­rica, till some such good captain, who had been in the east made a present of some seeds to a per­son in Carolina, who planted it; both these men are seemingly forgot, but how much more did they deserve statues, than many others, who have been in an unnatural manner, often for crimes, idolized, and as it were eternized, by pompous effigies, and lying monuments!

Even in their native country the seeds are very [...]iable to miscarriage, therefore they plant ten or twelve in each hole, in rows throughout the field; Kempfer, who had the best opportunity of infor­mation, tells us, that the plants are left to grow till seven or eight years before the leaves are ga­thered; but he should have told us, whether this was necessary to the perfection of the leaves, or on­ly done on account of the quantity obtainable, perhaps to strip them younger would destroy the plants: I think he also says, that after ten years the plant is cut down, and young shoots spring up, or the plantation is entirely removed.

In the gathering, it is said, much time is taken up, each person culling not above two or three pounds per day, it being done leaf by leaf; dur­ing the time a sheet is spread over the bush, in form of a canopy, to prevent the leaves drying hastily, in the sun-shine, which would exhale the flavour; it is said also, that they have three crops, viz. in the end of February, this is the best; then in the end of March, and beginning of April, and the [Page 170] last and worst is in the end of April and beginning of May; what remains on the bush till the end of May is said to be unfit for curing, and consequent­ly for exporting; the observation on tobacco is al­so said to hold good in regard to tea, i mean, that the upper, middle, and lower leaves are different in goodness, and consequently three different kinds.

The curing is done on iron plates, over a mode­rate artificial fire, and the leaves are constantly rolled by the hand. Neuman thinks the dark co­lour, and the rose flavour of Bohea tea, to be arti­ficial; he seems to say that Kaempfer and Dr. Cun­ningham (when they wrote that Bohea tea was the first gathering) meant it to be a crop of leaves col­lected before the plant comes to maturity, which is perhaps the case in the provinces of China that are too far north, to bring it to perfection: He al­so mentions the process related by one Meister, to wit, that the leaves are put into a hot kettle, just emptied of boiling water, and that in this they are kept close, till they are cold, afterwards committed to the hot plates this produces Bohea tea; he adds, that this at least is certain, that by a similar process good Bohea tea may be made among ourselves; a specimen of which he himself exhibited to a nume­rous audience. He further says, some dealers in tea, in England are not ignorant that certain Euro­pean leaves, particularly those of the Dog Rose, and Cherry tree may be so coloured as to pass for good Bohea. The leaves of the red whortle, or cranberry, and rose bush seem now to be most in esteem among these sophisticating gentlemen.

The above author relates, that the Chinese are ex­tremely curious in every branch of this manufac­ture, they gather the leaves with thin gloves, and [Page 171] the workmen employed in cutting it are restrained for a fortnight before from flatulent food, or whatever else may communicate an ill flavour.

There is a later writer on this subject, i think Dr. I. C. Letsom, who is perhaps better informed, but i have not been able to consult him: be all this as it may, let us introduce the plant, and we will discover its culture and curation.

XLVIII. Such numbers of Lauri being found indigenous in America, it may not be amiss to hint at the Pimento, or Jamaica pepper, as very proper to be introduced into the southern parts of East-Florida, where, i make no doubt, it will prove a profitable article.

XLIX. Mangroves and Salsola: Pot, Pearl and Barilla ashes, can nowhere be made to more profit than in East-Florida; the several genera of trees known by the name of Mangroves, are in so great an abundance, and so replete with salts, that they will undoubtedly yield a much greater propor­tion than any wood yet used for that purpose; i have made several very good samples on the coast; these trees have never yet been properly classed, i intend to do it in the course of this work: the Kali for Barilla is perhaps nowhere so abundant as in that province.

L. Bees are in great numbers in the eastern pro­vince, but found their way as far westward as Pen­sacola only about the year 1772, they not being original natives of America, but all of this class which are found wild, have sprung from swarms deserted from Apiaries in the settled provinces; there are none wild about the Mississippi yet, but a few years will certainly bring them thither; it is evident from this relapse of the bees in a wild state, [Page 172] and their prodigious thriving, that honey and wax may be made very considerable articles.

LI. Ginger will certainly be found profitable if introduced into the southern parts of East-Florida.

No doubt many of my readers begin to think, i have swelled this account beyond all bounds; i beg pardon for intruding on their patience, if i have done it, but the inquiring philosopher will, i sup­pose, find that considering the variety of climates and soils, i might have gone on, and reasonably enumerated a number of others; my earnest hopes are that these loose hints may prove beneficial to a continent, which has so great a share in my war­mest wishes.

I have every where avoided describing exp [...]ve ways of culture, such are too much obtruded on gentlemen who begin the noble science of agri­culture; men are discouraged by following such precepts; in those hints which are new I speak from a degree of experimental observation, in others i have chosen such methods as are in use and least expensive, i have shunned a mere theoretical narrative, because i utterly hate it: un­practised methods often appear plausible, even when they will produce effects diametrically oppo­site to what were intended.

It is true, that the pine barrens (so called) will in all appearance not be soon wanted, especially in West-Florida; but i think that for those, who are not possessed of hammock land, a hint for the improvement of these pine lands may not be amiss; we soe a surprizing vegetation effected on some of them: complaints of barrenness may sometimes be removed by meerely adapting the soil to its proper use; a man who has a good piece of river [Page 173] land, bordering immediately on these barrens, without any intermidiate oak or hammock soil in Georgia, Carolina and East-Florida, thinks himself almost always deprived of means to raise Maize, and will think his staple land of less value on that account: let such a person well examine his pine land, perhaps the clay or marl lays at the same depth below the surface, in that case, by mixing the soils, you may improve them so as to be fit for any purpose. None of these lands are so ab­solutely barren but they will produce sweet pota­toes, or pumpkins; i have seen yams come to good perfection in Georgia and East-Florida in such lands; in West-Florida i saw them pretty forward in the navy garden of Pensacola, which is comparatively a meer beach. Peach orchards will do here as well as in the richest soils; the worst kind of this land will produce rye to advantage, even twice in one year; the sesamen, or oily grain, a profitable article if well attended to, will grow kindly in them, and they produce crop grass (a good pasture) in abundance, by merely turning them up often: for these reasons then a man ought never to be too precipitate in pronouncing a piece of ground absolutely barren; we have in these provinces no undrainable boggs, no moun­tains, and very few stones to deal with.

The manner in which cattle are now kept in the southern colonies is unprofitable; twelve or sixteen cattle might be with a little attention made to yield more profit in a dairy, than stocks of three or 400 do now, with all the labour and time at pre­sent bestowed on them; the practice of letting calves suck so long as they now do, is contrary to the practice of all ages and countries, except [Page 174] among the Spaniards; who keep large stocks for the sake of their hides and tallow only; and as in the southern colonies the people seem more and more to neglect keeping a few cows at home for the dairy, and hides and tallow cannot be made large articles in trade, by means of small stocks of five hundred or six hundred only, i can hardly see the intent of keeping such stocks of cattle, except for exportation alive, as the stocks of horses are kept; for in the article of beef, cattle can hardly yield profit where the Carolinian or Georgian me­thod of killing at two, three, and four years old ob­tains, which is the cause of the badness of their beef.

Hogs are so profitable an article, and so easily made spontaneous, that it is a matter of the great­est surprise to me that no more are raised in Flori­da; especially as ma [...] is very various, and in great abundance.

The bounteous hand of nature has here given us an animal, which, by experience, we know may easily be domesticated, whose fine wooll might yield good profit, and whose flesh is equal at least to our beef, and yields as much tal­low; i mean the buffaloe: if instead of wantonly destroying this excellent beast, (for the sake of perhaps his tongue only) we were to endeavour its domiciliation, either by a pure breed, or by rais­ing a spurious one with him and our common cattle, i think we would find our account in it.

The Moose, or American Elk, found in the higher latitudes on the river, naturally leads a life so nearly approaching to a state of domestication, that i am often surprized he has never yet been attempted to be incorporated among the class of useful tame animals on this continent. These and [Page 175] the like hints i think deserve attention, and i hope they may be of use. In a country where horses and cattle are in such abundance, and consequent­ly cheap, and where human labour is so dear, more improvements in machinery ought to be introduc­ed: it has amazed me often to see people so blindly mad as to ruin themselves, by obstinately persist­ing in building saw-mills in improper places, which has been here too often the case. The Mississippi indeed affords the means for mills at a small expence, but they are only of temporary use. In such a timber country as the Floridas, introduce the Dutch windmills, it is easily done; i have frequently heard, that they are unfit for this climate, but in my strictest inquiry not one reason appears against them, but that people by infatuation will run on a sand, where so many be­fore them have suffered ruin by making dams in improper places.

As much as possible difuse the hand hoe, par­ticularly at turning up, and otherwise preparing the ground for seed; introduce the plough; the newest lands may be plouged, and the hand hoe is only necessary to assist a little round the edges of stumps, &c. introduce likewise the horse hoe with the Dutch and Suffolk foot ploughs, to do the laborious work of the hoe in hilling corn up; in well improved grounds for rice use the drill plough, especially in countries where an ox of four years old may be had for forty shillings, and a serviceable horse for four pounds; all these would save great sums, and render it less necessa­ry for the planter to depend on the labour of ne­groes.

In lieu of the aukward tool made use of to cut [Page 178] grain, i mean the sicle, i would advise the intro­duction of the short scythe and hook, called in New-York government segt and mat hook; and in case of thin crops the scythe and cradle: by means of these; expedition and neatness will become com­mon, whereas now the crop stands sometimes on the field till it is damaged, unless a great number of slaves can be employed.

Threshing is performed in the most aukward manner imaginable, in the Southern colonies; to many the common flail is entirely unknown, and long poles, or a crooked cudgel made use of, and where the flail is used it is ill managed; for the large crops of rice, &c, i would recommend a machine which i remember to have seen used in Holland, as long as my memory can serve, and yet strange to tell, even in England the people were breaking their heads for the invention of a thresh­ing machine no longer than four years ago; when the same machine had been known, and common­ly used in New-York and Pennsylvania, near fifty years: it consists of a wooden cone, whose base is about two feet, or two and and a half foot diame­ter, and whose length is from nine to twelve feet, it should be made of very hard wood, its surface is regularly fluted, toothed, ribbed or indented; the ribs are about fifteen in number, with as ma­ny grooves alternately between them, of about three inches thickness and depth; the small end of this kind of roller is furnished with a strong ragged eye-bolt and ring, and iron hoops to prevent its cracking, or the bolts drawing, this ring should be about six inches diameter in the clear, and be fixed on a post in the middle of the floor, which for twelve or fourteen inches up ought to be cased [Page 179] with iron, to prevent the ring from cutting it off by the continual friction: the sheaves being laid circularly round this post, the roller is by one or two horses or oxen drawn round in a constant circular process, one man attending to turn up the straw continually; this is more expeditious and cleanly than the trampling of it out with horses and cattle, because the thing is so contrived as to let the cattle walk without all, and it makes incomparably more dispatch than the flail can even with many hands.

In the common way of shelling maize there is also great loss of time. A man can hardly shell six bushels per day, whereas with the flail he will shell twenty in an hour, and the fanning mill will soon clean it; many more improvements will in time be wanting, but the above are now absolute­ly necessary.

Thus far i have given a detail of the agricul­ture practised, or practicable in those climates; during the course of my collecting materials for this narrative, i have sometimes been beyond all measure vexed, and at others i have been obliged to laugh at the silly notions, whereby England is deceived in her ideas of America, occasioned by some foolish writers, who have raised some absurd hypothesis in their own brain, from whence they deduce as crooked theories as ever entered the thoughts of mankind; thus writing without ex­perience, they lead a parcel of blind copiers, as it were, in a string, as if intended on purpose to deceive mankind; and what is more strange, some people so implicitly believe these ingenious writers, that i have seen them after coming here obstinately follow the precepts of these guides, [Page 180] though in direct opposition to what they see to be the practice of their neighbours, who have been taught by experience. How sillily has one vented an opinion, that by clearing the woods of North-America, we would ruin our temperate co­lonies, and turn them into cold uninhabitable desarts, thereby bestowing the climates of New-England, on Carolina; ^† with more such fancied evils, notwithstanding that even when he wrote, Canada (by the French only deemed fit for a fur­factory) began by English industry to become a grain country; so that he might have known better, and now that same country even exports wheat; pray what is the reason of this but that the clearing the land causes the snow to remove sooner than it formerly did? Under the head of sugar in this work see more of this.

Just such nonsense he vends, when he attri­butes the want of wood in the plains of the north western parts of America to barrenness, when experience has taught every one that they are fertile; how well does it confirm this genius's opinion when we see without deception, that the nearer we approach those plains to the west, the more temperate is the climate! At Ilionois, in la­titude 40, snow seldom lays three days, and cattle are out all winter; in the Nadouessin's country, latitude 45 and 46, above two thousand miles from the Atlantic, snow rarely exceeds three inches in depth, and the wild rice is found spon­taneous in amazing tracts. Nor is his argument of the cold being more felt in a field than in a wood of any force; let him remember that snow [Page 181] lies a month, or even six weeks longer in a wood than in a field. This man dares to tell us ‘we talk from experience.’ So it seems, when he says the badness of pasturage in the southern co­lonies renders it impracticable to maintain stocks of cattle: was it my business i might enumerate more such shining authors; ^† but as it could serve no good purpose i omit it, and only beg leave to hint that such blind guides ought not to be too implicitly followed.

In the above account i have inserted some ar­ticles which might possibly have come more pro­perly under the head of manufacturing, such as indigo, pitch, tar, turpentine, &c. and even rice, but their near connection with tillage has made me insert them there, rather than in the following part of this work, where i have dedicated some pages to hints concerning manufactures.

Reducing the rough timber into boards is now the most common branch of business in the south­ern colonies, that comes under the name of ma­nufactures: a pair of negro sawyers are taxed to cut an hundred feet per diem, this the indus­trious ones often perform by two o'clock, or sooner, they are then suffered to cut lumber for their own use the rest of the day, or do any other business, for which their masters pay them; these hundred feet per diem, are six hundred per week, or thirty-one thousand two hundred per annum, which, allowing them to be only inch boards, and to sell at six shillings sterling per hundred, is £. 93, [Page 182] 12 s. per annum, a noble benefit! which in thicker board, scantling, and ranging timber is much greater; the owner of such a pair of slaves lets them out at £. 60 per annum; from hence we may gather how necessary the introduction of saw mills is to lower the price of this article.

Hogshead staves of white oak are made by what are called gangs of people; a stave making gang consists of five persons, a feller of the tim­ber, who cuts down the trees, two to cross-cut them in proper lengths, a river or splitter, who rives them with the fro, and the fifth is employed in shaving them; this gang makes five hundred staves each day, which are supposed to be worth 30 s. is 6 s. per diem for each man.

Shingles of cypress and white cedar, which are made nearly in the manner of staves, are sold at about 10 s. per thousand, and one gang may very well make three or four thousand per day.

But the grand manufacture to be made of tim­ber here, is SHIPPING, for this purpose no country affords more or better wood; live oak, cedar, cypress, yellow pine, are adapted by na­ture to this. O! how just is every Englishman's reason for cursing the late peace-makers, when he reflects upon the fatal mistake of leaving the isle of New-Orleans in the hands of the French and consequently of the Spaniards! and when he sees them building such fine frigates as they did last year on that island; to add to the misfortune they leave their own timber and cut it off of the English land, about the lakes, for present use; might not England herself infinitely rather build ships of war, and sell them to her enemies, and so make profits of them, than to be obliged to behold this [Page 183] with supineness? When we recollect the amazing distance into the heart of the country to which the Mississippi and its branches gives us access, and where we may build ships of two hundred tons at least; when we see the iron mines dispersed up and down the country; when we recollect the pos­sibility of producing the most immense quantities of hemp and flax; when we behold the more than rapid increase of mankind there; and finally when we survey the harbours, Charlotte, Tampe, St. Jo­seph, Pensacola, all proper for the admission of ships of rank, besides others we know not yet; what a field is open here! what a prospect of pow­er and grandeur seems to be already welcoming us! no country had ever such inexhaustible re­sources; no empire had ever half so many advan­tages combining in its behalf: methinks i see al­ready the American fleets inhabiting the ocean, like cities in vicinity!

The manufactory of iron will undoubtedly be very great here; every part of the western pro­vince at least abounds with it; no doubt other mi­nerals are hidden in the bowels of the earth, but except lead and antimony they are not yet found.

The article of Potashes of various kinds have been mentioned under the head of Mangroves and Salsola; i shall only repeat here that no country can make these commodities equal to East Florida; that province can undersell and supply all others of the earth, when we consider that England takes £. 50,000 sterling worth out of North America alone, where people can not make it either so good or so cheap, it is spur enough to encourage some person to begin this manufactory in that country, [Page 184] but be aware of doing it in a manner clear of S [...] ­vens's and other expensive schemes.

Deerskins though none are manufactured here, yet, being a great staple commodity already, they deserve a place here, was it but to remind my rea­der that the Floridas are watered by all the rivers by which peltry is like to come in future, and that by a little attention and pains taken with that trade, these two provinces, particularly the western one, may lead it down their own channel to that de­gree, that every individual skin (got to the west­ward of the heads of the Ouabache, and so up to the western branches of the Mississippi, and to the southward of Ohio) must, as they certainly ere long will, center in the gulph of Mexico.

When we consider the vast increase of stocks here, and the ease of maintaining a stock of a thousand or fifteen hundred cattle, and four or five hundred horses, and the very great difficulty attending the northern colonists in keeping up a stock even of no more than twenty or thirty head of black cattle, it must be evident, that tanning of leather will be a great business here; even al­lowing the number of American inhabitants to be no more than three millions (which number the late systematic writers seem determined to confine us to) and allowing two and an half millions of these to wear about six pair of shoes per annum, and that in America about ten millions of these are annually made of American leather, which is more than likely to be the ca [...]e; the town of Lynn alone exporting above three hundred thousand per annum, there will then remain about five millions to be supplied from England, even this leaves a large field open, and if we are [Page 185] industrious not only that gap will be stopped, but we may export tanned leather; if England does not want it, or will not take it, other countries will; consider ye Floridans what an extensive ma­nufacture of Chamcis leather your lazy neighbours of Campeachy carry on already.

When we consider that the northern inhabi­tants clothe at least seven eights of themselves with cloth, that costs them hardly any thing, but their industry, when we ponder well the indefati­gable pains taken by the Acadians, settled on the Mississippi, to array themselves in every respect with the produce of their own fields, and the work of their own hands, when we see the immense quantity and variety of raw materials afforded by this country, such as wool, cotton, silk, &c. here­tofore enumerated, must we not be inspired by the genius of frugality, to make use of these bles­sings of the bounteous hand of nature, and to imitate these industrious people, whom Providence already suffered to be driven out of the land of their fore-fathers by the iron rod of arbitrary Mars, and caused to settle in our neighbourhood? If we learn by times to know, that we enjoy all these blessings, we shall have but little use for importing any thing but money.

Pork and beef will shortly be worth attending to on the Mississippi, as is evident from the quan­tities of salted wild beef, already exported by the Spaniards to the Havannah.

An article little known, perhaps not thought of, next claims our attention, i mean the extensive fisheries in the power of these colonies, with which they now supinely, not to say stupidly, allow the Spaniards to run away. The whole of the west [Page 186] coast of East Florida, is covered with fishermens huts and flakes; these are built by the Spanish fishermen from the Havannah, who come annu­ally to make one or two fishing voyages on this coast, to the number of about thirty sail, and one or two visit Rio d' Ais, and other places on the east coast of the penninsula, they arrive about the lat­ter end of August, and continue coming and go­ing till the end of March; their first care is to pre­pare their nets, and to build a hut, or refit the old one; then they new furnish their flakes or stages with new strings of silk grass to the wooden hooks by which the fish is to be hung up to dry; their nets and other apparatus of lines, &c. are all made of silk grass likewise; and as they fish upon shares, each man furnishes his piece of net, number of lines, share of salt, and quota of provisions for the voyage, or if not able to purchase all these (which is seldom the case) the proportion of such person is furnished by the owner or captain, who deducts their value from his share, when he receives the di­vidend of the neat proceeds of the cargo; the dis­tribution of this dividend is generally as follows: the vessel draws one third, the patroon or master, two shares of the remaining two thirds, which is divided into as many shares as there are adven­turers; reckoning two boys for a man: their charges are little more than the wear and tear of the vessel, the purchase of salt from the King, and the duties of entry for the fish, which last i think is two and an half per cent, with these people a profitable trade might be established; they have often told me, that in case they could find Eng­lishmen on the coast, who would furnish them with salt, they would not purchase any more than what [Page 187] was absolutely necessary to cover their licence, for these very men are obliged to go to Key Sal, to gather the salt there, and bring it to the Havanna, where they are obliged to deliver it into the King's ware houses at three rials for a fanego, a measure containing scarce two bushels, and when they pre­pare for the fi [...]hing voyages, they are not suffered to take any salt elsewhere but out of these ware-houses, where they are now constrained, by their most gracious Sovereign, to pay one dollar and an half, or twelve rials for the identical salt he took from them for three; provisions and dry goods might also be sold to them to advantage, but it would be necessary, that they were made certain first of finding such vessels on the coast, for without such a certainty, they would not venture to come without salt, nor would they bring any money; the same vessel that carried salt and dry goods might here drive an advantageous trade with the parties of lower Creeks, who come to hunt in the same season, in this part of the peninsula, and always get great quantities of skin▪ she might likewise get a load of fish, which would answer well in the West-Indies, as the fish from hence al­ways fetch a considerably greater price in the islands, than the fish from Newfoundland. The principal fish here, and of which the Spaniards make up the bulk of their cargoes, is the red drum, called in East Florida a bass, and in West Florida carp; the French call them poisson rouge; this is in those provinces a fine fish, although in the nor­thern colonies they are generally poor. They al­so salt a quantity of fish which they call Pampanos, for which they get a price three times as high as for other fish. A few soles, some sea trout, and the [Page 188] roes of mullets and black drum make up the re­mainder of the cargo; some oil from the liver of nurses and sharks is also carried; of the sound of the sea trout a glew is made by only drying them, which is a perfect and fine ichthyocolla. The roes of mullets and black drums are put into a pickle for about a quarter of an hour, then taken out and partially dried in the sun, then pressed between two boards; afterwards exposed upon a hurdle in a small hut to the smoak of the inner part of the ears of corn, which is properly the receptacle of the seed, and called the cobs. These roes the Spaniards are very fond of, and use them instead of cavear. From this account my reader may judge of the worth of this fishery. These fishermen make like­wise no inconsiderable quantity of shark oil, and it is well known what number of turtle the Provi­dence people catch on the east coast.

The Myrica, or candle berry myrtle grows in great abundance on the sea-shore of both these provin­ces; the wax produced by it is too well known to need description; it is manufactured by throwing the berries into a hot bath, to discharge them of their wax, which is skimmed from of the top after the water grows cold.

Travelling through the uninhabited part of the woods, falling to the share of every person, who arrives at present in Florida, it cannot be amiss to say a few words about it: whether you go by water or by land it is most necessary to carry with you powder, shot, and a fowling piece; provide yourself with rice, or such bread as you like best to use; a hunter is necessary and utensils for dressing provisions; always before night allow yourself at least one hour's time to pre­pare fire wood, for this must be used in summer [Page 189] as well as winter to rarity the air round the camp; always lay with your feet towards the fire, and you are out of danger of catching cold; if you are in a country where warring savages resort, keep up a large fire all night, and be sure to put some hats on po [...]es near the fire, this will protect you from their attempts, unless they are at war with ourselves. A bear skin on the ground to protect you from its dampness is very necessary; always choose an ele­vated spot, and if you have horses chuse a situation near a cane branch, or where the woods have been lately burnt, this will effectually prevent your beasts from straying. As the diet is generally roasted meat remember my former caution against spits got out of a low ground; small reeds are ex­cellently adapted to this purpose: a small hut co­vered with tna [...]ch of palmittos, or bark of trees, is always preferable to the lumber of a tent; such an one, sufficiently large for two men at least, is easily set up in a quarter of an hour; if you are in a river be sure of fastening your boat in a still water or ed­dy, and be cautious not to fasten it with a wythe, which is too common a practice with many; this precaution will prevent your boats going adrift by means of a beaver's appetite. If you are where the grass is long, burn a space of ground before you make your fire, this will save your baggage, which many have lost by neglecting this; if in a part of the country where musketoes are plenty, have a close covering, called in this country a Bère, and made in form of a muske to net, to put up over your bed, suspending it by two stakes; and lastly encamp not near any old trees, but as much as pos­sible shelter your camp against the wind; by care­fully observing these hints, you will not find tra­velling [Page 190] through the American desarts so uncom­fortable a business as it may generally appear to be; as for the dreadful stories told of wild beasts, believe me they are vain, no animal is yet found in the North American wilderness ferocious enough to come within sight of a man, if the wind wafts the air of a human body towards the brute; if it does not, he will not venture nearer than in sight; but should you wound a bear, or the American panther, so as to disable him from flight, he will prove dangerous, but remember, if you tread even on a worm, he will turn up his tail at you, as it were in his own defence.

I shall now say something about the most ad­viseable method to be taken by emigrants, who intend to transplant themselves into this part of America, from the more northern regions; first i would observe that if destined for East Florida, it is absolutely necessary to carry at least one year's provisions in flour, maize, pork and beef; if to the eastern part of West Florida, the same step is to be taken; but if to the Mississippi, provisions barely for the voyage will be sufficient, they being always to be had there in plenty, at or nearly at the prices beforementioned; if the person be able i would advise him to purchase negroes in the nor­thern provinces, and to carry a few more than he intends for his own use, the profits on the sale of four or five will nearly defray his expences; car­ry no white servants, unless you have a mind to colonize a large tract of land, and this has never yet turned to account; i will suppose two in­stances of what in my opinion is the most elegible method of settling people of different situations in life.

[Page 191]Let one man be possessed of two thousand five hundred Dollars in money, and we will suppose him living in R [...]ode Island, or in any other part of New-England, or New-York, New-Jersey, or Penn­sylvania; and allow him to have a wife and four children, with two house slaves, in either of these colonies; he may purchase eight good working slaves for twelve hundred dollars, out of his two thousand five hundred; about four hundred dol­lars more will buy four young girls or boys, for which he will, in Florida, find ready sale, with 80 per cent advance, but they ought not to be under twelve or thirteen years old; his next care is now to get a vessel, we will suppose her of sixty tons burthen, such a one as may generally be h [...]d manned and victualed, at two dollars and a half a ton, per month, from any of these provinces, the planters provisions and implements for himself and family will cost about three hundred dollars, allowing him well provided with every necessary for eight weeks; thus we may suppose him arrived in the Mississippi, with six hundred dollars left him in money: here we will leave him a while, to pay a visit to a poorer family, we will al [...]ow the head of this to have as many cattle, horses, hogs and superfluous implements as may raise him four hun­dred dollars, for a poorer man should not attempt to go as a planter, he may as an artificer, of trades­man, we will also allow him to have an equal share of matrimonial blessings with his richer neighbour this man must lay out about sixty dollars in pro­visions, and about twenty-five for plantation tools, his passage money will amount to fifty dollars more, we may suppose him possessed of one good able negro, besides his money which may be worth [Page 192] an hundred and sixty dollars; thus he may arrive at the Mississipi and have ninety dollars clear money after obtaining his land and stock; hereby the way let all who intend going to this country endeavour to arrive about the latter end of Novem­ber, in order to clear some land and bu [...]d some place for shelter. White servants will never turn to account, there being so many idlers already im­ported on wrong plans, that you can carry none with you who would not in three months time think it very hard to be obliged to call you mas­ter, in a country where the most dirty vagabond you can hire at six Dollars per month, would think his honour touched by hearing any body call him to you with less civility than, Sir, your employer would be glad to speak to you.

I will now throw this matter into a clearer light, by placing it in tables, in which the reader may see it at one view.

In the above account no mention is made of furniture, because a man possessed of such a sum of money may naturally be supposed to be superflu­ously provided with that article, and by selling a part of this, he may supply himself with others, that have a peculiar reference to these climates, and are indeed not to be dispensed with: axes, saws, spades, hoes and other implements of hus­bandry perhaps necessary to the amount of sixty Dollars, may be likewise supposed to be purchased out of the sale of his superfluous furniture.

Since the writing of this part of the manuscript, the new mode of parcelling lands out in small lots, and selling them at auction, was introduced into the colonies. This scheme, it is said, was first pro­jected by Sir James Wright, Baronet, Governor of Georgia.

On what terms lands are to be had now since the shutting up the land-office is yet impossible to tell; but the undermentioned was the state of this business before that event happened, with the fees as they stood regulated in South Carolina, Georgia, and East-Florida. In the western office I was ne­ver conversant enough to know the real state of this matter; but I have seen some of Mr. Durn­ford's [Page 195] bills for surveys calculated at 50 per cent. higher; for what reason I know not, for survey­ing in West Florida is attended with less difficulty, than in either of the others.

Suppose the month of April now set in, and his [Page 197] negroes in these 4 months to have cleared him 20 acres of land, of which he plants 10 with Maize, pease, &c. 3 with rice, and 7 with indigo, from this he may reasonably expect at the most moderate calculation on the Mississippi lands, about 400 bushels of Maize, and 300 of pease, with per­haps about 500 pumkins, about 150 bushels of rough rice ^* and 400 lb- of indigo by the begin­ning of November; we will suppose that in this same interval he has purchased

He may at present reasonably be thought to increase his working negroes to 10, and to add 10 more acres to his cleared ground, besides im­proving last years clearing. I will now leave this man and give some advice to his poorer neigh­bour—I appeal to every man who will be candid and is really acquainted with the country i speak [Page 199] of, whether my calculations are just or not, and whether my ballance of the first years work is not exceedingly moderate: in regard to a buck or jockey, who expecting to find this new country on his arrival full of Vaux halls, Ranelaghs, and New Markets; who just comes to scamper over it, and when he finds his expectations failing takes a look at the woods, and at the moderate life of the new planter, then turns up his nose takes a pet and goes off, puffing of a "d—n the the country," he can at best pretend that he was there in a dream; he is no judge, he has no busi­ness with serious books on the present subject, at least I write not for him.

Let it always be remembered, that the same calculation I have made for the Mississippi, will nearly answer for the Tombechbe or Mobile river too; but if you intend for the eastern province, or for Pensacola, be cautious and bring provisions along with you to last you at least the first year. It may not be amiss to recapitulate in a general view the present exports of these provinces, toge­ther with the possible additions, which to all ap­pearance may be made to them as mentioned in the foregoing pages.

1st. Articles already exported from these pro­vinces.

• Indigo,
• Maize,
• Rice,
• Tobacco,
• Indigo seed,
• Salted wild beef,
• Carravances,
• Live cattle from West Florida,
• [Page 203]Mules from Spanish Louisiana,
• Pitch,
• Tar,
• Squared timber,
• Cedar posts and plank,
• Cypress & pine boards,
• Plank of various woods,
• Scantling,
• Staves and heading,
• Shingles,
• Sassafras,
• Hoops,
• ^*Dried salt fish,
• Canes,
• Oranges,
• Deer-skins,
• Peltry,
• Myrtle-wax,
• Pacan-nuts,
• Raw hides,
• Buffaloe tallow,
• Bears oil.

2d. Articles, some of which are already natu­rally found, and others, which to all appearance will soon be introduced, and must become staple commodities in these provinces,

• Wheat and wheat flour,
• Rye,
• Hemp,
• Flax,
• Bees-wax and honey,
• Silk,
• Wine,
• Madder,
• Rhubarb,
• Jalap,
• Pot-ash,
• Barilla,
• Safflower,
• Oil of Benni,
• —of ground nuts,
• Oil of olives,
• Cotton,
• Tanned leather,
• Salt beef,
• Salt pork,
• Ichthyocolla,
• Cavear,
• Turpentine,
• Oil of do.
• Rosin,
• Gum elemi,
• Storax,
• Figgs,
• Raisins,
• Drugs of many kinds.

3d. Articles which we have the greatest rea­son [Page 204] to believe will in process of time become staple exports from these provinces; these are,

• Sugar,
• Rum,
• Ginger,
• Coffee,
• Pimento,
• Cacao.

4th. Articles of which it were to be wished that the introduction would be attempted soon, under some encouragement,

• Tea,
• Arnotto,
• Orchil,
• Cochineal,
• Cork Tree,
• Spurious breed of the buffaloe.

I have used my utmost endeavours to collect materials for ascertaining the enumerated exports of Carolina and Georgia for the last two years, but to no purpose, except a paper of the best autho­rity wherein the state of the exports of the last province are recapitulated, and their value ascer­tained; this paper was printed by James John­ston, in Savannah, and is republished in this work, with a view to convince my reader by the most undoubted matter of fact, that the province of Georgia has advanced the value of her exports in about seventeen years time from £ 15000 to £ 121000 sterling per annum, before the 1st of January 1773, as shewn in page 104 of this vo­lume, this together with a consideration that in the year 1768, when Georgia was still poor, that province and Carolina were thought to increase the wealth of the British nation, near a million sterling ^* will make us reasonably judge that these two provinces under consideration, (one of which is at least equal to Georgia, and the western one

infinitely superior to both Carolina and Georgia in point of the quantity of fertile acres) may in 10 years time do as much, provided that the course of nature be not forced into another channel, when either by fraud or violence means will be found to deprive the inhabitants of the Floridas of the benefits which have accrued to Carolina and Georgia, from that law of nature and of God, the lex agraria. Commerce is so effectually ne­cessary to all people on earth, that none can be said to subsist without it; it is in this part of the world chiefly necessary on one account; this is to acquire the means of power to defend the country by riches, which in all probability we must ex­pect to do chiefly ourselves, if we may judge from the policy of destroying the forts Toulouse and Tombechhé among the chain of forts that defended the colonies from the inroads of the savages; it may also be of use to maintain the poor, for of these there are already no inconsiderable number who not being brought up or used to tillage are obliged to become fishermen and hunters, con­tributing to support the naval power of Britain may likewise be called a third important motive to urge us on to a promotion of trade, but this last cause of incitement is yet in embryo. Let us endeavour to build vessels ourselves, let not our trade in this country (where ships may be so easily procured) be confined to selling our pro­ducts at home to people from abroad, who will come to fetch them at pleasure; if we do, what must become of the hopes of ever extending our present limited settlements! consider that on this point depends the increase of mankind, and the welfare of every country.

[Page 206]Never let us suffer monopolies from abroad; observe with what a fatality they are attended; see what a large cultivable tract of America lies waste through the influence of a mean dirty com­pany, who do not annually trade to above one fourth the value of what some private merchants do both in England and Holland, and who have ever with might and main in private opposed the pursuit of a business ^* the very effecting and en­couraging of which was the fundamental inten­tion and condition of the charter which intitles them to be at present such a set of illegal regraters.

When we consider again the effects of the establishment of European factors on the trade of Virginia, we shall likewise see the effects of monopolies to be pernicious; for this very scheme, however strange my assertion my ap­pear, is a monopoly in disguise; keep such mangonizers from among us; it is true, some few merchants will be at first possessed of the chief of all the trade, and thereby (if they are not more virtuous than the generality of mankind at pre­sent are) have it in their power to do much mis­chief to commerce, but let it be remembered, that as long as they are not factors from Europe there is room for others to come in, whereas if once European factors take place, who have the sale of the European manufactures consigned to them, with orders to keep the price of our va­luable products within their own stated limits, it is also done with us; commerce will be so cramped that the innumerable quantities of pro­fitable [Page 207] and fertile acres of this wide extended waste of new world might as well be converted into a sea, and think not these cautions prema­ture; there is no want of designing men to set such a scheme on foot to the prejudice of these new countries, and too many ungrateful sons of America itself, would be found to turn their ac­quaintance with its commercial interests to ad­vantage in gratifying a desire to have a bite at her vitals. I would not be thought, notwith­standing this, to contradict the advice i gave in page 74 of this volume; that scandalous licen­tiousness which so greatly prevails among the present traders, is so great an evil, that it is be­come highly necessary a less one should be intro­duced to effect the destruction of the greater, by monopolies of the trade of each particular savage nation being granted to different men, who would go to reside in each of these different na­tions; nor should they have this stretch of fa­vour bestowed on them by the community, un­less they are laid under proper legal restraints, and until such time, as an amendment in the pre­sent distracted state of this great and profitable branch of trade might be effected.

It would scarcely have been necessary to say so much on this subject, were it not that new coun­tries are so open to an introduction of novel schemes, which will be found of pernicious conse­quences when it is too late; i say it therefore once more, oppose all schemes that may have a ten­dency to introduce a monopoly of your products, for a conclusion, hear from me the opinion of the greatest statesman Europe ever produced;^* he [Page 208] says that it was the opinion of the greatest states­men (undoubtedly after him) that had the rulers of that respectable union in 1609 dealt in the same manner with every branch of trade as they did with that of the East and West-Indies, not one tenth part of the inhabitants of that opulent country would have been able to live and earn their bread; and Holland would have been ruined. Another writer poetically exclaims, "this (mean­ing monopolies) is the spring from whence misery overwhelms the people."^* In short, to me it seems nothing can be more evident than that the esta­blishing a rational commerce, in an equitable manner, should be a principal aim at the same time with the establishment of agriculture, and in­troduction of profitable staples in a country so peculiarly full of advantages for the promoting of these grand objects, as the western province especially is.^‡ The particular branches of com­merce so naturally point themselves out, that it [Page 209] is unnecessary to say much on that head, I will however slightly touch on a very few of the prin­cipal [Page 210] prospects now apparently already open to us.

Our timber trade is certainly capable of being [Page 211] made incomparably greater than that of other countries together, as well in quantity as in va­riety: but care should be taken that this trade should be put under such regulations as would prevent a waste of timber, (such as has been too fatally practised in the north of America,)^* and at the same time make our timber by a pro­per mode of manufacturing, answer the European markets, equally with those of the West-India islands, where the superior quality of West-Florida timber stands acknowledged without a rival. Nothing is wanting to effect this, but the erecting a number of sawing-mills on the Dutch model, and the procuring a regularity of demand for the manufactured boards, &c. As a proof that large quantities of timber may be brought down to our sea-side settlements, I beg leave to relate the following instance; Mons. de la Gauterais, formerly an officer in the service of his most Christian Majesty, but now residing as a planter on Pearl-river, some years ago had the command of the garrison of Tombechbé, during this tedious sequestration from christian inhabitants he thought [Page 212] of a scheme to turn this solitude to advantage; to effect this he employed several savages of the Chactaw nation in the cutting of cedar trees, and made those of his little garrison who were able and willing for a reward to do it, square the timber, and form some of it into a very strong frame of a house of about sixty foot by twenty-five, which frame was next spring erected on an island or gravel bank, about two miles below the fort, and during the summer season, and re­cess of the waters, this frame was filled with the squared timber, which as effectually secured against removing. When he had this raft com­pleated, he got leave of absence, and watched the time of the rising waters, which at length took the raft away and him with four people upon it; this raft drew about 12 feet of water, and came down the river without let or hindrance, carrying before it every obstacle (even bending large trees under it) all the way down to Mobile, and by some neglect even as far down the bay as the present fort Croftown; when thus we see that an enormous raft containing upwards of five hundred tuns of solid timber may be with facility brought down the Tombechbe, above three hun­dred miles, what have we not a right to expect in the Mississipi.

Naval stores are likewise an article of immense speculation in both provinces; West-Florida already supplies Spain with considerable quanti­ties; no province can so profitably furnish Madeira with corn and pipe-staves than West-Florida, and in return supply itself and other provinces with wines: the above named fisheries likewise may yield a very profitable commercial [Page 213] benefit. The trade for furs is a fifth article of importance, and is already very great; to men­tion rice, indigo, tobacco, &c. would be superfluous. But i have one material point to mention, i have often wondered at the stupidity of people let loose in a certain part of the field of commerce: i mean the trade with the Spaniards, the deceit­ful appearance of which has led many into ruin, and yet intoxicates every one who is so unfortunate as to stray within its bounds to a degree of mad­ness. The generality of traders this way, consi­der only the price of things as they formerly stood, and not that these articles are much fallen in their price on the Spanish coasts; the danger attending this trade they despise, though it too often proves fatal; the delays on the coast are not so much as thought of, and the perfidy of the Spanish traders forgot; the underselling by Dutch and French traders, although very real, is thought chimerical, and so on; in short, the prospect is here so gilded over, that nothing but profits appear, where nothing but certain and inevitable loss can be expected, the fatal mistake of over-stocking every part of America with European manufactures, is a kind of obligation, or rather compulsion on us to strike out into such pernicious branches of trade to the ruin of those who are interested, as well here as in Eu­rope. Be then advised, and let no vain hopes intoxicate you, have patience, and if you import goods from Europe with views of profit, import them in moderate quantities, unless long credit or abundance of money enable you to wait pa­tiently for the arrival of the Spaniards on our own coast; and let none of our vessels frequent [Page 214] their coasts except it be for the purpose of cutting fine timber and dye-wood, (and even these not often) or when you are very well secured by va­lue left in your hands for the vessel to fetch a previously engaged, (but by no means by you) yet paid for cargo. Believe me, an American Spaniard will give you more for your goods at your own house than he will on his coast, and by coming to us he seems to loose all his cunning, which in fact is only owing to our eagerness of compleating a voyage when we arrive on their coasts. More branches of trade are not at pre­sent to be mentioned, because none have as yet appeared in this country to be worth pursuing, but an immense variety must and will in the course of nature make their apperance.

Having now explained my meaning in respect of the commercial interest of the country, i will say a few words on the benefits arising from the population of these and other similar provinces It is an undoubted fact, which has been long ago taken notice of,^* that one man transplanted into the colonies creates work for four or five in the mother country; a late writer ^§ agrees with this in saying, that numbers of people who would have migrated to foreign countries, or done worse, are, by coming here preserved, and when become rich, return home. I must, however, differ in opinion from a third,^† who has quoted both these, and expresses his opinion, by saying, that emigrants ought to be made settle where [Page 215] they may be beneficial to Great-Britain; his saying would be just if a migration to the nor­thern colonies was pernicious, but this is so far from being the case, that people there love room as much as any where; the continual and of late excessive importation of settlers into these colo­nies is an evident proof of this, for by means of these, even the natives are obliged to look out for habitations where they are more at liberty to encrease, not only the necessaries of life to which they are at present confined, but also profitable staples for the mother country. A very striking proof of this appears at present in every one of the northern colonies, though in none so much as in Connecticut, whose very hill-tops are inhabited full; those migrations ought therefore to be encouraged, because they will na­turally find their way to the more favourable climates and soil of the southern colonies. It is also the interest of the southern colonies to en­courage the migrations from the northward, for fear these last might by being confined within their prolific regions be in time induced to think of forming bodies of modern Goths and Vandals to over-run and invade the territories of their more happily situated southern neighbours. I am therefore induced to think, that (however strange it may appear that a people in one hun­dred and fifty years time should increase so rapidly as these have done) there is a necessity even now to enlarge their territories; in this i agree with the last quoted writer, and if Britain wants to secure the dependency of these colonies, it is ab­solutely incumbent on her to allow this, contrary to some late ill judged schemes as this may [Page 216] appear. Can she suppose that those countries will remain unsettled? No, the prospect is too fine, numbers of families have through the natural course of the increase of mankind settled them­selves on the lands intended lately for a new pro­vince on the Ohio: if i am rightly informed, no less than fifteen hundred families already, and many others on places not yet so much as thought of in Britain. These are the people who are most likely to form independencies, and not the known provinces; what ideas have these people of the paltry fear of a war with a few savages, (for in the northern America they are but few) not that i would be thought to imagine that these last mentioned provinces would not strike in with them in case of favourable oppor­tunities; what if some enterprizing genius among those dispersed inhabitants should form an idea of becoming a great man, and by insinuating himself among the most: western tribes of savages (who never having had intercourse with us, nor any other white people, such for instance are the Nadouessins, who are said to be a people remark­ably tractable) would incorporate a body of whites with them, and form combinations with other neighbouring nations, and thus form them­selves into a regular state. Such a state would undoubtedly soon become formidable, and be daily increased by such men as for want of room would leave the crouded provinces. These, sup­posing them at first vagabonds, or little better, when they should find themselves in a place where they might possess the sweets of life at ease, would find it their interest to become united with the common weal; therefore, i say again, that since [Page 217] for want of room, people to the number of at least five hundred thousand men, brought up to farming, are now without employ through lack of land, and therefore they are obliged to migrate,) and settle without the limits of the established governments, and thus it is highly incumbent on Britain to enlarge those limits, or form new provinces; a few paltry tribes of savages who retain the ancient grudge against us are no obstacle; the emigrants will soon bear down those melting remains of a peo­ple, who having lost their country, cannot fail to hate us, on that account, and in a kind of despair will rather choose to be destroyed than to incorporate with us. Such bodies as above de­scribed being once formed, can any man in his senses suppose, that possessed with the spirit and ideas of freedom, for which the Americans are so remarkable, they would after a course of thirty or forty years enjoyment of such an independency be brought to submit themselves to any imposed government? By no means; for not to mention their inaccessibility, men, who thus by a regular train of accidents become masters of a country by honest means, and improve it by robust in­dustry, are not so easily dislodged as we may imagine; history furnishes abundance of instances of such combinations of men, in a short time, be­coming formidable; and even in General Ogle­thorpe's time a German with conceptions similar to those above named was found among the Creek savages, who, had he not engaged in his scheme intirely alone, and therefore by the Creeks, (although reluctantly) through the Ge­neral's importunity and intrigues betrayed into [Page 218] his enemies hands, it would have been no wonder if such a man, with such ideas, joined to the amazing presence of mind and intrepidity he is said to have been possessed of. would have so nestled himself in the southern part of America, that we might have had no occasion to think of forming the two provinces of Florida in 1763; and we may venture to affirm, that had not the settlement of Georgia, just at that crisis become the object of Britain's attention, he would have gone on unnoticed till he had formed all the neighbouring nations into a regular governed body, too strong to be crushed by any power from abroad. But laying aside this reasoning, which i still insist upon is not only apparently probable, but may be looked upon as certainly to happen, unless the present bounds of the se­veral provinces are enlarged; there are other co­gent reasons to induce Britain to change her con­duct in respect to this branch of her politicks, she ought to let the Americans spread themselves under regular governments over the continent, that they may be planters of staples, and thereby find the means of employing more hands in the mother country, by obtaining from her such of the necessaries of life as they find themselves obliged to have from Europe, at an easier rate than they could procure them among themselves. By suffering the upper latitude of the Mississippi, and the banks of the Ohio to be cultivated under the influence of a regular and civil government, we shall increase such plenty of necessaries in the mother country, that all connection with foreign­ers who have the balance of trade against Britain will become needless, any further than in selling [Page 219] them British manufactures for money, instead of what is now the case of sending bullion, besides the stated quota of manufactures, in exchange for hemp, iron, flax, and other such necessary and bulky articles. When we consider, that during the period of time in which these higher countries enjoyed and were protected by a state of regular government under the French, one winter (so long ago as twenty-eight years) fur­nished new Orleans with eight hundred thousand weight of good flour from Ilinois^*, we must be sensible at what a reasonable rate this and other necessaries of life could be procured at New-Orleans and Pensacola, and from thence to East-Florida and the West-Indies, where the Pennsyl­vanians and New-Yorkers at present insist on their own price, in so much that flour now is commonly at from 20s. to 22s. per cent their currency at home; whereas I remember that even in 1760, during the war, 16s. and 18s. was thought a high price. This alone demonstrates the necessity of such a measure; would not such a fresh supply spread its influence even across the Atlantic to the poor in Britain? no doubt it would, the navigation down these rivers is no­thing in difficulty or expence compared with that of the European rivers, from whence the materials come for the supply of Britain. The inhabitants of the upper counties of Virginia and Pennsylvania would be obliged to drop the bulky commodities they now raise, if they saw the inhabitants of upper Mississippi, the Ohio, &c. raise the same with redoubled ardor, and in a [Page 220] perhaps four-fold quantity, at the same time bringing them to market at much less than half the expence themselves can do it at, and in­stead of the said coarse, heavy, and bulky articles, they would necessarily be induced to think seri­ously of a vigorous culture of wine, silk, oil, and similar necessary, light, and valuable products, able to bear the heavy tax of land carriage to which those countries are by nature subjected. In case of a rupture with any power who should think proper to attack the southern provinces, especially West-Florida, would they not most naturally be supplied with provisions, ammuni­tion, and soldiers by way of the river from those settlements in the higher latitudes? nor is it on account of hemp and flax, &c. alone, which may be said to be still objects of speculation, we see the tobacco culture which is a branch of vast im­portance to the revenue as it were daily moulder­ing away into its primitive non-existence, and therefore new lands for this culture ought to be found and improved; the want of this supply of the revenue will soon be felt in the treasury, and Britain will find too late that she would have done well to have gone not only to the ex­pence of the establishment of these new pro­vinces, but even to the expence of that tre­mendous bug-bear, a war, with the remains of the ancient inimical tribes of savages; unless in­deed, she intended the proclamation of October 7, 1763, as a meer matter of form, and wished the back settlements quietly to spread themselves without any expence to the mother-country; but should this be the case, the mistakes of such po­licy I think are fully refuted in the foregoing [Page 221] pages: the spreading of people over the conti­nent will make them produce great quantities of staples, and Britain hereby would secure a period for the dependance of the colonies upon her, while she would have nothing to do but provide markets for the produce of the labour of her sons. All Europe is sensible of this; every writer i meet with is either of my opinion, or absurdly and continually contradicts and confutes his own maintenance of the contrary in his own writings: i beg leave, to quote a very sensible Frenchman (whose name I know not) on this subject, "it is true," says he, "that the free and happy situation of North-America, may much disorder our Eu­ropean systems, ^* particularly, if the English colonies attain to the not paying imposed duties. Vast, fertile, and new tracts, where neither cus­toms, taxes, nor military troops, will take place, because they need fear no invasion, will deserve the most serious attention from all our govern­ments; and policy will be obliged more than ever to turn all her views on the side of benefi­cence. Those states which will be latest in using this reflection, will find themselves utterly inca­pable of mending the evil; for the greatness of punishments or weight of slavery only serve to increase ill-blood." This is not the way to mend the matter, and i think certainly that no remedy will possibly be found out against such a number of evils, as must necessarily attend the [Page 222] keeping the colonies confined to their present bounds, whereas, by only allowing people to spread over the country, they will all be effectu­ally prevented.

To give my reader an idea of what room there is yet left for people to plant themselves, i must tell him, that between the latitudes of 31 to 46, which i judge to be the most habitable country from the Atlantic to the Pacific ocean, and which cannot fail by the course of nature to become the country of those Americans who were originally planted from England, Holland, and France, and emigrated from Germany, on, and to the shores which bound the Atlantic westward, and who now generally speak English; within these limits I say are contained no less than two thousand one hundred and thirty-five millions, and forty thousand square acres, ex­clusive of the known waters; at least twice as much as the vast empire of China is said to con­tain, and allowing each family to possess fifty acres of land, there is room for forty two millions, seven hundred and eight families to live here. To conclude this discourse on the settling of new provinces, i will just observe that the daily emigrations of the people beyond the frontiers, even at the risque of the dreadful situation of being exposed to savage incursions, is the most evident proof of the necessity of this measure to the at present crouded Americans, if not to Bri­tain. Likewise it is a proof how little the pre­sent Americans who inhabit the frontier coun­tries value so insignificant a foe as the remains of the ancient inimical tribes of savages, or even the prosecutions in law of super-intendants, their [Page 223] delegates, and other formerly useful officers.

To say a word or two about the political his­tory of these provinces, may be thought incum­bent on me, but little can be said of moment on that subject as yet; except that Major Ogilvie in taking possession of the eastern province, by his impolitick behaviour caused all the Spaniards to remove to Havanna, which was a deadly wound to the province, never to be cured again, not­withstanding the inviting means used by Gover­nor Grant, who succeeded him, to retain the re­mainder, and to make them all return;—that Governor Grant used all possible means to en­courage indigo and rice planting;—that the crown would not allow the transfer of Spanish landed interest to be good, although mentioned in the articles of peace;—that the said governor reigned supreme without controul, and in peace, notwithstanding the frequent murmurs of the people, and the presentments of the grand juries, occasioned by his not calling an assembly, which they thought was a duty incumbent on him;— there was also a complaint of the contingent money of five thousand pounds per annum, for seven years, not being so very visibly expended on highways, bridges, ferries, and such other necessary things as the people could have wished; finally, Governor Grant departed the province for Britain in 1772, on account of his bad state of health, having a pompous address presented to him by his council, which was re-echoed by a few of the inhabitants;—that he was succeeded by Major Moultrie as lieutenant-governor, who was again succeeded by Patrick Tonyn, Esq as governor in chief, who enjoys the command [Page 224] there now;—that in the northern extremity of the province at the mouth of St. Mary's river, a place is now founded, which, to all appearance, by its situation and superior entrance into its har­bour compared with St. Augustine, will draw the feat of government away from the latter;— that the cultivation of many articles, especially indigo, begins to wear a pleasing and promising aspect.

Concerning West-Florida, i can only say, that discord has early made her appearance in the counsels of this province;—that disaffection to Governor Johnson has been the occasion of its being so late as it was in rearing its head;— that Montfort Brown, Esq succeeded him as commander in chief in quality of lieutenant-go­vernor, who was succeeded by — Elliot, Esq who unhappily ended his days; when the lieu­tenant-governor again succeeded him, and was a second time replaced by Governor-Chester, who is universally esteemed, and under whose auspices the province is in a thriving condition.

About March 1772, the freeholders being met for the purpose of electing their representa­tives, but finding that the writs mentioned a con­tinuance of the assembly for three years, (whereas they had heretofore held annual elections) they now added this condition to their votes, that the new elected members were to continue only one year; the mode of return on the writ the gover­nor took ill, and refused to accept it, insisting that the members should be returned for three years, but all in vain, the freeholders remained inflex­ible, and rather than not have annual elections, they chose to remain without representatives, [Page 225] which has been the case ever since. The settle­ment of this province goes on very rapidly, and its different valuable products increase a-pace.

I shall now treat of a subject in which I con­fess myself not to have so much skill as I could wish; i speak of it from such experience as my temper, inquisitive into the mysteries of nature, has furnished me with during my stay in this country; i mean the diseases most frequent in those provinces. But by way of prologue, i shall enquire a little into the universally dreaded, though chimerical unhealthiness of this climate. Dr. Lind^* enumerates some proofs or signs of an unhealthy country, which are as follows, viz. 1st. Sudden and great alterations in the air, from intolerable heat, and chilling cold; this is per­ceived as soon as the sun is set, and for the most part is accompanied with a very heavy dew, and shews an unhealthy swampy soil; this is perfectly the case on St. John's river, and about Nassau-river, in East-Florida, likewise at Mobille, and Campbellton, in West-Florida. At Pensacola, and from thence East: there is little or none of this perceivable; at Orleans, and on the Mississippi i was not sensible of any sudden alterations of this kind: and on enquiry found it not to be generally complained of. Neither of those provinces are so subject to this unhealthy variability as Georgia and Carolina, especially the last; however, i do not find that any person need be much under un­easiness about this any where, not even a newly arrived European; the chief care necessary to such at seasons when these sudden alterations take [Page 226] place, is to avoid being exposed to the night air, and after sun set, to add some more clothes to those worn in the day time; and if on a journey in the woods, never forget keeping a very large fire at night in order to rarify this dangerous air. His second sign is, thick noisome fogs, arising chiefly after sun-set, from the vallies, and more particularly from the mud, slime, and other im­purities; this i never perceived to a great degree in any part of these provinces; St. John's alone is very subject to thick nasty fogs of all kinds, the sea-side where soft salt marshes are frequent, is often troubled with these, and these marshes a little before rain emit a most horrid, and to me a suffocating stench; the northern part of East-Florida is very full of these kind or marshes, in Georgia and Carolina they cover a prodigious surface; the marshes in the south east of East-Florida are of a different nature, and in West-Florida i remember very few of this kind; i have, however, never heard any thing said con­trary to a prevailing opinion of great salu­brity in dwelling near, the sea side, even among the thickest of these marshes; nor have i ever heard any notice taken of the above stench by the inhabitants, except as being a certain in­dication of rain; where this kind of marshes are situate in brackish water, the situation is beyond doubt very unhealthy, the wan complexion and miserable mien of the generality of the inhabitants of such districts too plainly evinces it- We know by experience, that all such fenny countries on every part of the earth labour under the same unhealthy calamity, but the comfort is, their areas are every where very small when compared [Page 227] with the more salutary situations which abound almost universally in every province, and in every climate.

The third is, uncommon swarms of flies, gnats, and other insects, which attend putrid air, and unhealthy places covered with wood; the first of these is not common here, except at indigo works; and if these, according to my former caution ^* be a little remote from the dwelling, I never saw nor heard of any bad consequences with regard to health attending them. I have already mentioned the bad effects of these voracious vermin on cattle of all kind at an indigo work; gnats, here called musquitos, are vastly numerous in some spots, but after we have passed some distance the brackish waters in every river, they diminish, and at last we find none; the Mississippi however is an ex­ception, but on this river they are not in such plenty at the freshes as below, at the rigolets, on pearl river, and at the Riviere aux Boeuss, and on Dolphin-island, likewise in Santa-Rosa bay, and in the bays of St. Andrews, St. Josephs, and at St. George's sound and islands, they are intollerable, and all the sea coast of both provinces is exceed­ingly pestered with them. I travelled across the peninsula in 1769, in the months of June, July, August, and September, but found none at all in the interior part; i never heard these being attended by any fatal disease except their troublesome bites, which sometimes cause inflammations, especially in the legs; but the inhabitants of the western province so effectualy fortify themselves against those vermin with musqueto nets, tents, and [Page 228] Baires, ^* that whether at home or travelling, they are not in the least danger from the attacks of this terrible and bold, though dimunitive enemy, whose destruction gradually takes place as the woods daily diminish; in very dry hot summers, scarce any of these vermin are seen; a very dry hot air causing the deaths of numberless animaculae of every kind, their effluvia, even of those that are imperceptible to the naked eye, arising or ex­haling from ponds, marshes, swamps, &c. must spread a great quantity of noxious vapours through the atmosphere, ^§ and consequently cor­rupt the air, and spread disease throughout their vicinity; this misfortune will likewise cease on opening the country, till then let me advise every new comer, particularly a person of a gross habit of body, to be careful of his constitution, a wine-bibber or rum guzzler, with such a plethoric ha­bit, can hardly avoid falling a prey to this bad air.

His fourth, is the quick corruption of butcher's meat &c. this, if the case at all in any of these provinces, is not common, i remember indeed to have heard a complaint of this happening at Pen­sacola in 1765, which was a sickly season, but in all my journies through these provinces I never experienced it, on the contrary I could always by some means or other preserve my venison, or beef, when there was a necessity for doing it.

The fifth reason, says the Doctor, is a sort of sandy soil, among others he says, such as that at Pensacola; i beg leave to inform the Doctor, that the sand about Pensacola, and throughout these [Page 229] provinces, is a coarse, gritty and gravelly sand of various colours, though chiefly red and white, that on this sandy soil many excellent salubrious herbs grow, which serve as food to innumerable herds of cattle, and when cleared they are im­provable by culture; this is not the case with the hot sandy desarts of South-America, Africa, and Asia, over which the samiel wind passes, nor do i believe that the oldest person in Florida remembers any sudden, hot and suffocating gusts, or blasts, from which he has ever been obliged to turn his face in order to draw breath; there are no open plains of sand in North-America, they are all covered with trees rooted in the lower strata of these sandy tracts; the only plain of sand i know without trees, is at, or near the head of St. Lucia, in East-Florida, which however is not extensive, and to it numerous herds of roe-deer resort during night from the adjacent woods; i think, therefore, that neither of the Floridas have any ill conse­quences to dread from their land winds; more­over, if we consider, that the land-winds come from the west and north-west; geography will tell us, that they range over innumerable acres of oak land, consequently clay ground,^* and that only the sea coasts, and from twenty to about an hundred miles off, are any ways sandy; which being so constantly fanned by the wholesome sea-breezes, (so remarkable in these provinces) could not have any fatal effects, even if the ground was of the nature of the Lybian desarts; thus we see again how men reasoning from mere theory, are liable to commit mistakes.

[Page 230]To treat of the diseases to which the human frame is most liable here, in the same regular manner, as i believe i have done of every pre­ceeding article, i will divide them into two classes, viz. acute and chronic, and the first again into two orders, viz. those of the summer, and those of the winter.

Fevers are the first of the summer diseases; the ancients have ages ago made an observation, that the season of the reign of this terrible disorder was always preceeded by an atmosphere laden with great heats, and much rain, for some time; the modern writers seem to me to be generally of the same opinion; this is exactly the case in all the southern provinces; for fevers begin to take place in some districts more, in some less, about the latter end of July, and in August, and con­tinue throughout September, and part of Octo­ber, just the season immediately succeeding our greatest rains; and most violent heats; here i will notice a ^* remark which i have read long ago, and i find it confirmed in all climates, "That the middle of the third month was ob­served to be the period of the greatest rage of epidemical disorders." Those districts which lay near to low rice fields, particularly in back swamps) and to such indigo works, where the planter is obliged to make reservoirs of water, are most liable to these disorders, after, and during the latter part of an excessive drought; because in those neighbourhoods the air is at such times most prodigiously loaden with corrupt moist [Page 231] effluvia; for this same reason, cool rainy sum­mers will make those places more healthy than dryer spots, because during such a season all the above mentioned noxious exhalations do not take place in so great a degree, and the air is kept cool by the frequency of the showers; however such situations will never be so common in the Floridas as in Carolina or Georgia, the quantity of good wholesome fresh running water being infinitely greater, and consequently little necessity of making stagnating ponds or dams.

It must be allowed, that all fevers however dissimilar in appearance, proceed from the same origin; nature only works with more or less violence to rid herself of what is detrimental to her.

The Ephemera, or day fever, occasioned by a meer increase of the velocity of the blood, by means of a fit of drunkenness, or debauch, or originating from violent exercise during the heat of the day is too frequently seen here; but as it is seldom of a longer continuance than eighteen or twenty hours, it has not often dangerous con­sequences, and may be avoided by every person; i shall content myself with barely observing, that some cooling acidulated liquid aliments will soon abate its violence, bleeding may likewise be of use to restrain its force.

The continual fever, or inflammatory fever, is sometimes, though rarely experienced in this cli­mate, but seldom attended by those dreadful symptoms and fatality, which accompany the same kind of fever, though of a more violent class in the countries immediately between the tropics: this, in its common form lasts about ten [Page 232] or twelve days, beginning to abate its violence in general after the seventh; the fourth or fifth is often fatal. I am persuaded, that whenever the yellow fever has made its appearance in the Flo­ridas, it was imported from Jamaica or Havan­nah, as was the case in 1765, which (by the way) was almost universally an unhealthy Aera, as well in Europe as elsewhere. This continual fever begins with an excessive heat of the whole body, continued, though not violent head ach, great drought of the tongue and palate, and conse­quently a continual desire to drink; those peo­ple who die of this disorder, generally depart on the fourth day, and i am of opinion, that few are carried off by it, except such as are kept too close confined from the fresh air: i would re­commend the keeping the sun out of the room, but to admit as much air as will gently ventilate it; a cooling diet, such as rice gruel, barley wa­ter, infusions of baum, or sage, and lemonade, which is lime juice, water, and very little sugar; lime juice, syrup of lemons, and currant jelly should moderately enter into every part or the patient's diet; avoid all salt, spices, spirituous liquors or generous wines; a gentle purge of glauber salt, with a few grains of kermes mineral, and some drops of oil of mint is generally given on the first appearance of the disease; the effects of this are forwarded by frequent draughts of warm chicken broth. During the operation of this, avoid all acids: bleeding (especially if the disease makes a violent attack, and the patient is of a plethoric habit) is indispensably necessary, the patient ought by all means to avoid motion, and notwithstanding the above caution of admit­ing [Page 233] air in the room, keep himself covered, and be careful not to throw his bed cloths a-side. If the symptoms abate after the above mixture, emetics are commonly subscribed; if it still con­tinues, particularly if attended with delirium, le­thargic symptoms, or their reverse, blisters are applied; and in great watchfulness some laudanum is used; if worms are suspected, an infusion of ^†Indian pink root, (a very common plant here) leaves, wood, and all, is made use of as tea; but this plant possessing a pretty strong narcotic qua­lity, ought to be used with caution: in excessive heats some grains of sal nitri are added to the li­quors administered to the patient, and as soon as the fever begins to abate, some orange, lime or lemon juice, saturated with salt of wormwood, is given by a small tea-cup full every two hours.

The yellow fever being sometimes imported here, it may be necessary to describe this Proteus among diseases, which I have frequently seen, and which i myself have suffered in Jamaica under one of its various forms. I chuse to follow the description of Dr. Rouppe, in his de morb. navi­gant. as quoted by Dr. Lind, because I find no other author who has done it so exactly, and if i had not seen his account i should not perhaps have recollected half the symtoms he mentions, altho' i now perfectly remember to have seen that dire distemper in every shape he paints it in. He seems to speak of it as an illness to which seamen only are subject in that climate (Curacoa;) he may have been induced to think so by the disor­der not raging on shore; the florid complexion of [Page 234] most of the people in the island sufficiently shew­ing it to be a very healthy spot; but i find by his description, that it was the real yellow fever contracted at St. Eustatius; he calls it the putrid colliquative or spotted fever; it raged in the Dutch ship of war Princess Carolina, on board of which this physician arrived at St. Eustatius on the 1st of August, 1760, on the 11th they sailed from thence for Curacoa, which harbour they en­tered on the 19th, and then (whether he means on the passage, or the very day he arrived, seems doubtful) twenty people were sick, some of these had head-aches without fevers, and some were afflicted with a true bilious cholic; but they were by an easy cure again restored to the enjoy­ment of their former health: the sense of his ac­count of the disorder, i take to be as follows, viz.

The French call this disorder mal de Siam, sup­posing it originally imported from thence into the islands; the Spaniards vomito preto, or black vomit; the Dutch geele koorts, which last conveys the same idea as the English yellow fever.

In general, when fevers are violent, the prac­tice which prevails at present, is to have recourse to antimonial medicines, and as soon as a remis­sion is brought about: the bark is administered in large doses.

Intermittents are endemial in all low situations, thus we see in all the provinces to the southward, particular places remarkable for a continuance of this disorder in them, such as more especially Jacksonburg, in South-Carolina, Savannah, in Georgia, Rolles-Town, and most of the settle­ments on St. John's, in East-Florida, at Campbell-town, near the mouth of the Escambe and at Mobile in West-Florida; this disease attacks people much in the same form as the conti­nued fever, the first fit frequently lasting three days without intermission; physicians treat it nearly in the same manner as the last, but i have observed, that they are very averse to taking blood from a patient afflicted with this disorder, saying, that bleeding is a sure way to prolong the disease, although sometimes a small matter of blood is taken from people of a very gross habit of body, when the returning fits seemed to continue longer in point of time than at the first, the same diet is observed as in the con­tinued [Page 239] fever, except when the patient is very weak, when strong broths well separated from the fat are frequently given; if delirious, or co­matose symptoms with pains in the back, &c, make their appearance, cooling medicines are used, during the paroxysms, Doctor James's powder or other antimonials, and on intermission the bark in copious doses is administered with success, and in obstinate head-aches recourse is had to blisters.

This is a very tedious disease, and whoever is afflicted with it should not too soon judge him­self cured, but continue taking a bitter infusion, composed of the bark of the root of the magnolia major (which the French on the Mississippi sub­stitute in lieu of Jesuit's bark) with Virginia heart, snake-root, rue, sal absynth: and pink root, in good Madeira or Lisbon wine.

People in general, suppose them even obliged to remain on the sickly spot during the fatal sea­son, which is autumn, may by care, in a great measure shun this tedious illness, such as living on a more generous diet, especially animal food high seasoned, and a moderate glass of wine; avoiding a too great exposure to the then fre­quent sudden changes of air. They ought to use the cold bath often, wear garlic and cam­phire in the pockets, not expose themselves to rain, and above all keep warm and dry feet, and if got wet by rain not to change their clothes too suddenly; never go out of a morning fasting, but before you go to work, business, &c. eat a piece of bread, and drink a glass of the bitter in­fusion; avoid the night air, and keep some fire in the house, particularly in the mornings and [Page 240] evenings to rarify the damp air in the rooms, es­pecially in the bed rooms which ought never to be on a lower floor, and should be in the eastern parts of the building exposed to the morning sun: by observing these rules the constitution of the human body will be less disposed to receive the impressions of a bad air.

An excellent thing to be given the negroes on a plantation before they go to work, is a wine glass full of the above bitter ingredients, and gar­lic infused in rum; and they should be encouraged to chew and smoke tobacco.

When a person is seized with a fit of the ague, he ought by no means to delay going to bed, and drink a draught of lime juice, and powder of chalk, while it is fermenting in the glass; this will bring on a sweat, and shorten the fit, or in the hot fit use some opiate if the patient is not delirious, this ought to be done as often as the paroxysms return.

The nervous fever, likewise called the slow fever, is known by a small, quick and low pulse, and by not affecting the patient with such violent heats as the others fevers, but with greater op­pression about the praecordium; it does not make them so thirsty; the tongue is at first unusually moist, and looks white, though at last it becomes dry, and looks brown or inflamed; continual heats are felt in the palms of the hands, heats and chills return alternately very quick, a copious clammy weakening sweat, excessive lowness of spirits, restlessness, being drowsy without power of sleeping, pain and giddiness of the head, ring­ing in the ears, and if it lasts long, the tendons are often affected with a sort of cramp; deafness, [Page 241] deliriums, continual lethargic fits; insensibility and stupor are the constant attendants of this dis­order when in its last stages.

This is a most treacherous disorder, and by affecting the sufferer with only slight symptoms of weariness and weakness, attended with frequent yawnings and stretchings, a slight giddiness and loss of appetite, and a great heat in the forehead, makes people neglect an early application to the physican, and thus they endanger themselves much, though in people of a robust constitution who are much exposed to the sun, it will often appear for the first day or two with violent symp­toms; this fever will last sometimes for twenty days or more without any apparent abatement; it generally attacks people who have been exposed to unusual fatigue, or such as are naturally of a weak constitution. Vomits are the remedy to which recourse is most usually had in this disorder.

Physicians steadily, and almost totally avoid bleeding and purging, till after a free use of the Ipecacuana, and even then their cathartic prescrip­tions are rarely any other than manna and salts, and after the gentle purges obtained by this me­thod, they order a free use of rich chicken broth, and the above described juice of lemons saturated with sal absynth: this they generally continue un­til the disease changes into an intermittent fever, and then treat it in the manner last mentioned; frequently also applying blisters.

This fever more particularly than any other disorder, bears hardest on the patient towards sun­set. The diet commonly prescribed is sago, chicken broth and panado, with some small mat­ter of wine and loaf sugar in the first and last; [Page 242] infusions of sage and baum, together with wine whey, are the drink mostly thought proper during the continuance of this disorder.

The use of bark is generally blamed as pro­ductive of dropsy; jaundice, the ague cake,^* and other inveterate chronical disorders, but it is cer­tain that the bark is blameless; it is the fault of the physicians, who too late and with too much caution use this blessed remedy, which seems as purposely designed by Providence to relieve us in those tedious disorders; or it is that of the patient himself, who, prejudiced against this excellent re­medy, refuses to take it till it is too late, and thereby brings upon himself the above diseases, which are consequences of the fevers, not of this great specific.

The above mentioned fevers and unusual hard­ships in travelling, &c. as well as excesses at plentiful tables full of variety, often bring on a severe bloody flux especially in autumn, and if this makes its appearance with hard dry and bloody stools, the disease is dangerous; brisk purges and clysters of Castile soap, and some of the hot seeds are used to expell these; when the desired end is obtained, gentle emetics are called in; i have known people find great relief from a decoction of logwood and pomgranate skins, others again it would not help in the least; a new honey comb inclosed in an apple scooped out, and then roasted before the fire, has often proved a speedy and very effectual remedy; [Page 243] calcined hartshorn, a nauseous medicine, is non-sense; bark of sumach is a good medicine, but there being a dangerous kind, it ought to be ga­thered by a skilful hand; the bark of the liqui­dambar styraciflua; aceris folio mentioned in page 20, together with the gum exuding from the same tree, is generally found efficacious; a wine glass full of the juice of lemons mixed with some com­mon salt has often proved a most excellent, safe, and general specific; the frequent chewing of cinnamon and camomile flowers, especially when a weak stomach vexes the patient, has a noble effect; avoid all vegetable food except rice, eat roasted rather than boiled flesh; salted beef need not to be avoided; use often veal, jellies and salop; use a great deal of mustard; i know by the experience of many as well as my own, that Dr. Barry's observation of vegetables not being so easily assimilated as animal food, is in the strictest sense universally true, and in an ob­stinate continuance of this disorder, vegetables even our common wheaten bread are not at all digested, but most generally pass through the body unaltered. When this disease changes into a chronic habitual flux, it will be necessary to use pills of equal parts of rhubarb and ipecacuana, mixed with some liquid opiate, and use weak lime water for common drink: if this does not prove a specific, let the patient be removed to some other clime, for no remedy will affect that disorder in the same climate, where it was origi­nally contracted, claret or port ought to be their constant drink in this disease, and spirituous li­quors ought by all means to be avoided; rum, a cursed bane of health and of society; is too often [Page 244] and indiscriminately applied to every disease as an universal arcaum.

The cholera morbus is likewise a consequence of intemperate meals, and when it is not occasioned by any food peculiarly repugnant to the stomach it often proves fatal.

Debauch of every kind, particularly unseason­able sitting up, is most frequently productive of some of the most dreadful disorders, and excessive passions of the mind sometimes produce the same effects.

Excess in venery is generally productive of the most violent and obstinate disorders, princi­pally inflammatory fevers, and obstinate fluxes.

There is a disease which the French call La Tytanose, which affects people in the western parts of Florida, and will attack them with pro­digious violence upon being wounded even in the slightest manner: if during the hot months a splinter be run into the flesh, the patients are at­tacked with violent contorsive spasms, and gene­rally die in about eighteen or twenty hours.

I never saw any person afflicted with this dread­ful disorder, but from the similarity of the name with the latin Tetanus, and from my being told, that opium and camphire are much used to pro­cure relief, I take it to be the locked jaw, with which I saw a young man die at Mobile, Mr. Lind^* recommends copious external applications of opium, and the cold bath; and gives some imperfect account of mercurial ointment having lately proved an efficacious remedy; the hint was perhaps necessary to be inserted here.

[Page 245] Angina Suffocativa, or the putrid sore-throat, sometimes appears here, this is a contagious di­stemper, and rages in America mostly among the youth; it generally begins with a slow fever at­tended with great lassitude and a low pulse; this is succeeded by a sore throat with white spots near the uvula, and if it be not immediately taken notice of, the patient soon becomes past hopes, and generally dies within 24 hours after the first severe attack of the fever; the physicians in Ca­rolina and Georgia prescribe first mercurial purges, and order a gargle of borax, dragon's blood and Armenian bole in vinegar and honey; and the throat is anointed frequently by help of a feather, with a mixture of balsam of sulphur, tincture of myrh, honey, loaf sugar, and yolk of eggs; the principal part of the cure is to attend the disease early, the least neglect being dangerous.

The dry belly-ach is a very painful and torment­ing disorder, though rarely fatal; it is occasioned by cold damp lodgings, and being exposed to the night air; but most frequently in all climates by an excessive use of the vegetable acid juices, which are all extremely astringent in their nature: and when this disorder proceeds from too liberal an use of punch, rheumatic pains and paralytic affections of the nerves are its constant conse­quences and attendants, with loss of the proper use of limbs: (often for life) the most usual symptoms are the vomiting of bile, with the most obstinate costive habit imaginable; and when stools are procured, the excrements are excessive hard, and in round balls like horse dung: all this is attended with the most excruci­ating pain in the bowels, and a clammy sweat [...] [Page 246] the method of cure is by administering emetics of the antimonial kind, which often also procure a stool; this is the only thing that can relieve the poor sufferers; the warm steam of hot herb baths, clysters of the tinct. Thebaic. in luke warm milk, and emollient plaisters in which opium enters, applied to the stomach and belly; bitter purging salts and manna, and infusions of sena leaves, after the middle vein is stript out of them; in the severe attacks of the pain, opiates are used, and too often that cursed arcanam of the vulgar among the English; I mean rum and other distilled spirits, which in this disorder too often prove fatal poisons; the oil of Palmae Christi, by three or four spoonfuls has sometimes proved effectual; oil of almonds and of olives, have been given with success; after all medicines had failed, i once applied to a mulato woman, who was a noted empyric in the island of Curacoa, where i was attacked by this distemper: she or­dered a clyster of sweet milk, tobacco and brown sugar, which gave some slight relief, but after a while the painful symptoms of the disease seemed to be as excruciating as ever; she then gathered some handfuls of the leaves of a shrub which is there called Wild Carpat; ^* these she boiled like spinnage, and made them into seven or eight balls of the size of walnuts, put them in a plate, and poured oil olive on them, and a little pepper; this kind of salad she made me eat with a piece of bread, when i observed to her, that [Page 247] she ought to have added vinegar to have made a perfect sallad; she answered, that vinegar in my case was poison; in half an hour after the use of this mess, a stool (the first in twenty-three days) was procured, which was followed by five or six more that very afternoon; and she then gave me for some days an intensely bitter mixture, in which i perceived the juice of aloes predominant, but could not learn the composition. This kept me in a lax habit of body, and in about fourteen days i was enabled to pursue my ordinary avoca­tions; camphire and opium enter into all the purgative prescriptions i have seen ordered in this disease, by the physicians of the south.

There is an instantaneous fatal disorder which the French call un coup de Soleil, i. e. literally, a stroke of the sun; of this i remember one instance during my stay in West-Florida, when it killed a child of about twelve years old on the spot between the hours of eleven and twelve in the forenoon, the time, as i am informed, in which it always takes place; by instantly applying cold water to the crown of the head, i am told, its fatality is prevented; likewise by cupping the crown of the head: what its symptoms are, i have not seen, but by the descriptions, i take it to be a fever, which so violently attacks the pa­tient, that it causes instant death. This disorder oc­curs very seldom, and as it is so very easily guarded against, persons who are attacked by it, are in a great measure blameable for their own misfor­tune, particularly if they know the country; the French, one and all, put a single piece of clean writing paper between their hat and head during the hot months, to ward off the attacks of the coup de Soleil.

[Page 248]These are the diseases, which occur during the hot seasons; there is likewise a fever, in which the patient is continually affected with defluxions of the head: this appears in the late winter months, and during a wet spring; it is called a Catarrhal Fever: this disease is not frequent, but when it appears, it is generally treated like other fevers, except that bleeding is more freely used.

The pleurisy also makes its appearance some­times in winter. Moderate or copious bleedings from the arm according to the degrees of violence of its attacks are immediately used: if looseness and gripes attend the pain, blood is taken away often, and in small quantities; the patient is kept moderately warm, and on no account suffered to uncover; the first medecine is commonly a cool­ing purge; gentle sudorifics are likewise admi­nistered; frequent hot baths for the feet are also prescribed, but very cautiously applied for fear of his catching cold. After the operation of purges and sudorifics, gentle antimonials are used, and a light easy digested diet, with infusions of hyssop, sage, or baum, follow in course; like­wise swallowing of living wood-lice: and in case of costive symptoms, clysters are used; on a continuance of the pain in the side, a mode­rate blister or drawing plaister is put to the part; —much coughing, which causes a watchfulness, is removed by opiates: in feverish symptoms the disease is treated as the other fevers; spirituous liquors are to be avoided by all means.

During some winters, a Peripneumony also visits a few people here; the method of cure is the same as for the pleurisy: it is said to be more dangerous than the pleurisy, particularly if co­pious [Page 249] bleeding is not made use of as soon as the patient is affected. In this disorder there is ge­nerally a freer access of air allowed than in the last, and the patient kept almost in a sitting po­sture; it is said that the steams of warm water drawn into the lungs in this disease, is a powerful help.

A compound of the two last disorders, called the Pleuro-peripneumony, is likewise sometimes heard of, and is treated as the last.

In Georgia i saw one or two instances of a dis­order among blacks, to which the people give the odd name of the pleurisy of the temple, of the forehead, of the eye, and so on; i am told they have a pleurisy for every part of the head. It is violently acute, and, as i am informed, proves sometimes fatal in ten or twelve hours time; if immediately on its attack, a quantity of blood is not drawn from the arm, for the rest this disease is treated like a pleurisy.

The chronic diseases are dropsies, consump­tions, hemorrhoidal and habitual fluxes, relaxed and bilious habits of body, ruptures, worm-fevers, and among blacks the leprosy, elephan­tiasis and body yaws; which last in Carolina is called the lame distemper; the first five of these are often best removed by a change of air, as the most efficacious medicines often prove of no use against the obstinacy of the disorders in the climate where they first originated.

The dropsy most frequently seizes a patient after an obstinate intermitting fever, where the use of the bark has been too long delayed: in this disorder the ordinary prescriptions in these countries is syrup of squills, and the common [Page 250] diuretic salt; with these the patient is confined to dry food, and from spirituous liqurs; such vege­tables as turnips, radishes, &c. he is allowed to indulge in: Dr. Lind says, that exciting a slight salivation, may be of help in a tolerable sound constitution, perhaps none of the chronic dis­eases are more relieved by change of climate than an obstinate dropsy. A consumptive habit of body. particularly where the cough is very obstinate and frequent, and when bilious stools, with a great hardness of the lower belly affect the patient, or when a continual fever emaciates the poor sufferer, he is in a dangerous way, and a remove to colder climates is hardly adviseable; i have known such people relieved by making frequent short voyages to sea in moderate cli­mates; but unless proper remedies are also made use of during these voyages, the fever returns almost directly on relanding; frequently after one or two of these voyages the patient feels him­self better; if he then retires to a milk diet, and freely indulges himself in fruits, utterly avoiding all manner of drugs or medicines, he may find relief, and even a return of constitution; fre­quent doses of flour of brimstone, and cooling the water he drinks with sal nitre, are of use during this course: likewise the patient ought with the greatest care to avoid exercise; the stiller he keeps himself the more hopes of recovery there is. The fever which attends this disorder is of such a nature, that here the use of the bark must be carefully shunned, as it has been during long practice, and by frequent experiments of very able physicians, found to be a sure poison in this disorder. The Spaniards wear the nest of [Page 251] the great travelling spider sowed in a rag about their necks as a sure way to assuage a hectick fever, and i think with great success: it is a matter of surprize to see how perhaps a thousand animalculae which are in perfect life in one of these nests, at the time of its being put round the pa­tient's neck, will [...]n the course of about thirty hours be perfectly pulverized by meer dint of the heat of the body, which these young Spiders seem in a peculiar manner to attract. In hardness of the belly in this disorder most of the Creoles use hard and frequent rubbing it with a warm hand dipt in oil or hogs-lard, Quere bears oil being so very subtil and penetrating, would it not be pre­ferable in rubbing?

The haemorrhoidal flux is very frequent here, and was it not so very troublesome an attendant, it would be looked upon as a beneficial event. Persons who are attacked by it are generally certain of not falling into the more dangerous diseases occasioned by obstructions of the Viscera in hot climates; the greatest danger attending it is that of the patient's falling into an habitual flux, which is a most tedious and troublesome disease, and that although the patient has no other complaint but the frequent necessity of going to stool and is but seldom troubled with an involun­tary expulsion of the faeces; this disease is almost always a slow though sure harbinger of death by its continuance for years, draining to the very last drop of moisture from the sufferer, who being left a meer skeleton, is as it were carried off in the manner of an expiring candle-snuff; yet those persons, who have been opened after death have been found with all the inward parts perfectly [Page 252] sound, and thus the faculty is left in the dark without any way to account for this disorder; i have heard of people of a very robust constitu­tion with whom it has continued above twenty years; no disease is so frequent; it almost always attacks people who have suffered much from frequent sickness or severe fatigue; and its obsti­nacy is such, that it will yield to no remedy whatever in the climate where it originated; i have myself been attacked by it first in the pro­vince of Georgia, in consequence of the great fatigue i underwent in my frequent long and wearisome journies by land; no astringent of any kind, not even the long use of rhubarb and ipe­cacuanha was of any the least service to me; vain was every medicine against this obstinate malady; opium was recommended to me as a specific; this i took at length in incredible doses but the relief was only momentary; after the short re­prieve obtained hereby it returned with tenfold violence and obstinacy: if then i was unhappy enough to use opium during this attack it was of no use whatever, but obliged me for the next time to seek respite from a double dose, the cold bath i found of some slight benefit and when i was at the proper season in any part of Florida, where the coco-plumb ^* grew in abundance, by freely eating this wholesome fruit i was relieved for that season, and no sooner was i obliged to abandon this excellent remedy, but the disease again pre­vailed. Thus was i harrassed for about eight years when i changed climates by coming to New-York; here likewise all medical prescriptions [Page 253] failed, till at length i found that a decoction of the bark of Semi-Ruba and Terra japonica in the proportion of half an ounce of each to six pounds of water being boiled down to one sixth, was an effectual medicine after the change of climate, which last alone must not be relied on: one quart of the above decoction in the quantity of a wine-glass fu [...] taken morning and evening cured me; but relapsing again after about three months: got another quar [...], with the two first glasses of which i took a small pill of crude opium, and by two more glasses full i found myself again restored to my natural habit of body.

An entire relaxation of the solids, and a bilious habit of body is another common affliction of those, who have suffered much by the diseases of hot climates; the constitution is in such people so decayed, that it seems as if every moment would be that of dissolution: the stomach is weak, their complexion is nearly that of a sufferer by the jaundice, and hardly any food especially greens and salads are found digestible; if the dry belly-ach has been their frequent attendant a paralytic contraction of the limbs is the final consequence of that malady: others again will frequently vomit clear bile and be very costive having the abdomen exceeding hard; for all these complaints there is no better cure than a change of climate, and when the patient begins to feel any benefit from the difference of air while at sea, i would recommend a plentiful and constant use of chamoemile flowers, chewing them in the same manner as people do tobacco; this, however disagreeable to most palates at first, becomes in time as agreeable to the mouth as it is grateful to the stomach. [Page 254] The use of Elixir Vitrioli in the quantity of fifteen or twenty drops taken every morning fasting and again an hour before dinner; and the moderate use of a glass of generous wine is not amiss to such sufferers: animal food, especially mutton, is the most suitable diet, and in case of an obsti­nate costiveness use the Elixir Aloes often at night or in the morning; the cold bath, especially of salt water, is very beneficial to such sufferers.

Ruptures are pretty much complained of on the banks of Mississippi; i have observed likewise that they are a good deal frequent in Georgia and in Carolina: what can be the cause of a disorder of this kind being frequent i know not, but i find in a pamphlet which gives a superficial de­scription of South-Carolina the following way to account for it, ‘the obstructed viscera being swelled beyond their natural size, the intestines are too much confined, and by nature of the aliment and bad digestion being frequently dis­tended with wind, it is not to be wondered at, that they often pass through the rings of the abdominal muscles.’

The Worm fever which is common through all America, especially from Pennsylvania south­wards, is not so common here as in Carolina, Georgia, &c. the reason i take to be because the sweet potatoe is not so universally used for food here as elsewhere; children suffer most with it; though it sometimes affects people of all ages. When a fever obstinately withstands all medicines it may almost be depended upon, that this obsti­nacy proceeds from worms; the stincking weed which is known by the name of Jerusalem Oak, and in those provinces is the most efficacious ver­mifuge, [Page 255] and the safest medicine especially for children; a spoon full of the expressed juice of the whole plant taken on an empty stomach is found to be a sovereign antidote; the Lonic [...]ra i have already mentioned as to its qualities; if the worms are suspected to be lodged in the rectum, clysters of a decoction of tansey, onions, garlick, rue, worm-wood, and such like in milk are of good effect; a plaister of pulverized Aloes, oil of rue, or worm-wood, with powder of the bitter gourd and ox-gall applied to the navel is also of good effect: i would recommend the use of animal food, particularly rich fish-soups highly seasoned with garlick or onions, and it will be proper to avoid all kinds of farinaceous vegetables except wheaten bread: above all the potatoe and pump­kin ought to be shunned as poison.

A loathsome disease appears some times among the Negroes after severe acute disorders, especially if the patient has been obliged to keep his bed long, likewise after a violent exercise has brought on a surfeit: this is called the Elephantiasis from the swelling of the feet and legs; it is most fre­quently seen to affect one leg only; in the first stages of this disorder the patient becomes wretched through excessive lassitudes which bring on an emaciation of the body, then the corrupted juices subside into the leg or legs and feet, these swell, the skin becoming distended, shines and shews the distended veins every where below the knee; now the skin by degrees loses its gloss and becomes unequal and something scaly; after this chaps make their appearance, the glands are stretched and the scales are daily enlarged, appearing as hard and callous as the hide of an Alligator, not­withstanding [Page 256] which the slightest prick of a pointed instrument will cause the blood to exude; this disease affects neither the appetite nor the digestive powers of the body, on the contrary the patient in this and chearfulness of spirits resembles the healthiest of men, and the inconvenience of his heavy leg only prevents his ability for the more laborious part of his duty.

No manner of oure has yet been found for this cruel disorder, but the patients often live to a very advanced age under the pressure of its yoke, even when it has been contracted in early youth; it is said that the amputation of the affected limbs is no cure, for the disease will immediately attack the sound leg; this i find also asserted by Hughes in his Natural History of Barbados.

I have seen three or four instances of the dis­ease called body yaws (in the Islands) and in Ca­rolina the lame distemper, this is said to proceed from hereditary v [...]nereal taints; it appears in can­cerous corroding sores in the mouth and throat, and spreading ulcers together with fleshy protub­erances chiefly on the face, breast and thighs, with a swelling of the skin and knee-bones, and commonly corrodes the Cartilages of the nose, its first symptoms shewing themselves about the throat and palate, have caused ignorant people to mistake it for the Angina Suffocativa before de­scribed: Mercurial medicines are used against it, afterwards diet-drinks of China root, nut-grass, &c. the sores in the mouth are often to be rubbed with a feather dipt in syrup of roses to an ounce of which two drops of Sp. Vitr. have been added: unctuous, salt, spiced meats and spirituous liquors are absolutely to be avoided; frequent sweats are [Page 257] also prescribed and a great care against catching cold.

The Leprosy so called, whether the same as was the cause of proscription to the unhappy patients under the Mosaic laws i shall not pretend to determine; certain it is, that it is a nauseous, loathsome and infectious disease some times seen among the blacks; this appears first with the loss of beard and hair from the eye-brows, swelling of the lobes of the ears, the face begins to shine and brown protuberances appear thereon, the lips and nose swell to a monstrous size, the fingers and toes will in the end drop off, and the body becomes at last so ulcerated as to make the poor incurable patient really a miserable object of pity.

Having thus largely described the climate, soil, water, general productions of the earth, the in­habitants with their customs, manners and the diseases incident to the human race here, i shall next proceed to give a topographical description of the country, the general face particularly, and with this subject end my first volume.

The river St. Mary is the northernmost boundary of East Florida and by the Spaniards called Rio Santa Cecilia, and by the savages Thlathla Tla­kuphka, and is described in page 36; the soil here is not very fertile, unless it be at its very head, which reaches up to near the head of flint river, which last runs into the river Apalachicola, and this being the western bounds of this province, we may in the present undetermined state of these matters regard as the most natural limits of the province on the land side; from St. Mary's river's mouth there is a distance of fourteen miles along the beach of Amelia island to the mouth of Nassau [Page 258] river; this island is in general sandy and hilly, but has some fertile spots on it capable of fine im­provements, it is about two miles through in its broadest parts, which is the north end, and tapers away till it's south end is scarce half a mile across; here near the south end was formerly a convent of Nuns and a church dedicated to St. Mary, whose name the island bore in the time of the Spaniards, but where were scarce any traces left of the build­ings in 1770; west of its north end lay the Tyger islands, between which and Amelia there is a tolerable broad passage forming a convenient harbour, these islands consist chiefly of marsh and pine hammocks; this passage continues through Amelia narrows into Nassau river, and is frequented by such crafts as exceed not four feet draught of water. The land on Nassau river is almost all very fertile; the river originates not above thirty miles from the sea, where it begins in many small rivulets, which all joining very soon, by their confluence form a considerable large stream navi­gable for vessels of ten feet draught up to its forks, this river formerly called Rio Sta. Maria, in my opinion has along its banks the best body of land in East Florida near the sea, and i believe that this will form in time a pretty opulent district; between this river and St. John's river the land is miserably barren, as it is likewise between Nassau and St. Mary, though not in so wretched a de­gree; we find between the mouths of Nassau and St. John's river three islands, great and little Talbot, and fort George, together in length about five or six miles; the Talbot's islands lay next to the south of Amelia, and the greatest inner­most: this last is counted fertile, the other is in­considerable; [Page 259] they are hilly a [...] well as fort George; the last has received its name from an intrench­ment thrown up on it by general Oglethorp during his fruitless expedition against St. Augustine.

We are now at the mouth of the river St. John, already in part described in page 34 and 35; this river called by the indians Ylacco, and by the Spaniards Rio St. Matheo o Picolato, runs from its mouth something above twenty-four miles up nearly east and west; at this distance up the ferry is kept: (commonly called the cow-ford from the multitude of cattle drove through here at the be­ginning of the settlement by the English:) just above this ferry the river takes a bend and the direction of its course becomes parallel to the ocean; the general run of its water being from south to north rising at or near the latitude 27: and this ferry laying nearly in 30:10; near the latitude 28: it approaches the sea within a mile, in so much, that some marsh and broken pine-land only separates them: thus it makes a peninsula from hence to the above latitude 30:10. which peninsula is for the most part between twenty-five and twenty miles in breadth. This part of the country is the chief seat of the present improve­ments, and is for the most part too barren for planting; but excellent for the keeping of cattle and horses, as the land chiefly consists of pine-land and savannahs of the kind described in page 22; the swamps along the river (although their ap­pearance from the river deceived the first advent­urers,) are for the most part no more than an edging along its banks, hardly any where extend­ing a quarter of a mile deep; the journal of Mr Bartram as published by Dr. Stork, may give [...] [Page 260] tolerable idea of the banks of this river, and con­sequently of the west part of this peninsula; but this journal, though a very loose performance, and principally defective where we might expect it most compleat, viz. in the botanical articles, yet such as it is, the Doctor who wanted to extol this province even beyond reason, has not thought fit to give it us in its native dress, but mutilated and unfairly modelled it to answer his own pur­pose, which has given another author ^* a handle for depreciating this country still more below its value than the Doctor has endeavoured to raise it above; however all such prejudiced writers being below contempt, let us leave them what they are, and after observing once more that the fruitful spots are few when compared with the unfruitful in this tract, proceed to give an account of the eastern edge of this peninsula viz. the sea coast from the mouth of St. John to the mouth of the river Ais or Aisahatcha: not far from the entrance of St. John's is St. Pablo or St. Paul's creek or river; on it are some fruitful spots about twelve miles south of the great river; Sablo river ap­proaches the head of St. Mark's or the North river, at whose head are the plains of Diego very proper for the breeding of cattle. This river St. Mark falls into the harbour of Augustine about two miles to the northward of the fort, and but a little way within the bar: to which bar from the general's mount at the entrance of St. John's is a measured distance of 36 miles. Between the north river and the sea is a very narrow slip of sand-hills and other almost useless ground; the bar of this [Page 261] harbour is a perpetual obstruction to St. Au­gustine's becoming a place of any great trade, and alone is security enough against enemies; so that i see but little occasion for so much fortifica­tion as the Spaniards had here, especially as a little look out called Mossa at a small distance north of the town, proved sufficient to repel general Oglethorpe with the most formidable armament ever intended against Augustine; however there was much more propriety in the Spaniards having a fort in the modern taste of military architecture of a regular quadrangular form, with four bastions, a wide ditch, a cover'd way, a glacis, a ravelin to defend the gate, places of arms and bomb-proofs with a casemating all round &c. &c. for a defence against the savages, than there was in raising such stupendous piles of building as the new barracks by the English, which are large enough to contain five regiments, when it is a matter of great doubt whether there will ever be a necessity to keep one whole regiment here; to mend this matter the great barrack was built with materials brought to Augustine from New York, far inferior in value to those found on the spot; yet the freight alone amounted to more than their value when landed; so that people can hardly help thinking that the contrivers of all this having a sum of money to throw away, found a necessity to fill some parasite pockets, and judged the best method for doing this was to make contractors of the folks in view, as fifty men besides the inha­bitants would defend this fort against the united bands of all the savages here; as a constant supply of provisions can come by water, and no formid­able foreign force can ever be reasonably expected [Page 262] to come here, it makes us almost believe that all this shew is in vain, or at most, that the English were so much in dread of musketos, that they thought a large army requisite to drive off these formidable foes. To be serious, this fort and barracks add not a little to the beauty of the prospect, but most good men will think with me that the money spent on this useless parade would have been better laid out on roads and ferries through the province, or if it must be in forts, why not at Pensacola? where there is a necessity to have a powerful force, and where the bar will admit a sixty gun-ship: but i had almost forgot that the acts of Assembly there would have de­feated the sanguine expectations of Messrs. con­tractors.

The town has by all writers till Dr. Stork's time been said to lay at the foot of a hill; so far from truth is this, that it is almost surrounded by water, and the remains of the line drawn from the harbour to St. Sebastian's creek, a quarter of a mile to the north of the fort [...]m which line stands a fortified gate called the barrier gate, is the only rising ground near it; this line had a ditch, and its fortification was pretty regular; about a mile and a half beyond this are the re­mains of another fortified line, which had a kind of look out or advanced guard of stoccadoes at its western extremity on St. Sebastian's creek; and fort Mossa at its east end; besides these the town has been fortified with a slight but regular line of circumvallation and a ditch. The town is half a mile in length and its southern line had two bastions of stone, one of which (if not both) are broken down, and the materials used for the [Page 263] building of the foundation of the barracks; the ditch and parapet are planted with a species of agave, which by its points is well fitted to keep cattle out, and with that intention was used by the Spaniards for fences. Dr. Stork has raised this fence into a fortification against the savages and magnified it into Chevaux de frize. The town is very ill built, the streets being all except one crooked and narrow. The date on one of the houses i remember to be 1571; these are of stone, mostly flat roofed, heavy and look badly. Till the arrival of the English neither glass windows nor chimneys were known here, the lower windows had all a projecting frame of wooden rails before them. On the 3d of January 1766, a frost destroyed all the tropical productions in the country except the oranges; the Spaniards called this a judgement on the place, for being become the property of Hereticks, as they never had experienced the like. The Governor's house is a heavy unsightly pile, but well contrived for the climate; at its north west side it has a kind of tower to the height of which Governor Grant has added several feet; this serves as a look out. There were three suburbs in the time of the Span­iards, but all destroyed before my acquaintance with the place, except the church of the indian town to the north now converted into an hospital; (Dr. Stork says the steeple of this church is of good workmanship though built by the indians, neither of which assertions is true,) and the steeple of the German chapel to the west of the town like­wise remains. The parish church in the town is a wretched building and now almost a heap of ruins; the parade before the Governor's house is nearly [Page 264] in the middle of the town and has a very fine effect; there are two rows of orange trees planted by order of Governor Grant, which make a fine walk on each side of it: the sandy streets are hardened by lime and oyster-shells; Dr. Stork says there were nine hundred houses at the time of the Spanish evacuation, and three thousand two hundred inhabitants; in my time there were not three hundred houses and at most a thousand in­habitants; these, a few excepted, i found to be a kind of outcast and scum of the earth; to keep them such, their ill form of government does not a little contribute. A letter from a friend, who lately returned from England, directed to me, dated 2 th May 1774, says, ‘this town is now truly become a heap of ruins, a fit receptacle for the wretches of inhabitants.’

About eight miles north of the town is a tract of a considerable size, called the twelve mile swamp; which i take to be equal in goodness to any in America; this began to be cultivated in the year 1770. Three miles west from the town is another small tract of tolerable land, called the three mile swamp; all besides this within many miles is really a miserable sand, a dreary scrub ground, and boggy salt marsh, a few acres at the head of St. Sebastian's only excepted.

The island St. Anastatio is situate opposite the town and forms the harbour, its north end being opposite to the south end of the narrow peninsula made by the north river: this is the only part of all the lands purchased by the worthy Mr. Fish, for the debts due to him by the Spaniards, which he was allowed to keep, notwithstanding the treaty allowed it him; for no sale was judged valid if [Page 265] made by him, unless the government afterwards gave a grant, but this was one of the many ways to make offices worthy of holding; the above named gentleman has a pretty retreat on this island, about four miles from town; but as the land is barren it is more pleasant than profitable. The sound which divides this island from the main, is called Matauca river, it is about twenty miles in length; the island affords pasturage for numerous herds of horses and some cattle, the first in par­ticular breed kindly here; about half a mile from the north end of the island is a heavy stone build­ing serving for a look out; a small detachment of troops is kept here, and by signals from hence, the inhabitants are given to understand what kind of, and how many vessels are approaching the harbour, either from the north or from the south; in the year 1770 fifty feet of timber frame work was added to its former height, as was likewise a mast or flagstaff forty seven feet long, but this last proving too weighty, endangered the build­ing and was soon taken down. In this island are quarries of a kind of concreted petrified shells, or a stone bearing their resemblance, this will be de­scribed hereafter.

About two miles south of the town is the mouth of St. Sebastian's river already mentioned, this is a small creek rising near six miles north of the town, but its stream soon becomes salt by the meeting of the waters from below; vessels go two miles and a half up it to clean. A bridge was built over it to the west of the town, which short­ened the road into the country near seven miles, but the great depth of the water joined to the in­stability of the bottom did not suffer it to remain [Page 266] long, and a ferry is now established in its room; the keeper of the ferry has £ 50 sterl. per annum allowed him, and the inhabitants pay nothing for crossing except after dark.

We next meet the mouth of St. Nicholas creek, on the point to the north of which the first town was built by the Spaniards, but they soon re­moved it for conveniency's sake to its present site: on the south point is a plantation belonging to Mr. Moultrie the present Lieutenant Governor; this place is remarkable for a large oyster bank being entirely eat out by this gentleman's negroes in a scarce season. This river is short originating about ten miles to the west of the sound, and has no fertile land on or near it.

Six miles further south, or about ten miles from town is the mouth of Sta. Cecilia, another small river of little note. Between nine and ten miles further is the look out or fort of Matanca, on a marshy island, commanding the entrance of Matanca, which lays opposite to it; this fort is to be seen at the distance of about five leagues, it is of very little strength, nor need it be otherwise, as there is scarce eight feet water at the best of times on this bar: the Spaniards kept a Lieuten­ant's command here; the English a Serjeant's. Between two or three miles from this inlet or bar is another of still less note, called el Penon; oppo­site and southward is the mouth of a river called North West, i suppose from the direction of the course we go up it; it is somewhat more consider­able than the two or three last mentioned; some settlements are near its banks, but of small im­portance, the land being in general arid and poor. Three miles further south is the upper end of the [Page 267] water which by former Geographers has been stiled a river; the Spaniards called it Rio Musketo, and the English the Musketo river: Mr. de Brahm has changed the name of it into Halifax river. This pretended river is one of those arms of the sea commonly called a Lagoon; thus i believe the wonder of Dr. Stork's two rivers, lying parrallel to each other and the ocean, and yet running di­rectly opposite courses is well accounted for, such Lagoons being not at all uncommon: the upper part of this piece of water is a kind of lake or pond, and is removed at so inconsiderable a distance from the sea, that boats which were obliged to go outside at Penon, where the inland navigation ceases, are here drawn out of the sea into this lagoon. I believe the first rocks to be seen on the beach of the coast of America, from Long-Island to this place are to be seen here; they are of that kind which seems to be a con­cretion of shells; they are small and do not ex­tend far into the water, but are as it were buried in the sand at low water mark.

About twenty miles south is the mouth of To­moco creek, falling into this lagoon from the west­ward; the head of this is at a small distance from St. John's river; it is said that some good land lays along its banks.

Thirty two miles further south is the mouth of another river, called spruce creek; it is very rich in fresh marsh, the ground being greatly broken at its mouth; this is a more considerable stream than the last, and at a little distance from this mouth are the first settlements of Musketo or New Smyrna, particularly Mr. Penman's.

Between three and four miles further south is [Page 268] the entrance, or bar of New Smyrna of still less navigable convenience than St. Augustine, and is the outwatering of the above named lagoon as likewise of another coming from the south stiled North Hillsborough river; here we begin to see a few of the tropical plants, such as carica, borassus, capsicum, mangles and blackwood. At a few miles from the bar is the situation of the town or settle­ment made by Dr. Turnbull for Sir William Duncan, himself, and perhaps more associates; this town is called New Smyrna, from the place of the Doctor's lady's nativity. The settlements round this famous town extend considerably along the banks of this lagoon, and large quanti­ties of very good indigo have been made here. If my reader is inquisitive to know why i call this famous, i answer on account of the cruel methods used in settling it, which made it the daily topic of conversation for a long time in this and the neighbouring provinces.

About 1500 people, men, women and child­ren were deluded away from their native country, where they lived at home in the plentiful corn­fields and vineyards of Greece and Italy, to this place, where instead of plenty they found want in its last degree, instead of promised fields, a dreary wilderness; instead of a grateful fertile soil, a barren arid sand; and in addition to their misery, were obliged to indent themselves, their wives, and children for many years, to a man who had the most sanguine expectations of transplanting Bashawship from the Levant. The better to effect his purpose, he granted them a pitiful por­tion of land for ten years, upon the plan of the fe [...]dal system: this being improved and just [Page 269] rendered fit for cultivation, at the end of that term it again reverts to the original grantor, and the grantee, may, if he chuses, begin a new state of vas [...]alage for ten years more. Many were denied even such grants as these, and were obliged to work in the manner of negroes, a task in the field; their provisions were at the best of times only a quart of maize per day, and two ounces of pork per week; this might have sufficed with the help of fish which a bounds in this lagoon, but they were denied the liberty of fishing, and lest they should not labour enough, inhuman task-masters were set over them, and instead of allow­ing each family to do with their homely fare as they pleased, they were forced to [...]in all together in one mess, and at the beat of a vile drum, to come to one common copper, from whence their h [...]many was laded out to them; even this coarse and scanty meal was through careless manage­ment rendered still more coarse, and through the knavery of a proveditor, and the pilfering of a hungry cook, still more scant. Masters of vessels were forewarned from giving any of them a piece of bread or meat. Imagine to yourself an African (an expert hunter) who had been long the favorite of his master, through the importunities of this petty tyrant sold to him,—imagine to yourself one of a class of men, whose hearts are generally callous against the softer feelings, melted with the wants of some of these wretches, giving them a piece of his venison, of which he caught what he pleased, and for this charitable act disgraced, whipped, and in course of time used so severely that the unusual servitude soon released him to a happier state; again, behold a man obliged to whip [Page 270] his own wife in public, for pilfering bread to re­lieve her helpless family; then think of a time when the above small allowance was reduced to half, and see some brave generous seamen charit­ably sharing their own allowance with some of these wretches, the merciful tars suffering abuse for their generosity, and the miserable objects of their ill-timed pity, undergoing bodily punish­ment, for satisfying the cravings of a long dis­appointed appetite, and you may form some judgement of the manner in which New Smyrna was settled. Mr. Joseph Purcell, an excellent young man, who was draughtsman to our depart­ment, a Minorquin, who with his family came over at the same time with these people, but happily withdrew from the yoke, could never speak of this without tears; he had been several times an eye witness to this distress, and told me, that he knew many among the unhappy sufferers who were comfortably established in Europe, but by great promises deluded away; and O Florida! were this the only instance of similar barbarity which thou hast seen, we might draw a veil over these scenes of horror; but Rolles Town, Mount Royal, and three or four others of less note have seen too many wretches fall victims to hunger and ill usage, and that at a period of life when health and strength generally maintain the human frame in its greatest vigour, and seem to insure longevity. Rolles-Town in particular has been the sepulchre of above four hundred such victims. Before i leave this subject, i will relate the insurrection to which those unhappy people at New Smyrna were obliged to have recourse, and which the great ones stiled rebellion. In the year 1769, at [Page 271] a time when the unparalleled severities of their task-masters, particularly one Cutter (who had been made a justice of the peace, with no other view than to enable him to execute his bar­barities in a large extent, and with the greater ap­pearance of authority) had drove these wretches to despair, they resolved to escape to the Havan­nah; to execute this, they broke into the provi­sion stores, and seized on some craft lying in the harbour, but were prevented from taking others by the care of the masters. Destitute of any man fit for the important post of a leader, their proceedings were all confusion, and an Italian of very bad principles, who was accused of a rape on a very young girl, but of so much note, that he had formerly been admitted to the overseer's table, assumed a kind of command; they thought themselves secure where they were, and this oc­casioned a delay, 'till a detachment of the ninth regiment had time to arrive, to whom they sub­mitted, except one boat full, which escaped to the Florida Keys; but was taken up by a Pro­vidence-man: many were the victims destined to punishment; as i was one of the grand jury which at fifteen days on this business, i had an oppor­tunity of canvassing it well, but the accusations were of so small account that we found only five bills; one of these was against a man for maim­ing the above said Cutter, whom, it seems, they had pitched upon as the principal object of their resentment, and curtailed his ear, and two of his fingers;—another for shooting a cow, which being a capital crime in England, the law making it such was here extended to this Province; the others were against the leader, and three more, for [Page 272] the burglary committed on the provision store; the distresses of the sufferers touched us so, that we almost unanimously wished for some happy circumstances that might justify our rejecting all the bills, except that against the chief, who was a villain. One man was brought before us three or four times, and at last was joined in one accusa­tion with the person who maimed Cutter; yet no evidence of weight appearing against him, I had an opportunity to remark by the appearance of some faces in court, that he had been marked, and that the grand jury disappointed the expec­tations of more than one great man. Governor Grant pardoned two, and a third who was oblig­ed to be the executioner of the remaining two. On this occasion I saw one of the most moving scenes I ever experienced; long and obstinate was the struggle of this man's mind, who re­peatedly called out, that he chose to die rather than be the executioner of his friends in distress: this not a little perplexed Mr. Woolridge, the she­riff, till at length the entreaties of the victims themselves, put an end to the conflict in his breast, by encouraging him to the act. Now we beheld a man thus compelled to mount the ladder, take leave of his friends in the most moving manner, kissing them the moment before he committed them to an ignominious death. I have dwelt the longer on this subject, because the native preju­dice of vulgar Englishmen, has represented the misfortunes of these wretches in too black a light. It is said that Dr. Stork, who was near the spot when the insurrection happened, died with the fright, and Cutter some time after died a lin­gering death, having experienced, besides his [Page 273] wounds, the terrors of a coward in power, over­taken by vengeance.

To return to our topographical account:—along this southern lagoon, which extends itself for about forty miles to Cape Cannaveral, in the lati­tude of 28 degrees and a half, we find several settlements of good note, among which that of Captain Rogers is the most meridional habitation on the British continent. At Cape Cannaveral is some good plantable land, and here is the south­ern head of this lagoon; about two miles and an half to the westward thereof is the head or northern end of another branch, likewise called a river; a road is cut to draw boats out of the Musketo Lagoon into this, which is called South­hillsborough, by De Braham, but commonly called Indian River; the savages call it Aisa Hatcha, i.e. Deer River, although the same elegant Lexipha­nes has made it Hysweeslake; a word by him fa­bricated, as I suppose, from Ylacco, the name given by the savages to St. John's River; the Spaniards call it Reo d'aïs. No rivers of any no [...]e fall into its northern branch, except St. Se­bastians, directly opposite to whose mouth hap­pened the shipwreck of the Spanish Admiral, who was the northermost wreck of fourteen gal­leons, and a hired Dutch ship, all laden with spe­cie and plate; which by stress of north east winds were drove ashore and lost on this coast, between this place and the bleach-yard, in 1715. A hired Frenchman, fortunately escaped, by hav­ing steered half a point more east than the others. The people employed in the course of our sur­vey, while walking the strand, after strong eas­tern gales, have repeatedly found pistareens and [Page 274] double pistareens, which kinds of money pro­bably yet remaining in the wrecks, are sometimes washed up by the surf in hard winds. This La­goon stretches parallel to the sea, until the lati­tude 27:20, where it has an out-watering, or mouth: directly before this mouth, in three fa­thom water, lie the remains of the Dutch wreck. The banks of this lagoon are not fruitful.

Having now exceeded the latitude 28, to the southward, i shall here break off from the sea-coast, and resume the description of the interior country from that latitude; being, as before ob­served, the south-end of the peninsula, made by St. John's River and the sea. This southern end a mere point of marsh, with some broken pine land in it, not much above three quarters of a mile wide, dividing the fresh water of St. John, from the salt of Aisa hatcha: imagine then to your­self a country gradually rising into a ridge of highland, very barren, sandy and gravelly, a few places excepted, intersected with abundance of rivulets, and variegated with ponds and lakes, whose banks being in general lined with oak Mag­nolia, and other trees, exhibit the most romantic scene imaginable, and you will have a just idea of this place. We frequently meet with spacious savannahs of the high kind; the country is co­vered with roe deer and turkies, the lakes stocked with fish, and thus it continues in a due west line across the Mexican gulph to the said latitude 28, which strikes said gulph 15 m. northward of the bay of Spiritu Santo. As we go northerly the fertile spots become more frequent, till we come to that part of the province formerly pos­sessed by the Spaniards: here we find along the [Page 275] road from Augustine to Apalachia, the remains, or ruins of the following forts and towns, viz. on each side of St. John's; fort Picolata, Popa, and about seventy miles W. N. W. of Popa, we meet with Alachua, Puebla nova Navala, Santa Fe, in a very fertile region, Utoca, St. Pedro, and St. Matheo in a less favourable soil; then some small remains of Ayovola; next the fort St. Mark's in pine barren, all which are still marked (even in late maps) though not now inhabited; in this part of the country, especially at Alachua, an hundred miles N. W. from Augustine; the ground is fertile in a high degree, and so con­tinues northward, to the extent of the province. Near Santa Fé is a river of the same name, which, by the English, is corruptly called St. Taffy's; this river, after a considerable course, loses itself under ground, and the geography is not suffi­ciently known to acquaint us whether it emer­ges again or not. This i reckon one of the chief curiosities of this province. We next met with very great holes, fifty or sixty feet deep, and thirty or forty feet in diameter at the surface, in the highest part of the pine ridges, which af­ford some good water to the thirsty traveller, there being no other water in those ridges. I came across the peninsula in a dry season, and we were five days without water, because we travelled over the ridge almost in its longitu­dinal direction, and saw but few of these holes; (in the southern latitude of 28 and 29, in which i was then) even these we found dry; but i did not know, at that time, their nature, which i afterwards found. My guide informed me, that in the road from Augustine to Apalachia, in a similar [Page 276] season, he had been obliged to suffer a long thirst, and at last came to one of these holes, in which he had always found water, though in others it failed; but this time he found his expectations frustrated; pressed by drought, and animated by his companions, they, with some labour, re­moved a flat stone, which lay at the bottom, with an intent to dig for water; but how were they surprised, when they saw a small hole, and about six inches below its surface some very fine water; having satisfied the call of nature, their contem­plation led them to consider whence this water sprung; one of them imagined he saw it gently running, their staves were put in to feel for bot­tom, but none was found: inqusitive curiosity led them to sound deeper, and lo! a sapplin, of near thirty feet, found no bottom, and they de­parted with unsettled conjectures.

On the 10th of June, 1771, i found myself in a disagreeable situation, on the west course of East-Florida, through want of water; I saw fre­quently very strong currents of discoloured water, indicating fresh streams; supposing these to pro­ceed from rivers, i coasted along shore; but found nothing except innumerable islands and vast shoals; frequently tasting the water, found it always brackish: at length, on the 21st day of said month, i found an opening, where I got an­chorage for my vessel. I went personally on shore, to explore the small island we were next to, taking with me a lad, and a thirty gallon cask. Its aspect was miserable; oyster shells and rocks were every where its superficies; at last, however, I found a small hole in the rock, and water in it; which, to my inexpressible joy proved [Page 277] fresh, and of the clearest and finest kind; hasten­ing back on board, we were obliged to roll the cask in the water, in order to get it into the boat, when, accidentally applying my hand to my mouth, i found to my surprize the water to be fresh; having proceeded on board, we tasted the water in which the vessel swam, which also prov­ed fresh and good: thus i found, myself, as it were, in a sea of fresh water; stimulated by cu­riosity, i left the vessel next day, with an inten­tion to penetrate to the main land, which, with difficulty was effected; but in a whole day's search no river was found; yet a constant strong current proceeded from the shore, and along it. The singularity of the circumstance made me beat the ground, and stamp on it, which occasioned a hollow sound. I have since been informed by travellers, that between the town St. Mattheo, (now inhabited by savages, and situate on the ri­ver St. Juan de Guacaro) and Apalachia, they fre­quently meet with this hollow sound under their horses feet. Twenty miles east from Apalachia, we cross a place over a creek, called by the sa­vages, the natural bridge: all these circumstances correspond with an idea which I have formed of subterraneous rivers in this province. Another curiosity, though not a natural one, are the marks of former improvement of this country; particularly the vestiges of the regular maize hills (even in woods where, since the aera of culture, trees of twelve to eighteen inches dia­meter have grown up) and the nails and spikes drove into some very large trees, apparently at ancient Spanish Cowpens; add to these, the re­liques of old fences, huts, houses and churches, [Page 278] particularly a church bell in the fields, at Santa Fé. Thus we have a melancholy instance, even in this new world, of the depredations of time, and a country once nobly and extensively settled, through the inroads of the savages reduced again to a wilderness, yet all this must have happened some time later than Anno Domini 1543, the year when Soto compleated the first Christian expedition to Florida, with his death.

The remaining natural curiosities are the mi­neral springs, described in page 34 and 35, and the ridge of sand hills between Oclawwawhaw, and St. John's, likewise mentioned in page 35 and 36 of this volume. I also regard as a cu­riosity of the artificial kind, the immense orange groves, found in the woods between latitude 28½, and 30°, supposing them originally sprung from the seeds of some oranges formerly dropt, by tra­velling Spaniards, at their camps, but which are now gradually decaying, by reason of the wan­tonness of our traders and hunters, who, when in want of the fruit, cut down the tree; other ve­getable curiosities will more probably appear un­der the botanical heads. The many Tumuli, ori­ginally intended for the peaceful repository of the dead, tho' some of their tops now bear summer houses for recreation to the living, are another cu­riosity. Having mentioned hills, I could wish to know whence comes the idea of Apalachian Moun­tains, nothing above a moderate hill appearing in all this vast extent of country, till we meet (to the north of latitude 35) with the mountains of the Upper Cherokees, on the Tanassee river; and it is observable, that this ridge continuing back of [Page 279] North-Carolina, Virginia and Maryland, through Pennsylvania, and back of New-Jersey, into New-York, and terminating near Katskill, about eight miles from Hudson's River (where they bear the name of Blue Mountains) lie nearer to the ocean than to the Mississippi; all the country west of them is nearly a plain, there being no falls from Monongahela and Aligheny forks, down to the mouth of Mississippi, that are of conse­quence enough to interrupt navigation; even the Ohio falls, so called, are not violently rapid; nor are there any falls from the place of embar­kation on the Tanassee, down the Hogoheegee, to the Ohio; the Shawanese river, has none that ever I could learn; Tombechbe none in all its ex­tent;—whence then come the descriptions of A­palachian Mountains? whence Augustine, at the foot of a hill, and many more such dreams not worth repeating. Either the face of the country is more changed than any we read of elsewhere, or former writers having been abused, have again imposed on us; for the face of Greece and other regions of the East, is yet reconcileable to Ho­mer's geography. Holland still has nearly the same kind of superficial appearance, as we are informed, it had eighteen hundred years ago; and we my still trace Julius Caesar through these ancient habitations of the Catti, Kelti and Cherus­ci; how then comes America so altered? Most of the describers of this new world, even late ones must have imposed upon us, either ori­ginally, or by copying such lying exaggerators and impostors, as the inventors of the conquest of Mexico, and others of his stamp; who, not content with giving us plain truth, and simple [Page 280] facts in their native dress, have almost hid them from us by the thick clouds of fable.

In this northern part of the province we find the following settlements of savages, about the middle of the land, nearly in latitude 28, in a village called New Yufala, being a colony from Yufala, in the upper Creek nation, planted in 1767, in a beautiful and fertile plain: about fifty miles N. E. from thence, and about thirty W. S. W. from the upper part of Lake George, in St. John's River, which is eighty miles nearly south of Augustine, is another town, situate on a very beautiful lake, about seven miles in length, and from one to one and an half in breadth; this town is accessible only on the N. W. side of the above lake, over a very narrow and high ridge: when i came to it from the southward, though in a very dry season, we had near a mile and a half, or two miles, to wade breast high, and sometimes deeper, through a kind of marsh on the west bank. The town lies near the N. W. end of the lake, and from its situation is called Taloffa Ockhafé, i. e. the town of the lake; some islands in this lake, as well as some land near the town, are cultivated by the savages. Further north is Alacua, Santa Fé, and St. Mattheo, now inhabited by the savages; the fort at Apalache is now a trading house, chiefly in their possession, and the western extremity of the province is the great ri­ver Apalachicola, on which the Lower Creek na­tion is settled, whose principal towns are called the Cowettas, Chatahoochas, Euchas, Citasees, Ho­goleegés, Oakmulgos, Tuskeegies, Cussitos, and Che­rokee Lousitsa, near the ruins of fort Apalachicola, at the junction of Flint River, and the river [Page 281] in the south western extreme of this division is the head of Manatee river, between which and the Amaxura, I saw a vast number of deer, and the marks of many of the hunting camps of the savages. We found the foot steps of six or eight buffaloes hereabouts, so plain as to be convinced of the track being made by those animals, but saw none of the animals themselves; the Amaxura or some of its branches is not far from the Mana­tee, and where we crossed it, was an extensive piece of excellent land.

To compleat the Topography of this part, i shall maintain that Rio d'aïs abounds so much in fish of various kinds, that a person may sit on the bank, and stick the fish with a knife, or sharp stick, as they swim by; and i have frequently shot from four to twelve mullets at one shot, nay our boys used to go along side of the vessel in the boat, and kill the cat-fish with a hatchet, or stick. This might well be ranked among the cu­riosities; but the whole country abounds so much in fish, that when St. Augustine flourished most, the fishermen frequently used to allow people, who brought a Real, to take as much as they pleased, out of their boats.

The reader will observe that the rules of geo­graphy, with regard to natural limits, have caused me to vary a little in the present division of the peninsula, from that adopted in page 1 and 2 in this work, which was founded in the climates; but the variation being small, i hope it is excuse­able. I shall now proceed with the description or topography of the southern part of the peninsula.

From the latitude 28, the lagoon of Aïsa, or Indian River, has not any thing very remark­able, [Page 282] until latitude 27: 20, where there is a mouth, or outwatering, into the ocean, with se­veral small inlets within it. This mouth can sel­dom be entered by any vessel that draws above five feet water; and before it, in the sea, are two bars, the inner one having about ten, the outer one seventeen feet on it; and this outer one is near four miles from the land. The sand be­fore this entrance, is a fine white quicksand, of a particular nature. I have anchored several times within the distance of three or four leagues from this mouth, but not above once or twice without having the cable all eaten through, in the ring of the anchor; sometimes i have purchased the anchor by a single strand, sometimes by less, at other times by a little more; and i have lost above six or seven anchors, and large grapnels at this place, yet there is nowhere any foul ground, or, in other words, no rocky bottom. At a mile, or more, from the shore, and within that distance, i think, i have found a few shell stones, I imagine that this fine quicksand, being very sharp, by its continual motion chafes and frets the cable quite through, and this, it generally does, in less than four and twenty hours.

From this mouth of the lagoon an island stretches to about the latitude 26, 55, where there is another mouth, or inlet, caled Hobé by the Spa­niards; this island is thirty-nine measured statute miles long: at twenty-four miles from its north­end are several high cliffs of a blue stone; these are the first rocks that lie high out of the water, along the American beach; they are placed at about high water mark, and a small ridge, or reef, runs sloping off from the northernmost one: [Page 283] and about nine miles further, towards Hobé is an­other parcel; as there is likewise at the entrance of Hobé, of very solid, hard rock; all which, particularly the northernmost ones, are excellent landmarks for the seamen, going southwards. The remarkable things about this island are, that it is a narrow slip of beach, and mangrove land; on the beach are always great numbers of pieces of Spanish cedar; originally cut on the windward rivers of Cuba, for the use of the Catholic King's ship-yards; but by land floods drove into the Ba­hama channel, and Gulph stream, whence the frequent east-winds force them upon foundings, and so on this beach; very few pieces are found either north or south of this island. The island on its west-side is indented, almost regularly into points and bays. Fresh water may be obtained by digging in almost every part of the beach. The chief growth here are mangroves, blackwood, c [...]nocarpus, salsola and uniola; with a p [...]rasitical plant of the genus Bromelia, called wild pine apple. A few spots of hammock, or upland, are found on this island; these produce the zanto­xylum, ficus citri folio, Coccoloba, Mastick, Borassus, and a few trees of the live oak, and w [...]llow oak, the Chrysobolanus, and the Cercus Triangularis, with that kind of Cactus, commonly called Opun­tia. During the season the loggerhead turtles land here in vast multitudes, to lay their eggs, which the bears profit by; for, led by instinct, or otherwise, these animals come in droves, and dig the eggs out: at this business they are so ex­pert, that they dig wells for their supply of water; during their stay, they sometimes fetch down the [Page 284] wild Pine ^†, which, by its structure naturally contains a considerable quantity of rain-water, preserved in a fresh, sweet taste. So industrious are the bears at digging up the eggs, that the turtle seldom leaves her nest above a quarter of an hour before they are eaten, insomuch, that a traveller, if he choses any of this provision, is obliged to watch the turtles coming. I have seen the bears approach within five or six yards of our camp, at times when we had some of these eggs, but this stretch of latronical boldness, ge­nerally cost them their lives.

Opposite this island the shore is sandy and high, here are many rivulets, and the Berassus here ap­pears to be the master of the soil, scarce any other plant shewing itself; directly opposite the rocks before described is the mouth of St. Lucia river, which has a wide kind of bay, for eight miles up, stretching first N. E. 40 W. four miles, then W. four miles more, when it divides into two branches, one coming from the south, the other from the N. W. by N. this last appearing the prin­cipal, i went up it for twenty-four miles, reckon­ing direct distance, and found no where less than seven feet water; here the river became narrow, and partly on account of the obstructions by logs, partly on account of the rapidity of the stream, I left the vessel; and going up by land, found the river at last to run through a vast plain, the bank of the stream only being fringed with a few trees.

Here we shot what number of deer, and tur­kies we pleased, and might have continued so to do, i dare say, two months longer; the reason [Page 285] of this plenty is, in my opinion, that this tract is scarcely ever invaded by the hostile savages, or yet more destructive white hunter; this is the river, which, as i was told by a Spanish pilot and fisherman of good credit, proceeds from the lake Mayacco, a lake of seventy-five miles in circum­ference by his account. The man told me that he had formerly been taken by the savages, and by them carried a prisoner, in a canoe, by way of this river, to their settlements on the banks of the lake; he says, that at the disemboguing of the river, out of the lake, lies a small cedar island; he also told me that he saw the mouth of five or six rivers, but whether falling out of, or into the lake, i could not learn of him; probably some of the many rivers i crossed in my journey across this peninsula, fall into it, and it is not improbable that St. John's river originates in it. The large river in Charlotte harbour, by the di­rection of its course, meridian situation, and great width, i judge, might, perhaps, spring from the same fountain; however, the savages of Taloffo Ochasé told me, that in going far south, they go round a large water, emptying itself into the west sea, i. e. gulph of Mexico.

Thus much have i been able to learn of this water, the exploring of which i always intended; whether there is really this lake, or not, i will not be positive, but the above circumstances, joined to a dark account, which the savages give of going up St. John's, and coming down an­other river, to go into some far southern region of East Florida (on which account the name of Ylacco, and the name given to St. Lucia by the savages, both conveying indecent meanings, are [Page 286] by them given to these rivers) seems to confirm it. That there is some such great water, is fur­ther to be gathered from the profusion of fresh water which this river, St. Lucia, pours down. Such is the immense quantity that the whole sound between the abovenamed island and the main, though an arm of the sea, situate in a ve­ry salt region, and in general two miles wide, is very often rendered totally fresh thereby: in so much, that it has made the very speculative Mr. De Brahm insist upon having seen mangrove stumps in fresh water. This lake has given rise to the intersected, and mangled condition in which we see the peninsula exhibited in old maps. But to return to the mouth of the river St. Lucia, it lays one mile, seventy four chains, and seventy links, S. W. by S. from the great rocks; the mouth is fifty-four chains, eighty-nine links wide: six miles and a quarter N. N. W. from the mouth on the edge of the sound, lieth the hill by the Spaniards called Ropa Tendida, and by us the Bleach-Yard, on account of its appearance; be­ing a high hill full of white spots, the first of any note from the Neversinks in the Jerseys, to this place, and is a remarkable land-mark. At the mouth of the river is a bay, into which runs a rivulet from the south; Mr. De Brahm has ho­noured this with the name of Grenville River, on account of a tract of land here laid out for that gentleman, on one of the most unaccountable pieces of white sand i ever saw; which by rea­son of its being covered with a large growth of all sorts of trees, indicating a fine soil, i have always looked upon in the light of a natural cu­riosity.

[Page 287]From this mouth of the river southward the sound is cut into three branches, by means of two peninsulas of mangroves, divided from the main island by these lagoons; the branch which disembogues itself at Hobé is shallow, and full of oyster banks, about fou [...]teen miles long; how­ever, a small schooner, drawing five feet water, was by our people brought through here, and out at Hobé. This inlet was shut for many years be­fore 1769, but i have since seen it open till 1773, our people have been encamped on the same spot where now the water allows egress and regress to such a craft as the above-mentioned schooner, just sufficient to pass it: This, i suppose, has been owing to a less quantity of water coming down St. Lucia river for some years, because the Spaniards informed me of its having been open before. In short, this part of the country is such a curiosity, that i have many times lament­ed the want of leisure, and means to explore it thoroughly. My journal from the bay of Tampe, over land to Augustine, threw indeed a great light on this; but to my irretrievable loss i have mis­sed it these four or five years: I can, however remark upon the authority of that journal, that he fertile land is found in less proportion, in the interior part of the peninsula, in this southern, than in the northern division;—that the ground becomes more stony as we approach the meridio­nal regions; that it is likewise interspersed with the same kind of romantic ponds, or lakes, as described on page,—that in the river Manatee is a considerable fall of rocks fourteen miles from its mouth;—that above these falls the banks are very steep;—that this steepness causes the water [Page 288] to rise about fifty feet above its ordinary surface; a circumstance which this short river has in com­mon with all torrents;—and that the bay of Tampe, into which this river falls, is the most proper place in all America, south of Halifax, for the rendezvous of a large fleet of heavy ships; the country all around being plentifully timbered and watered; the soil is poor, some of the islands along the west coast excepted, and both this and Charlotte harbour are excellent situations for establishing fisheries.

From Hobé to the latitude 25:44, the coast is all double land, or narrow necks between the sea; there are some rivers and lagoons; on the banks of such of them as are fresh we meet with great bodies of marsh land, which may be im­proveable. About fifty miles north, of the south­ern point of the main land the coast changes its course from S. S. E. to directly south; and at the head land, occasioned by this, is a large hard blue rock on the beach, out of which a large stream of very fine fresh water issues, gushing directly into the ocean; there are four little in­lets between this rock and latitude 25:35; one of these not always open; the last is in the north end of the first island, whose south end De Brahm has thought proper to call Cape Florida, although it is by no means a cape, or head land at all. West from this is the river Rattones, being a fine stream, and pretty considerable, with a little good rich soil on its banks, where many tropical plants grow; at its mouth are the remains of a savage settlement. To the southward of this ri­ver is a large body of marsh, through which se­veral rivulets of fine water empty themselves into [Page 289] the sound, back of the keys, which begin here, that a man may here stand with one foot in fresh, and the other in salt water; nay when the tide is out fresh water boils up through the sand. From this river and marsh the remainder of the land is a heap of stones and rocks, very sharp, and little water to be found, there being only a few ponds, and these dry in a dry season. The only growth here is shrubby pine. At Sandy point, the south­ern extremity of the peninsula, are large old fields, being the lands formerly planted by the Coloosa savages; in latitude 25:20, is a salt lake, and a remarkable isthmus, joining what was formerly called Cayo largo, or long key to the main: our researches for a passage, west of the keys, have convinced us of its being fast to the main land. In the bay of Juan Ponce De Leon, in the west side of the land, we meet with innumerable small islands, and several fresh streams: the land in ge­neral is drowned mangrove swamp. On the banks of these streams we meet with some hills of rich soil, and on every one of those the evi­dent marks of their having been formerly culti­vated by the savages. I went up into some high trees on these hills, to see if i could not spy the pine land from their tops, with a view, if i saw it any where near, to penetrate to it, through the swamps, but the nearest i saw was, by computa­tion, twelve miles off.

These hills, among this dreary mangrove land, have apparently been the last retreats, and skulk­ing places, of the Coloosa savages, when their more potent neighbours, the Creeks, drove them off the continent. Punta largo, or cape Roman, in lati­tude 25:43, on the west-side, terminates with [Page 290] this great bay, and the situation of the country will be best learned by consulting my charts. From this place to latitude 20:30 are many in­considerable inlets, all carefully laid down in the chart; here is Carlos Bay, and the Co [...]oosa Hatcha, or Coloosa river, with the island San Ybell, where we find the southern entrance of Charlotte harbour abovenamed: Let it suffice to refer my readers in general to my maps, after i shall have told him that all this point is sandy pine land, and that deer, turkeys, oysters, clams, and fish abound here surprisingly. The keys, or Martyrs, and the reef will likewise be best known by inspec­tion of the charts: these are a heap of rocks, very few small spots on them being cultivated; Matacombé alone would be worth attention for a settlement, all their productions are tropical, not an oak to be found o [...] any one, and pine trees on one only; but this reef and keys may be rendered serviceable in time of war, to any people who are well acquainted with them, the reef begins in latitude 25; 34, and the channel, between it and the islands, will admit a vessel drawing sixteen feet water; for a good way in, and at key Biscay, is a good place for careening craft of ten feet draught: there is good water on it, and if it should fail, the rivulets in the grand marsh will supp]y any quantity for a ship of considerable force, and her tender might here find the best station, for a cruize, of any i know, for there being no more than fifteen leagues from the reef to the Beminis, where there is like­wise water, and on both shores plenty of fish and turtle, she may lay on either side in safe [...]y. The tender finds a hurbour on each side, of ten feet at [Page 291] least; on the Florida side, the ship laying with­in the reef, i need not tell the seamen that she lay safe; thus cruizing across here, or one being on the station on one side, and the other on the other, it would be next to an impossibility for a ship to escape them. Of what consequence this is, in a place through which the Spaniards are obliged to send all their treasures, every one may judge. At Cayo Tabona, a large ship, even of 60 guns, may ride just within the reef, and her ten­der can always supply her with water, either from Matacombé, or the above-named marsh, and key Biskay. Few vessels can come through the gulph without coming in sight of this place, and it is generally the first land made by every sail of ship­ping after they leave the Cuba shore, Sound-Point, or Cape-Florida, being just N. of it. Matacombé is another good station for small ves­sels, which may run in here, and the Bahama bank affords anchorage in case one would chuse to cruize across. Cayo Huiso, commonly called Key West, is another good station for a small frigate, but not so advantageous as the others, nor is there so much safety here.

Nothing further of note occurs at these islands, except that at Cayos Vacos, and Cayo Huiso, we see the remains of some savage habitations, built, or rather piled up of stones; these were the last re­fuges of the Caloosa nation; but even here the water did not protect them against the inroads from the Creeks, and in 1763 the remnant of this people, consisting of about eighty families, left this last possession of their native land, and went to the Havannah. They were a tribe of excellent fishermen; this nation was strenuously [Page 292] engaged in the Spanish interest, they were go­verned in a manner somewhat monarchical, and while they lived on these keys, were the dread and terror of the seamen; who, not being able to steer clear of the dangerous reefs which are here, escaped one kind of cruel death, to run in­to the jaws of one still more terrible: the inhu­manity committed by the Coloosas, on shipwrecked mariners, is shocking even to Barbarians. A little key lying before Matacombé is a dreadful monument of this, it is called the Matança, (i. e.) slaughter, from the murder of near four hundred wretched Frenchmen, who, being cast away, fell into the hands of these monsters; who, after keeping them in the adjacent islands for some time, carried them all to this little key, which now serves them for one common grave. The people from Providence, who came here for turtle or Mahogany wood, came always armed, and had frequent brushes with them, so that the dislodging of these fierce savages has been of ser­vice to navigation. The unhappy sufferer by wreck, who escapes with life, may now be sure of safety on the shore of these islands. Having mentioned the cutting of mahogany it may be proper to observe that little or none now remains here.

I have now given as ample a description of East Florida, as the nature of this work will al­low, and after having made some remarks on two curious productions of that profound and speculative philosopher, William Gerrard De Brahm, Esq his Majesty's surveyor general of the southern district of North-America, I shall say something of the western province.

[Page 293]The first of these consists of some observations made by this singular genius, and transmitted to the Honourable Board of Trade; such as they are, Dr. Stork has given them to the publick, as to be depended upon.

First he says, ‘in latitude 27 the plantable land is scarce, except the mangrove swamps, for the cultivation of Barilla.’ What reader, seeing this, would not imagine that these swamps were improveable, but they are a soil drowned by the sea to the depth of three or four feet; often only sand banks, and as the roots of trees grow in arches, above ground, they are for the most part impenetrable, and some totally inac­cessible to either man or beast.

2. ‘The trees and shrubs—are the arbore­ous grape vine, and spice bark trees, the Hiccora, Plumb and Panao.’ I shall inform my bota­nical reader, that this arboreous grape vine is the Coccolaba, or grape tree, well known in the West-Indies, which has no manner of affinity with the vitis or vine, the spice bark trees are no other than two species of Lauri, one of them the Lau­rus Borbonia, or Red Bay, having its aromatic juices more concentrated in this climate than further north, and through the influence of the sun it is no more than a mere shrub.

The Hiccora: Anno 1772 he has learned to call this by its right name, Hickorey; but what shall we say, when it is not possible to find a single plant of this kind in the southern part of the province; nor is there any thing that looks like a plumb, except the Chrysobalanus, Icaco, or Co­co-plumb, not at all alike in kind to the pruni which one would judge to be meant by the plumb. [Page 294] The Papao i guess is the Carica, vulgarly called Papaw, of which we find a good number.

3. ‘From latitude 26:40 to 27, there is a branch of Hillsborough river, terminating in fresh water marsh, the principal river depart­ing southward.’

Compare this with my description of the sound into which St. Lucia river falls.

What a piece of accuracy do we discover in the numbers 4693, 9386, 24, 300, 950, 2800, and 37961 acres! this is of the same stamp with the matchless exactness of latitudes 25d. 48m. 33 s. 26d. 53m. 35s. 24d. 57m 6s. &c in his map prefixed to that curious publication, the Atlan­tic Pilot.

4. ‘The west side—may do in time for the cultivation of the Opuntia plant.’ When we know, that this identical plant is a weed and meer nuisance in the very spot here mentioned; pray what is meant by a hope of its becoming a cul­tivated article in the soil where it grows sponta­neously in great abundance?

5. ‘The cape and sea-coast—whose luxu­rious plants are the pomegranate, &c.’

Not a pomegranate in all the country, except what is cultivated in the gardens, at and near St. Augustine.

6. ‘The main on the west of Cape River ap­pears to be all high land, and is chiefly cover­ed with cedar, oak, mulberry, and gum.’ No such river as Cape river known to any but this extraordinary inventor himself, nor is there a sprig of any of the above plants found within many miles of the cape.

7. ‘In latitude 25:35, the main upon a [Page 295] due west line is a mile across, and there ap­pears a river four miles over, which comes ei­ther from Tampe Bay, St. John's river, or is the mouth of Hillsborough river, which in latitude 26.50 takes a S. W. departure.’ Every letter of this is a forgery of the brain of this lunatic writer, no river is found at or near this latitude, but Rio Rattones above described; what a pity it is, that the conjectures or wishes of such dreamers did not sometimes become real! Either of the communications there mentioned would open a most beneficial addition to the ease and convenience of our navigation.

8. ‘No fish in the white waters round the cape, at least there were none on May 13 and 29, nor is any other animal species there ex­cept sea birds, and the track of only one bear was observed.’ Every body that is acquainted with the immense variety and quantity of fish found here, will naturally imagine, that the fish were retired on May 13 and 29, to some general council or meeting of the finny nations, and the gentlemen from providence, who come sometimes here for the diversion of hunting a species of deer peculiar to these islands, and very numerous on them, can witness for me how true this last assertion is; not to mention the bald pate, and small American turtle dove, the red bird, the stare and American fieldfare, nor the racoon, which seems here to be an universal inhabitant in vast numbers, nor the amphibious crocodile and turtle.

9. ‘No sign of winter effect is visible, nor any shrub or tree species of those in the nor­thern climate, &c. &c.’

[Page 296]How well does this agree with the trees men­tioned in the sixth article, and the impudent safeshood of the pomegranate is here a second time introduced with an ‘of which i had a full proof by the pomegranate, of which the trees are full of blossoms with half ripe and full ripe fruit.’

10. ‘At Shark's-tail, Middle-river, and the head of Cape-river, are a few live oaks,’ and in the next article we find ‘hickory, live oak, mulberry, smooth black yellow pine.’ The very choice for timber!

11. This agrees pretty well with the assertion in No. 9.—The conclusion of these fine re­marks, is a recommendation of laying the land out in large tracts, the very thing which has proved the means of keeping the country uncultivated.

Can we any longer be surprized at the little, not to say perverse knowledge the people of the mother-country have of America, when we find principal officers misrepresenting facts to the chief rulers of the land? I make no doubt but many good folks, in other offices, have as much mis­represented facts of another kind, as this man has done the description of the affairs in the de­partment he was intrusted with.

But if this narrative deserves contempt, and to be exposed, the latter production of 1772, with its very improper title of Atlantic Pilot, evident­ly bearing marks of insanity, demands our pity; here we see an account of an unnatural change in the face of the country, which for many rea­sons never could have happened but in the brain of this Bedlamite, from whence also seems to originate the name of Tegesta; he turns one pen­insula into broken islands, another into sunken [Page 297] rocks; what a havock of jumbling this Hercu­les makes! when in this unmeaning chaos he joins and disjoins, turns water into land, and land into water, calls the current from Baffin's frozen bay, to join with the velocious stream of Torrid Mexico and Florida; and again makes them form a vortex reverting back to their points of departure; magnifies a parcel of pitiful flats into a gulph, with the sonorous name of Sand­wich, or into a lake with the pretorian title of grand affixed to it, and all this does not cost him more trouble than a few strokes of his inimitable pen; nay more, he metamorphoses the hunting seat of the Prince of Orange into a wolf, and turns a woman just delivered from child bed tra­vail, and her child, into a paradise ^‡.

Not to say much of his arrogant false claim of his having discovered the navigation through the channel, inside of the reef, which numbers of people, even Englishmen, knew better forty years ago, than it is likely he ever will know it; I can­not forbear mentioning the alteration of well-known names in a place of so much danger; can the arbitrary imposition of the names of Dart­mouth, Littleton, Pownal, Hawke, Egmont, Hun­tingdon, Holbourn, Keppel, Fox, Townshend, Ellis, Oglethorp, Reynolds, Dyson, and about a legion more, of inferior great and little men, make up for the mistakes they may occasion? Or can [Page 298] these statesmen and heroes owe him thanks for the confusion occasioned by the jumbling of their names, like dice in a box? The formation of a reef, "out of sight of any land," west of the dry Tortugas, is likewise a child of his own brain; and we are apt to think him finding fault with the goodness of the Creator, in not making shoals enough, for there is no such bank any where west of the dry Tortugas.

But his placing soundings in his draught deep­er by three feet than they really are; and his ad­vising people who intend to go through the Gulph of Florida, to take their departure at the Havannah, and steer due north, in order to make, what he calls, Cape Florida, seems as if calculated on purpose to destroy ship, goods and people; happy is it for me that our present na­vigators know the navigation so well, and for the benefit of trade i hope his pamphlet will ne­ver serve as a guide to any man that is a novice, and chances to come this way.

As a specimen of his marine knowledge, ob­serve him telling us, that at times of a westerly wind, the Atlantic coast is the most eligible lee for navigators who do not chuse to take the stream; as he has just before defined this Atlan­tic coast to be the Florida shore, it must conse­quently at such seasons be the weather shore; but cease to wonder at this, when i tell you, that the method of his own, which he refers to, for taking the variation, is a mechanical one, and very tedious, and that he did not know how to do it astronomically, by an amplitude of the sun, till i taught him in 1769. I am almost weary of removing all this dirt, and would leave the man [Page 299] and his performance, but my love for truth in natural history obliges me to trace him, even through his presumptuous rummaging of the kingdoms of nature, of which he knows as little as of nautical affairs.

To support the ridiculous hypothesis, he has broached about the change of his ancient Tegesta, he says, amongst other arguments, in page 9, ‘myself and people, employed by me in this service’ (of which number, i the present writ­er was one) ‘have these three years observed many places where fresh encroachments ap­pear to this effect: even the vast quantity of scattered large old trees, washed out with their roots on all shores of the islands, and out in the shallow sea, between the islands and the main, testify, that they lay on the spot of the former continent and peninsulas, where their genus and species formerly flourished.’ I came through this place four years before I knew this man, and from that time down to last year i have seen many changes and alterations in the positions of these trees, some of which come down the rivers in Cuba, in land-floods, but more down the Mississipi; and by the currents are here forced on the reefs and keys ^‖.

A few of those from Cuba being tropical, might serve to support the reasoning of the At­lantic Pilot, but many kinds never grew in Flo­rida; the coco-nuts found on the shore likewise convince us, that Cuba sends much of her outcast [Page 300] this way; but when we consider that nine out of ten of the trees thus found are oak, cypress, red cedar, elms, and above all, beach of the greatest magnitude (none of which ever grew in this cli­mate) it is done with Tegesta, she is fallen never to rise again!

He has however this time forgot the pomegra­nate; but how do we know what is meant by Papaios, distinguished from Papaw; some new genus in botany, no doubt, has the Spanish name of the Papaw bestowed on it by this excellent naturalist. Observe him last of all turn syste­matist, when he tells us ‘that a species of prawn (shrimps) growing to the size of five pounds’ (he might have said fifteen) ‘are improperly called lobsters;’ ô Philosophus eximius! The lobster which is the first in rank among the fa­milies of Astaci, must here give way to the most diminutive of the whole genus, which is placed first, and that forsooth because in Mr. De Brahm's opinion there can be no lobsters without claws: —but enough of this, let us proceed to the topo­graphy of West Florida.

The river Apalachicola is the boundary of the two provinces; before its mouth eastward, and a little westward, we meet with St. George's Islands, well known for the sufferings of Pierre Viaud, &c. after shipwreck here. I must re­mark, that the relation we have of this affair is a great exaggeration of facts; people in that situation may suffer, but on a place like this, where plenty of fish, crabs and oysters are to be had, as well as water, for the trouble of digging, their sufferings cannot be great. Our pity is much lessened upon finding a reasonable man so [Page 301] debilitated by fright and despair, that he cannot make use of a plenty provided by providence. All along this coast fish are in such abundance, that both myself and people, when not inclined to fish with a hook and line, have struck many hundreds with a stick sharpened at one end, and hardened in the fire, in lieu of a harpoon; i will not mention much about the exaggeration of distress, which runs through the whole of this performance; but the story of Madame La Couture bringing a turkey and her eggs, out of the woods, at the time when relief had reached her fellow suffere [...], appeared to me too palpable a falshood to be credited, because these birds were never found on any island from Carolina to this place, except formerly on Amelia island; (which is separated from the main only by a little creek, in some places scarce ten feet across) but sup­posing one to have been accidentally here, i will readily allow that the eggs may have been found, and taken by Madame La Couture; yet as these birds are the most shy animal we meet with, (inso­much that a deer, in places where he is frequent­ly disturbed, is incomparably more easy to come at than turkies) certainly she must have been a more expert huntress than ever i heard of before, and i should be after all very much inclined to think that the poor woman, and her companions, had mistaken the Mexican vulture for a turkey; but that from the relation we naturally judge there were many eggs in the nest, which oversets that kind of reconciliation: wherefore, finding it was at the time of their relief, i went to Mr. Simpson, (the interpreter for the savages, who was one of the people in the boat at the time of affording [Page 302] help to those unhappy people, and is a man of ve­racity) and asked him if it was true that the wo­man brought in a turkey, and her nest, of which he and his companions shared; he told me that it was no other than a crab of the kind called in the southern province a king crab, and to the north­ward a horse-shoe, but he saw no eggs of any kind. As this fish bears a distant resemblance to a turtle, perhaps Mr. Viaud took it for such, and wrote tortue, which may have been translated turtle too, but by a mistake common enough in printing-offices, the compositor may have made it a turkey ^*, and the corrector, either through inadvertency, or not considering how largely he launched into the marvellous, left it so.

But to proceed, a little west of these islands we find Cape Blaze in latitude 29:47, and the Bay of St. Joseph, to the N. W. of which is St. Andrew's Bay, and W. by N. from here, Santa Rosa bay and islands; in the east end of this bay is Matto Hatcha; which last running E. and W. makes the eastern shore of Pensacola entrance. All these places are very arid, dry sand, near the coast; farther in towards the Upper Creek coun­try, which is in some measure described in page 91, it is scarcely known, but what i have seen of [Page 303] it is much like Georgia, and the north part of East Florida.

Pensacola has about an hundred and eighty houses in it, built in general in a good taste, but of timber: the town is laid out in an oblong square, near the foot of an hill, called Gage-hill; and by means of two rivulets of excellent water, which almost surround it, is the best watered of any i know on the continent. The harbour is spacious, and here are three considerable rivers, viz. Escambé, Chester, and Middle rivers, besides several lagoons and rivulets of no note. Chester-river is full of islands, great and small, abound­ing principally with the Cupressus Thyoides. Middle-river communicates with several lakes; the water of this river is so cold, that the savages call it Weewa Casupka, which in the Creek language signifies cold water. The Escambé is navigable a considerable way up, but rapid, and about twen­ty miles from Pensacola we begin to meet with some spots of fertile land, variously timbered. Twenty-eight miles from the town, and on the banks of this river, on an eminence, are the re­mains of a Spanish out-guard, or [...]ocado fort; about seventy-eight miles from town, this river forks, a branch called Weewa Oka, or Weeoka, by us little Scambé, coming from the N. W. runs into the main river; this branch where it is crossed is about sixty feet wide, and the fo [...]d is a bottom of small gravel, which is not common here; the road that crosses it leads from Pensa­cola to the Upper Creek nation; the distance is two hundred and ten miles; and the heads of these rivers are all within a few miles of the savage towns. Fourteen miles farther west from Pen­sacola, is the Rio Perdido, or lost river, of incon­siderable [Page 304] length and navigation; and about for­ty miles west of this, we meet with Mobile, Tom­bechbé and Taënsa bay and rivers; into which last the Alibama, or Coosa river falls. All the coun­try between this last river and Chester-river, and probably all to Apalachicola is very favourable for stocks of cattle; many noble cane branches, mixed in the pine land, affording them excellent food, and they multiply very rapidly. Lovers of minute geography, by examining my maps, will find that the lower part of the coast between Mobile bay and Perdido, and so on to Pensacola, may easily be made navigable for boats in land, there being already a rolling road out of the ri­ver Ben secour, into a creek running into Perdido; but this being mere matter of speculation we must leave the practical part to some future ge­neration. The country west from Mobile bay, to Nita Albany, or Bean-camp, at lake Maurepas, is much of the same kind as that already described; only we find more fertile planting ground in it. The timber here is nearly the same as in the north part of East-Florida; but it is worthy of remark, that not one of the Borassus, or Cabbage tree, is found along this whole extent from Apalachia westward; which does not agree well with a re­port in a letter to a certain George Lookup, Esq in Robinson's history of Florida, where he says, that the cabbage trees along this coast, rear their lofty heads above all others; but so curious a piece as this pamphlet is ought not to be ran­saked, i will therefore proceed to give some ex­tracts from my journals through the western parts of West Florida, as being the best way to give my reader a true idea of this country.

[Page 305]In the following pages the distances. are ac­curately measured, by such methods as circum­stances permitted.

On Saturday the 20th September, 1771, at 4 P. M. i left Mobile, and encamped that night in pine land, near a spring to the north of the path, and at the foot of an hill, six miles from town, to the west a little by south.

21st. Opaya Mingo, a Chicasaw warrior, of our train, was this morning sick, on which occasion i saw one of his companions cut his temples with a flint, and applying a cane about four inches long, to the scarification, suck it till he nearly filled it with blood, then threw it out, and re­peated it several times; this is something like cup­ping: we were obliged to leave these two behind and proceeded this day chiefly to the N. W. through pine land, and encamped this night at the head of a branch of Dog-river, fifteen miles and three quarters from town.

22d. Crossed several creeks, and headed others, running all eastward; we advanced twenty miles and a half through pine land, and encamped near a creek called pine logg; in the afternoon we came to the first considerable ascent, where the ground is gravelly, here the road goes of to Yoani.

23d. This morning we went over a very nar­now ridge, leaving Dog-river on the left, and Tombechbé on the right of us. Crossed several heads of cane branches, running different ways; saw many grass ponds, and Indian camps, and crossed a large cane branch, called by the Chac­taws Coosak Hattak falaya; proceeded eleven miles and encamped on the waters of Pasca Oo­coloo [Page 306] river; here saw a good deal of chestnut and other timber, besides pine trees.

24th. This morning we came past some good low grounds, and saw the first oaks of the kind called black jacks: crossed several creeks, and went through some swamps and oak land; en­camped near a branch, and here saw the hiero­glyphick No. 1, in page 108, advanced this day twenty-one miles.

25th. This morning we had a great deal of rain, which continued by showers all day; the two savages left behind joined us. We advanced but five miles and a half; encamped this night about two miles W. S. Westward from the path, near a lake abounding in excellent fish, particu­larly pikes, perch, and red eyed chubs, of a ve­ry superior size.

26th. Being rainy we lay by, and recruited our provision with abundance of fish, two deer, and two turkies.

27th. Went over a good deal of gravelly ground, mostly pine land, and encamped at Bo­gue Hooma, (i. e.) Red Creek, our boundary with the Chactaws; here we saw the first rocks on the south side of the creek: we travelled only eleven miles and a quarter; the creek being very high we were obliged to spend a great while in ferrying our goods, and swimming our horses over; the stream runs westward;—shot three turkies.

28th. After six miles travelling, we came to oak-land, being short hills, and all day we found the land pretty much mixed;—crossed many springs and rivulets;—saw the head of a savage stuck on a pole, with many other marks of our being on the theatre of war; we left the road to [Page 307] Chicasawhay on the left;—all this afternoon we leave a considerable stream on our right, running N. eastward:—advanced this day fifteen miles and a quarter, the last three or four miles the land was chiefly oak-land: at night we encamp­ed at a war-camp, near a branch running into the above stream, from which we were one and an half mile to the west, using the ordinary pre­cautions ^*.

29th. Ascended and descended several consi­derably steep hills; found the land mixed, chief­ly oak; at three o'clock went through the sa­vannah called Poos coos Paähaw, about one mile and an half across, with here and there some points of wood land on it; and again crossed some hilly oak land; and after thirteen miles travel encamped near a branch of Pasca Oocoloo river; here a very plain path goes eastward.

N. B. The water in the savannah has a taste of lime.

30th. Almost as soon as we left camp we cros­sed a branch of Bogue aithee Tanné, vulgarly Bak­katané, having the low land of this river con­stantly in sight, about half a mile to our left; travelled chiefly through pine land, and some hurricane ground ^†, and after journeying eleven miles and three quarters, we encamped at Hoo­pah Ullah, (i. e.) the noisy owl, where we saw the hieroglyphick No. 2, page 102.

1st October, went through a vast variety of hilly, stony, boggy, swampy and oak land; pas­sed some very elevated hills, and crossed several [Page 308] rivulets: encamped at Oku Ullah (i. e.) the noisy water, a creek; having gone twenty-two miles and an half this day, we passed by three graves within the space of three quarters of a mile from each other, the first of a soldier of a detachment that went to fort Tombeehbe, the second of a sa­vage, who went by the name of rum-drinker, af­ter whom the hill is called rum drinker's hill; and the third of one Mr. Brown, a very consider­able trader in the Chactaw and Chicasaw nations.

2d. At four miles distance from our last night's encapment we crossed Pancha Waya, the last wa­ter running to the south-west, and two miles further we left the path going to Coosa on our left. Our road all this day led through the same kind of rugged, uneven, stony, gravelly and swampy ground as yesterday, as also a hurricane ground and scrub hill; some of the stones we saw were very large, and the hills considerably elevated: having travelled eighteen miles and three quarters, we encamped a quarter of a mile west of a Chactaw village called Paonte, near a delightful spot, but deserted on account of the war; here we got some peaches, plumbs, and grapes; six miles W. S. W. from the camp is the Coosa town, of Chactaw. A showery day.

3d. Very heavy rain from midnight till noon, at two miles and an half from our camp left the road going to Haänka Ullah (i. e.) the bawling goose, a chactaw town, to the left; travelled on­ly four miles and an half through mixed but pretty even land, and encamped near a branch of Sook han Hatcha river, the streams being very high the ferriage delayed us much.

4th. This day we met some traders and savages, [Page 309] and travelled through several deserted fields, and one deserted town, called Sapa-Pesah: the ground is generally very uneven;—here we crossed seve­ral paths, and were joined by three Chactaw sa­vages, who extricated us from a great difficulty, as we found no convenient logs to ferry us over a large branch of Soak hanatcha, till they shewed us a place half a mile down the stream; and for a small consideration ferried our goods over, while we swam our horses across: having travel­ed ten miles and three quarters, we encamped on the north bank of this stream, called Hatchatipke.

5th. We came after half a mile's journey to a deserted town, called Etuck Chukké (i. e.) Blue Wood. This morning, at day-break, we heard the report of fire arms, at a little distance, which, being very often repeated, we soon guessed it was what we found it to be a little while after; that is, an action; the savages always attacking either at day-break, or at sun-set; crossed many paths and fields, and after ten miles and an half jour­ney, we found one of the victorious Chactaws, presenting us the fresh scalp of one of his ene­mies. Here were the first inhabited houses be­ing a kind of suburb to the town of east Abecka; here we crossed the branch of Sookhanatcha river, which gives name to all the rest, and at a mile and an half further, we came to the town itself, and put up at the house of an old trader, called Hewitt, and were civilly treated by both savages and whites. Of the first we found here three chiefs, not a little exulting in their late victory, and the women in every part of the town were performing their savage orgies and dances; we [Page 310] staid here till the 9th, when part of my compa­ny proceeded to the Chicasaw nation.

9th. Agreed with a very worthy young man, one Mr. George Dow, to serve me as a guide through the Chactaw nation; and that day we went through Ebeetap-Oocoola, a town on a hill, where the savages have a large stockade fort in their own manner. Such there are also at Abei­ka, which two places are the frontiers against the Creeks. We went this day south westward, through Chooka-hoola, part of Oka-hoolah, through Hoola-tassa, which last is four miles from Abeeka; then nearly south three miles more to the ridge of east Moka-Lassa, then about a mile and an half westward to Ebeetap-oocoolo-cho, where we stopt at the house of one Foster, a trader; then went nearly S. E. for two miles, and came to the middle of east Moka Lassa; from here continued S. E. a little more than two miles, and entered Haänka-Ullah; still went on the same course for a mile and a quarter, and then were at the mid­dle of said town, and refreshed ourselves for an hour. The town of Oka Loosa lays S. E. three miles from here; then returned, in a round about manner, through another road back to Mr. Fos­ter's house where we slept.

10th. Proceeded first W. N. W. about two miles, afterwards W. S. W. for a mile and a quarter; this brought us into Oka-attakkala, a neat little place for a town of savages; went about a quarter of a mile into it, and put up at the house of Mr. Dow, my guide. About three miles W. S. W. from this are the ruins of East Congeata, destroyed in the civil war of these peo­ple, by the western party. Hitherto travelled [Page 311] chiefly through corn-fields; we lay here till the 21st, partly to refresh our horses, and partly on account of a violent fever, which i was troubled with; during this time agreed with a savage to join us as a guide to the S. W. of the nation, his name was Pooscoos-Mingo, or king of the children.

21st. Went S. westward, a mile and an half into Yanatoe, crossing many paths, and several old, as well as some cultivated fields, which lay interspersed in the woods; crossed Bague-fooka, and the heads of Poreetamogue, with several other creeks, and after riding something better than seven miles and an half, mostly S. W. we ascend­ed a long hill, steep in its first rising, and when on its top we had the view of a high ridge, to N. W. with a deep valley between them Went south, and after a mile and a half crossed Bogue Chitto, a large creek, which runs S. E. into the river Bogue-aithé-Tannè, in three quarters of a mile more went through the deserted old field of Coosak Baloagtaw; about a mile and a half fur­ther we crossed a creek of that name, emptying into Bogue-Chitto: a quarter of a mile further we crossed a large pond upon a beaver dam, and in half a mile more stopped to bait, at a creek cal­led Pooscoos te Kalè, in a deserted village of that name. At near three o'clock proceeded S. W. by W. after a little more than two miles, crossed a deserted field called Pooscoos tekale, Hoca; two miles and three quarters further crossed Tallé Kat­ta, a large branch of Chicasaw-hay river, then came into pine land, for the first time of these fourteen days: went south, a little westerly, and came to camp at a place, where we found some old camps convenient, near the head of a branch [Page 312] of Talle Hatta; having this day travelled twen­ty-two miles and an half, all in woods.

22d. We travelled through various kinds of wood, and something of uneven ground, chiefly to south; and at twelve miles from our camp we crossed a river near eighty feet wide, here said to be the principal branch of Chicasawhay river; and is called Aitheesuka; the ford is a flat rock, the land on each side here is pine land, and rises high above the bed of the river: continue in pine land four miles and a half more, then come into low land, cross some creeks and savannahs, and after having travelled twelve miles more, chiefly S. E. from the river, i came to camp on the side of a pine hill. My weakness not suffering me to go further, i ordered our people forward to Chicasawhay, to provide necessaries, except one lad, whom I kept to accompany me.

23d. South eastward through some hurricane and other uneven ground for five miles and an half, then went through intervale for a mile and a half, at the end of this we go up a considerable hill, from whose top we see a very high blue ridge to E. and S. E. a great way from us, and at the end of nine miles and three quarters we arrived at Chicasawhay, and stayed at the house of Ben James.

24th and 25th. Employed in going to and coming from Yoani. The road that leads to this place is chiefly pine and shrubby oak land: at five miles from Chicasawhay, a middling branch of Chicasawhay is crossed: it is called Owhan lowy; judging this sufficient to give an idea of the face of the country here, i shall only subjoin that on the 7th November, having made a cir­cuit [Page 313] of the nation, we returned to Hewitt's house at Abeeka, our road from Chicasawhay, leading chiefly through fine improved, and many among them rich fields, and a large number of con­siderable towns and villages of the savages.

10th November, having dismissed Pooscoos-Mingo, we went to the Chicasaw nation, through a road leading in general over stiff clay land; saw very little else but white oak, and that no where tall, occasioned by the stiffness of the land; crossed only two rivers of note, one Nashooba, the other Oka tebbee haw; no remarkable ascent or descent on the whole road; crossed many savan­nahs, the distance is about an hundred and fifty-nine miles from Abeeka, to the Chicasaw towns; (described in page 63) where we arrived on the 18th November, and put up at the house of one Buckles, a trader: our course hitherto has chiefly been north. Here i stayed till the 8th Decem­ber, and observed this house to lie in nearly 35° north latitude.

I cannot help relating in this place an anec­dote of Mr. Commissary in this nation; this Gentleman had engaged to me, and promised Mr. Stuart, that i should have all the necessary as­sistance i might want; i went to his plantation, which lays at Paön titack, eleven miles from the place where he ought to reside, and to my aston­ishment i was here treated worse than in any place i had been at: so far from providing horses, which was one of the articles i wanted, i was obliged to give him one back, which i had bor­rowed at the Chactaw, in lieu of one that failed me. I saw clearly, that i was an unwelcome guest in every respect; however, i procured [Page 314] from him a recommendatory note, to the above Buckles, and he told me that Buckles knew of two canoes, the choice of which i might have for my intended voyage, down the river; but when i spoke to Mr. Buckles on the subject, he denied ever having spoke about any canoes, nor did he know of any, and as to the note, i might have any thing i wanted on my own credit, by giving an order on Mr. Stuart; but with the commissary he had nothing to do. Thus i was obliged to do all myself at last; this is in some measure an instance of the inutility of the com­missary's office; i sent Mr. Dow with three ne­groes to the river, to make a canoe. During my stay here, on the first December, it began to freeze very hard; on the fourth the ice in town-creek was four or five inches thick; and on the 6th in the morning we could scarce keep water from freezing in a close house, and near a good fire; but i saw no snow during all the time of my stay. Nothing was more entertaining than the surprize of the savages, at seeing me take ob­servations of the solar altitude, the mercury i used for an artificial horizon, was a matter of great wonder to them, particularly, when i shewed them its divisibility, and the succeeding cohe­sion of the globules.

8th December, in the afternoon i proceeded from Buckles's house, and travelled E. by S. nearly five miles and a half; then crossed Nohoo­la-inalchubba, or the town Creek, mentioned in page 63, then went about S. S. E. for a mile and a quarter more, and encamped on a hill, near a small lake, in which we heard all night a great number of ducks. We met this day eleven [Page 315] savages, of the Creek nation, and three more of the Natchez, who live with the Upper Creeks, coming through the Chicasaw field, with the Death Whoop: they had surprized a hunting camp of Chactaws, on a branch of the river Yaa­soo, called Tallé Hatcha, at a time when the hun­ters were absent, and took away all their skins, two horses, and five women of the Chacchooma tribe, belonging to west Congeta, in the Chactaw nation: they took care not to stay for the return of the men, as the camp indicated them to be numerous; but because they had not a scalp to shew, these devils incarnate had scalped the el­dest of the women they carried into captivity, yet let the wretch live, and she was one of the num­ber we saw. The Chicasaws were all abroad that day; but i observed by the behaviour of some superannuated fellows, that they disliked the Creeks behaviour of bawling the Death Whoop through the field; and having asked the reason, i was told, that as they were neutrals in this war, they did not like to give umbrage, which the Chactaws might take at this, and if their men had been at home, they would not have suffered this small victorious party to make use of this kind of triumphal entry here; thus we see these savages strictly observing a neutrality in form.

9th. Proceeded, and at 3 miles, saw a large tu­mulus, which was the only remarkable thing in this road, we went over one steep hill, and cros­sed three or four branches, and the last two miles and a half of the road we saw much pine mixed with the oak; having travelled nearly twenty three miles on a course S. E. by S. we arrived about four o'clock P. M. on the bank of Tom­bechbè [Page 316] river, here called the twenty mile creek.

10th. Examined the canoe, but found her too heavy for our purpose, therefore dispatched Mr. Dow (who knew the ground, and was well ac­quainted with the woods) to see if he could not find some canoe of the savages; he found one about noon, in the mouth of Nahoola inalchubba, two miles and a half west from our camp, there­fore went and encamped on the bank of said creek; the opposite bank was very high steep hills, above hundred and twenty feet perpendi­cular, and some pines on their summits; found the canoe a very sorry one, but it being Hopson's choice, must venture in her.

11th. We spent in fitting our craft; since the 7th we had very bad weather here, one hour it is sharp, clear, and intensely cold, the next cloudy, sultry, with lightning, thunder, rain and hail, the wind veering round the horizon in an incredible manner, which made my situation very disagree­able.

12th. We had some tolerable weather, and finished fitting our boat, but she was so miserable a tool, that i believe few men would have ven­tured in her.

13th. All the company returned to the nation with the horses; kept only Mr. Dow, and my servant, to be the companions of this fluvial ex­pedition; while we staid here we caught some beavers. At half an hour past one, P. M. we proceeded from our camp in Nahoola Inalchubba, or Town Creek, and in twenty minutes were in the river. We passed one bluff, where the French formerly had a fortified trading house, about one mile below the mouth of the creek, on [Page 317] the west bank; we passed one creek on each side, and left three small gravelly islands on our left; for the rest of the land was low on both sides;— having come five miles and an half we came to camp on a sand bar at half an hour past three, P. M. the river pretty rapid, and found only one log, which detained us a quarter of an hour.

14th. Proceeded at ten o'clock, A. M. in half an hour past a bluff on the east side, and in half an hour more found a very tall cypress laying a­cross the river, by which we were detained an hour; but cutting the top away we passed on; about three quarters of an hour after had some pine land ^* on the west bank; in general the land on both sides is low. About two o'clock P. M. past a small island; about half an hour after two the bank on the west side was about seventy feet high; ^‖ continued between pretty high banks till half an hour after three, when we encamped on a high sand bar, on the west side of the river, current unequal, and the obstructions of no note, since we cut the tree; travelled this day nine miles.

15th. Departed half an hour past ten o'clock A. M. past several islands, and found the bank, on the west side, in many places high, we saw in many others high and intervale oak land;—not so much drowned land as the former days;— passed through several rapids, and at half an hour past three, P. M. came to camp at the end of a [Page 318] large high pine bluff, on the east side, having travelled this day fifteen miles.

16th. At half an hour past nine o'clock, A. M. proceeded and came past a variety of high and low land; shot some ducks and teals; but unfortunately this forenoon lost our gun, being torn out of my hands by a snag of a tree, and as it sunk in deep water, it was irrecoverable, the river being rapid. About two o'clock P. M. past a short hill, on the west shore, upwards of eighty feet high above the present level of the water;—passed a few creeks and lagoons, three islands and several rapids; we came down four­teen miles and three quarters, and at half an hour past three, encamped on the east side in an hol­low.

17th. Proceeded a quarter before nine A. M. and in less than half an hour saw a hill, a little inland, on the west side; and an hour after this we had the mouth of a river on the east, this is called, at its fording place, in the trading path, the last branch of Tombechbé; none of the banks we past this morning were very low, and on the west side, opposite this mouth of a river, the banks fifty or sixty feet higher than the present surface of the water. The weather being severe­ly cold i was obliged to go on shore and make a fire, on this highland, half a mile below the above river, near the mouth of a stony creek, which we took to be the Sonac Tocalè, which we had crossed in the road going up; here we re­mained till noon. We passed three islands this day, and the general run of the land is midd­ling high on both sides. The weather was very severe, which obliged us to encamp at one o'clock, [Page 319] in the mouth of a creek, called Old Town Creek, at the foot of an hill, rising about seventy feet out of the water, having come about seven miles: it rained very hard all the afternoon, and the next two days, by which means we kept in camp till the

20th, at noon. Half a mile from our camp the high land ends, and we travelled but one hour and twenty minutes, when the severity of the weather obliged us again to encamp, having come six miles, and in that distance found chiefly low land: past four islands, and as many rapids, one of them a bad pass: our camp was on a piece of fine rich, middling high land, which Mr. Dew reported to be very extensive. We lay here on account of bad weather; such as cold, rain and snow, till the

26th, when at a little past twelve we departed. During our stay here the water gained near four feet in height: in one hour and an half, hav­ing gone near five miles, and past six or seven islands and rapids, we were at the mouth of the river Oca Tibehaw, the lower road between the Choct [...]ws and Chicasaws;—crossed this river about two miles above this place;—about one mile below this, having past an island, we saw a very remarkable bluff on the west side, rising above fifty feet out of the present level of the water; this is near a mile and a half long; the bluff is covered principally with Juniper, or ce­dar shrubs, and in it are two or three gullies, in which as many springs come trickling down for about two thirds of its length: a bank projects out at its foot, having a flat and very even sur­face, without any plants, (a little grass excepted) [Page 320] growing thereon. This surface projects about nine or ten feet from the bluff into the river, and was about eight feet above the level of the wa­ter, it looks as if made by art, and if placed near any town of note, i do not doubt would be much used as a walk. The bluff ends in two little hills, and a small island is at the lower end of it; all which, added to its being in the form of a cres­cent, makes it have a very romantic appearance. From hence we went past one more bluff, a con­siderable island, and a rapid; in which last we had low pine land on the east bank, and got into the mouth of a creek, called eleven mile creek, which we went up half a mile, and at three P. M. we were forced by the rain to come to camp, having travelled this day, ten miles and a half.

27th. The rain obliged us to lay by all day.

28th. At 11 o'clock we embarked, and had more rapids to go thro' than on any of the former days; likewise saw more high land than before. I think it remarkable, that we see so very few outwaterings of creeks, or rivers, into the great river. An hour and an half after leaving camp we saw a bark log, just landed on the west side, and evident marks of people having just landed; this was in a long reach, and we had seen a smoak, but when we came near the bark log, the smoak vanished all at once. We soon found these people to be a war party of Creeks, who perceiving our boat, had put out their fire, which on these occasions they make of hickory bark and other oily matters, that yield little smoak. We there­fore put on our hats, which we had not on be­fore, it being a fine agreeable day, and rather warm, and laying on the paddles, did all we [Page 321] could to shew that we were white people. It was fortunate for me that i had not brought a savage guide with me, which would have exposed us to a volley from those warriors; we did not see them, but we knew by the suppression of the smoak, that they had discovered us; they were [...]ndoubtedly on the top of a pretty high bank, in ambush, so we let the boat flow past them. N. B. We have discovered many of those bark [...]gs, made of cones, both above and below this place, upon which the war party ferry over. Half a mile lower down we saw the mouth of a middling large creek, on the east side. We past four islands this day, in two hours and an half's time. We saw one of the high savannahs, which bounds here on the river, with a delightful grassy bluff: the river is here above two hundred feet wide. Having come twenty three miles, we en­camped at four o'clock, on a gravel bar. We saw many places that appeared like old fields, as having been formerly cultivated.

29th. At nine o'clock proceeded; the first half hour we passed chiefly through drowned lands, and then came to a large lagoon, going to N. W. in which were innumerable geese and ducks; but the west bank of the lagoon is a handsome bluff. In half an hour more we came to a creek's mouth on the west: we saw again some spots bearing marks of former cultivation, and more of drowned land; the river in general this day rapid, with many islands: at half an hour past three, P. M. having travelled thirty-five miles, we encamped on the east side, in a lagoon, on a high bank, where, for the first time, we saw the rich ground clear of large canes; [Page 322] this being timbered, chiefly with the shag b [...] hickory, iron wood and Spanish oak.

30th. This morning we had our boat loaden, but it began to rain, and thus were obliged to unload again. Here we found a canoe which was well made, but had been by the savages, on account of the war, scuttled, and rendered unfit for use, however we found, that if we could make her any ways tight, she would be more safe than the one we had, and this we effected by the help of wedges, clay and leather. Our provisions beginning to grow scant, and having lost the on­ly gun i had taken with me, i began to be un­easy, especially as we found the beavers become less plenty. This weather was uncommonly bad till the evening of the third of January, 1772, when it cleared up, and next morning

4th January, 1772, at a quarter before 11 o' clock, A. M. we proceeded in our new craft▪ and by half an hour past one, P. M. we had pa [...] high banks, and two islands: at this hour we had one of the savannahs on the west side, the bank being here about four feet out of the water: at a quarter before four we were at a considerable island, having gone since the last savannah bet­ween low banks; a quarter before five o'clock came to camp under a low bluff, on the east side. The canoe proves very leaky, and on unloading we find a great deal of our bread spoiled. This day came twenty-two miles and an half, the canes and timber are here exceeding large.

5th. At a quarter past ten embarked: high banks on both sides. At half an hour after eleven, past the mouth of a river from the east; this is called by the savages Nashebaw. The [Page 323] and here is exceeding rich, the canes very large, and we saw a species of phaseolus, in great abun­dance, along the banks. About a mile and a quarter below the creek, we met four savages from Abeka, in the Chactaw nation, to whom Mr. Dow was known. The river has risen con­siderably since yesterday; the current has been for these two days almost uniformly at the rate of three miles per hour. It is remarkable, that though the velocity of our way was not much above two miles per hour, independent of the current, yet we had several instances of having evidently out-run the flood at night, in so much that it would scarce reach us again before morn­ing. We came to camp near the savages above­mentioned, having come seven miles and an half; they had a good canoe which i intended to pur­chase. The weather was very cold to day. Lost a silver spoon at our last camp, which Mr. Dow proposed to go and fetch; but he found it im­practicable to cross the Nashehaw river. I agreed with the savages that they should hunt for us to procure provisions. At night it rained; our camp was on the east side, in a very rich spot. We have not yet seen any sand or gravel, except on the bars and islands in the river, the soil in general being clay, or loam, with a dry black mould.

6th. After a great deal of persuasion, i bought the canoe from the savages; and they brought me in two deer, and a turkey; for all which i gave them five yards of blue strouds, two pow­der horns, a knife, and some small shot. I de­scribed our last camp to them, and desired them to look for the abovementioned spoon, directing [Page 324] them to leave it in their own country, with Mr. Dow's partner, who lived just by their homes, and gave them a note to him, desiring him to pay them for their trouble; but when they under­stood it to be the white stone (i. e.) silver, they declined going purposely for it; but promised, if chance led them to the place to carry it as di­rected, for they, not being able to work it, in case the trader refused to pay them, they would lose their labour; but had it been the fat of the earth (i. e.) lead or pewter, in that case they might make bullets, or ear-rings of it, and then they would not take pains in vain: towards even­ing they left us, and during night we barbecued our venison, to preserve it.

7th. At half an hour past seven o'clock A. M. embarked in our new craft; all day we past be­tween high banks, some steep, some sloping; se­veral as high as eighty feet above the surface of the water; one of these has an extensive savan­nah on the top. At the end of nineteen miles and an half, on the west side, we saw the mouth of the river Noxshubby, or Hatcha oose, its banks are high on both sides: here seems to be the true theatre of the war, for the bark logs are very numerous. The river is widened now from two hundred to two hundred and fifty feet. A mile and a half below the mouth of Noxshubby is the first bluff of arid ochre, like earth, very high and steep; and about eight miles lower a white one, being a kind of stone almost as soft as chalk. Towards evening we met with several sand bars, and little isles. At four o'clock P. M. we came to camp on a low spot, on the east-side, having gone done the river forty-two miles [Page 325] and a half; all day dull weather, and at night rain.

8th. Proceeded half an hour after 8 A. M. and having gone a little more than a mile, we reached the mouth of the creek called Ectombogue bé (i. e.) Crooked Creek, on the west side; from this creek's name the French derive their Tombechbé, the name of the fort which stood here, and which has again given that name to the whole river. We went about half a mile further down, under a high and steep bank of chalky stone, and ar­rived at the ruins of the fort, by means of which the French kept all the savages in awe. I went ashore in the old fields, and drew a view of the ruins; this is about forty miles east from the town of Abeeka. The river is not sixty feet wide here. About a mile and a half below these ruins is a pretty high, but sloping slaty bluff: having come about nine miles, we arrived at a hunting camp of Chactaws, on the west side; who invited us on shore, treated us very kindly, and spared us some venison, bear's meat and oil. The af­ternoon being stormy, with hail and rain, we en­camped at a small distance from them: the canes were not very plenty here, but the land rich: a great deal of the plant called Indian Hemp grows in this place; but the season deprived me of the satisfaction of knowing what genus it is of.

9th. At half an hour past eleven proceeded, and in an hour and a quarter we passed by Chic­kianoeé, a white bluff, with a savannah on its top, on the west side; it is upwards of seventy feet high above the water's level: we past several high bluffs, among which one is yellow like Ochre. We saw many bars also, and lagoo [...] [Page 326] having travelled twenty-four miles, came to camp at four o'clock P. M. on the east side, at the beginning of a steep slaty bluff.

10th. At half an hour past nine, A. M. pro­ceeded; we went between high bluffs, and in two hours time came to the mouth of Tuscaloosa river from the east; and a little below it is the steep white chalky bluff, on whose top is a vast plain, and some remains of huts in it, the bluff is called the Chicasow Gallery, because from here the savages used to annoy the French boats go­ing up to the fort, or down from it. The river is hereabouts full of rapids, and bad passes: we came past a number of high bluffs, most of them chalky. At half an hour past three we past the mouth of Sookhanatcha from the west, and three miles below it came to camp, at four o'clock P. M. at the foot of the hill, where formerly the Coosadas were settled: this place is called Sukta­loosa (i. e.) Black Bluff, from its being a kind of coal; it is a great thorough-fare for warring savages, therefore we took the usual precaution of large fires, and hanging our hats on stakes, which we had reason to think not in vain; for in the night we heard the report of small arms. This day we came thirty-six miles. It is worthy of remark, that although we have come ne [...] seventy miles from the ruins of Tombechbé, yet by land the distance is not above twenty-four, or twenty-five miles. The land here is very fine, and Mr. Dow told me, that he had lived here with the Coosadas, and that the common yield of corn was from sixty to eighty bushels per acre; that they increased horses and hogs to any degree [Page 327] they pleased, and that venison, turkies and fish were uncommonly plenty.

11th. Last night and this morning, being rai­ny, we could not proceed till eleven o'clock. All this day we passed through the remains of the Coosada and Occhoy settlements, being all a fine tract of ground, of which much had been cleared; but it is now again overgrown with [...]eeds; the grand, or publick plantation in par­ticular is an excellent tract. At four o'clock P. M. we encamped on a little plain, under a bluff, where was a large hunting camp, to ap­pearance about two years old: here we saw some stones, having been deeply marked by the sa­vages, with some uncouth marks, but most of them being straight lines and crossed, i have since been led to conjecture, whether they were not occasioned by these people grinding their [...]wls on these stones; yet they do not ill resemble inscriptions: this place is a pretty situation, and i [...] near two miles below the deserted Occhoy town, which stood likewise near a black coaly bluff; the distance we made this day is twenty one miles, we had fine weather during the day; but the night was showery.

12th. At half an hour past eight A. M. pro­ceeded. All this day we saw marks of great fer­tility of soil, and much tolerably high land: at half an hour past ten, we were at a creek called Abeshaï, at a quarter past eleven at the last Occhoy field, by a creek called Bashailawaw; at eleven A. M. at the hills of Nanna Falaya, on the east side; which rise steep out of the water, about fifteen, or twenty feet, then slope up into very high short pine hills. Some parts of the rock [Page 328] are red, others grey. Here we were overtaken by very bad weather, from which took shelter; at half an hour past one, P. M. we encamped about three quarters of a mile below the hill, on the slope of a pretty high bank, where we found the remains of a camp, that had been occupied lately by white people; we came about eleven miles and an half this day; the rain continued till two o'clock A. M. next day, when the wind shifting to W. N. W, it grew excessively cold.

13th. At half an hour past ten A. M. pro­ceeded; at one o'clock we came to a hill on the east side, with an old field on its summit; this hill is called Batcha-Chooka; here we found a no­torious gang of thieves, belonging to the town of Oka Loosa, a town in the Chactaw nation; when we saw their raft, we took them to be a Creek war party, therefore, being hailed by them, and not choosing to be shot at, we went near the shore; but on discovering who they were i re­fused to land; they still insisted we must, but my obstinate persisting to the contrary disap­pointed their sanguine hopes of plunder; and after some altercation i proceeded. This day the marks of fertility of soil are not so uninterrupted as on the former days. Our weather was clear, and a strong northerly wind prevailed;—we came nineteen miles since morning, and encamped on the west side, in a low spot of ground.

14th. Last night the frost was severe; at a quarter past nine, A. M. proceeded;—in half an hour's time we saw very high hills, at a mile, or better, from the river, seemingly covered with pine timber; these hills the savages call Nanna Chahaws. Here is a steep place above forty feet [Page 329] perpendicular out of the water, and another steep above it; the last is a grey slaty rock; this place is called Teeakhaily Ekutapa, and the people from Chicasahay had a settlement here before the war. About a mile and a quarter from hence is a remarkable white sand hill on the east side; four miles lower we came to Yagna-hoolah (i. e.) the Beloved Ground, which lies on the east side, and is very high, continuing above two miles along the river bank; its lower part is steep and of a whitish grey, and at the end above two hundred feet high, reckoning perpendicularly. A mile below this is a white sand hill on the west side; we saw the pine hills all this day, at various dis­tances from the river, sometimes close to it, and the canes brgin to diminish, and pine trees mix among the timber. The current for these two last days, is very considerably slackened, and the river widened to above five hundred feet. We came about thirty miles and an half this day, and encamped at four o'clock P. M. on the side of a kind of bluff, about six miles below a branch called Isawaya: all day cold, the latter part and night dull and hazy, at a quarter past nine pro­ceeded. Eight miles below our camp we were at the mouth of Senti Bogue (i. e.) Snake Creek, having an island in its mouth, and coming from the westward. Two miles and a quarter lower is Atchatickpé, a large bay, or lagoon, on the same side: at this place is the beginning of our boundary with the Chactaws, running from the west till it strikes Senti-Bogue, and then follows the course of said creek, up to a certain sugar-loaf hill, and so over to Bogue Hooma, and Bak­katanè. A mile below this, at the bending of [Page 330] the river is a bluff, but not very high, of a dark grey stone; above this it rises gradually sloping into a very high hill, variegated into small ridges. We saw many spots of pines, and some white sand hills; but in general the soil has a better appearance than yesterday. About an hour be­fore we encamped, we came to the last rapids, or the first from below; here is a remarkable spot of yellow rocks in the western bank, beginning with a high, perpendicular, white rock, with some grass spots; it is above fifty feet above the present surface of the water; its top is level and shrubby; in the middle projects a remarkable lump, which, in coming down looks exactly like a buttress against a wall. At four o'clock P. M. we encamped on the east side in the low ground, above a mile below the rocks, having come thirty-one miles. The weather has been clear and cold all this day. Stout sloops and schooners may come up to this rapid; therefore i judge that here some considerable settlement will take place.

16th. Proceeded at half an hour past eight, A. M. Having come about fifteen miles, we saw the remains of the old Weetumpkee settlement: about seven miles below this, on the east side is an odd rocky bluff, appearing to be sandy, and is covered with cedar trees. The river here is very crooked, and about six miles below on the west side, we saw a spacious old field, and a smoak in one edge of it; but nobody near it, and two miles lower down, hearing a rustling in the canes, we looked that way, and saw a savage in a war dress, lying flat; finding himself per­ceived, he got up and beckoned to us; but al­though [Page 331] we were within ten feet of him, we seemed not to have remarked him, upon which he lay down again: it is to be imagined that he was not alone, and that this was a war party, who had been at the smoak, in the old field, and hav­ing perceived us, had come to this place, know­ing that here we must come near the bank; but seeing that we were no Chactaws, and thinking themselves undiscovered, they kept close. At a quarter past four o'clock, P. M. we came to a camp on the west-side, which we supposed by the boats, &c. to be occupied by white people; in which opinion we were soon confirmed. When they invited us on shore, we found they were one Thomas Baskett, with two white hunters, and some Chactaws; we were here well regaled with excellent meat, and very good bread, which be­ing prepared in an excellent manner, was a noble feast to us. I purchased some bear, bacon and venison hams of them, and staid all night at their camp; the distance we came this day was thirty-one miles.

17th. Embarked at half an hour past nine, A. M. and proceeded, accompanied by two ca­noes with savages: we soon past by some high pine hills on the east-side; and at their end, hav­ing come about two miles, we were at the little creek called Apé Bogue oosè, which is a spring so intensely salt, that the savages told us, three kettles of its water, yields one of salt. Having then proceeded for four hours through low land on each side, we arrived at the place called by the French, The Forks being a lagoon divided into three branches, whereof the first is called Apè Tonsa, the second Beelofa, and the third Ca­äntacalamoo: [Page 332] here the savages left us; we still proceeded for half an hour more through low land, and then came to a large bay, at the end whereof begins the Tomeehettee bluff, where for­merly a tribe of that nation resided; this is the first time we have the real pine barren butting on the river, it is very level. About five miles below this place, we came to the first islands that are of note; the land continues low and pretty rich: here we see the first summer canes. At six o'clock P. M. we came to the Coosadas bluff, having had the Naniabè (i. e.) Fish Killer's island above an hour on our west side; this place was the last settlement of the Coosadas, after they left S [...]kta loosa; and in little more than half an hour we were at the mouth of the great Alibamo river. We past the Nita Abè, or Bear Killer's Bluff on the left, and at nine o'clock P. M. we came to the north end of the island, which divides the branch called Dog River, from the west branch of the river. Here we staid all night at the plan­tation of the Chevalier de Lucere, but found only three or four old slaves and children, the whole of the able hands, and the overseer, being gone to make tar-kilns, so that we had but indifferent fare. We came this day forty-two miles and an half. N. B. Those islands are very fertile, and have a great many plantations on them, on the branches which lay out of our way, particularly on the Taënsa, and Dog Rivers.

18th. At a quarter past nine, A. M. proceeded, past several plantations, as well on the islands, as on the main, particularly Campbell's, Stuart's, Ardry's, and M^c Gillivray's: at half an hour past eleven, A. M. arrived at Mr. Favre's house, [Page 333] where i staid in order to get some refreshment; this being the first Christian habitation i had been at since the 20th September, last year. Mr. Fa­vre treated us in a most friendly, genteel and hos­pitable manner. At one o'clock some boats went up the river, which i heard were Mr. Stuart's people, with a provincial deputy surveyor, going up to ascertain the boundary between us and the Chactaws. At two o'clock some gentlemen, among whom was Major Dixon, of the sixteenth regiment, and Charles Stuart, deputy superinten­dant of Indian affairs (to whom i described At­chatikpè and Senti-Bogue, where they were to be­gin) followed them: they proceeded up to Mr. Stuart's plantation, about three miles higher up the river. We had come seven miles and a quar­ter this day. In the afternoon it began to rain, and all night was a prodigious storm of wind and rain, which i had the pleasure of weathering out under a good roof: here we found several fami­lies of Chactaw savages.

19th. At a quarter past nine, A. M. we pro­ceeded, went past Chastang's, Strother's, and Nar­bonne's plantations, having chiefly pine land on the main, and the rich islands on our left all this day. Having gone five miles and three quarters, we passed by the ruins of Fort Condè, or old Mobile, and near six miles lower down we past by the ru­ins of a fine plantation, formerly belonging to the French Intendant at Mobile, now to Mr. Lizars at the same place: 4 miles and 3 quar­ters lower down we met with the first marsh, the river being very full, we could not learn how far the salt water had its effect, the bay itself be­ing fresh and good at this time; but Mr. Dow, [Page 334] who had been several times up and down this ri­ver, and had lived with the Coosadas for some years, assured me, that the tide was very visible at the old Wetumpkee settlements, and in extra­ordinary tides even as far as Seekta Loosa, where, during his residence on the spot, he has fre­quently seen it ebb and flow about an inch. We came this day thirty-five miles and a half, and at nine o'clock P. M. we arrived at Mobile.

N. B. It is to be observed that the general course of this river is from north to south; but it is very crooked.

Journals are tedious, and i believe the above account will sufficiently give an idea of the coun­try, else i might record more of this kind, espe­cially a journey from Pensacola to Manchac, and down the Mississipi, from thence to the sea; but i will content myself with publishing a copy of a paper which was given me by Captain Rufus Putnam, with liberty to make what use i pleased of it. This gentleman was one of the commit­tee appointed by the people of Connecticut, to explore the country about the Natchez. He sent a letter of the same contents to my very worthy friend Doctor J. Lorimer, at Pensacola; this paper will compleat the intention of my giv­ing an idea of the country, and with it i will conclude this my first volume.

It is as follows:

It may, perhaps, be agreeable to the inhabi­tants of East and West-Florida, who become purchasers of this work, to have a copy of such articles of the late treaty of peace, in 1762, as immediately concern them. I have therefore subjoined, by way of appendix, to this volume, the subsequent extract from the preliminary ar­ticles of peace between his Britannick Majesty, the Most Christian King, and the Catholick King; signed at Fontainbleau, the 3d day of Nov. 1762.

Article II. HIS Most Christian Majesty renounces all pretensions, which he has heretofore formed, or might have formed to Nova Scotia, or Acadia, in all its parts, and guaranties the whole of it, with all its depen­dencies, to the King of Great-Britain: moreover, his Most Christian Majesty cedes and guaranties to his said Britannick Majesty, in full right, Ca­nada, with all its dependencies, as well as the island of Cape Breton, and all the other islands in the gulph and river of St. Laurence, without re­striction, and without any liberty to depart from this cession and guaranty, under any pretence, or to trouble Great-Britain in the possessions above­mentioned. [Page 341] His Britannick Majesty, on his side, agrees to grant to the inhabitants of Canada, the liberty of the Catholick religion, he will in con­sequence give the most exact, and the most ef­fectual orders, that his new Roman Catholick sub­jects may profess the worship of their religion, according to the rites of the Roman church, as far as the laws of Great-Britain permit. His Bri­tannick Majesty further agrees, that the French inhabitants, or others, who would have been subjects of the Most Christian King in Canada, may retire in all safety and freedom, where ever they please, and may sell their estates, provided it be to his Britannick Majesty's subjects, and trans­port their effects, as well as their persons, with­out being restrained in their emigration, under any pretence whatsoever, except debts or crimi­nal prosecutions; the term limited for this emi­gration being fixed to the space of eighteen months, to be computed from the day of the ra­tification of the definitive treaty.

ART. VI. In order to re-establish peace on the most solid and lasting foundations, and to re­move forever every subject of dispute, with re­gard to the limits of the British and French ter­ritories on the continent of America; it is agreed, that for the future the confines between the do­minions of his Britannick Majesty, and those of his Most Christian Majesty, in that part of the world, shall be irrevocably fixed, by a line drawn along the middle of the river Mississipi from the source, as far as the river Iberville, and from thence by a line drawn along the middle of this river, and of the lakes Maurepas and Pontchartrain to the sea, and to this purpose the Most Christian King cedes in full right, and guaranties to his Bri­tannick [Page 342] Majesty, the river and port of Mobile, and every thing that he possesses, or ought to have pos­sessed, on the left side of the river Mississipi, except the town of New Orleans, and the island in which it is situated, which shall remain to France; pro­vided, that the navigation of the river Mississipi shall be equally free, as well to the subjects of Great-Britain as to those of France, in its whole length and breadth, from its source to the sea, and that part expressly, which is between the said island of New-Orleans, and the right bank of that river, as well as the passage both in and out of its mouth: it is further stipulated, that the ves­sels belonging to the subjects of either nation, shall not be stopped, visited, or subject to the payment of any duty whatsoever. The stipula­tions in favour of the inhabitants of Canada, in­serted in the second article, shall also take place, with regard to the inhabitants of the country, ceded by this article.

ART. XIX. His Catholick Majesty cedes and guaranties in full right to his Britannick Majesty, all that Spain possesses on the continent of North-America, to the east, or to the south-east of the river Mississipi, and his Britannic Majesty agrees to grant to the inhabitants of this country above ceded, the liberty of the Catholic religion: He will in consequence give the most exact, and the most effectual orders, that his new Roman Catho­lick subjects may profess the worship of their re­ligion, according to the rites of the Roman church, as far as the laws of Great-Britain permit. His Britannick Majesty further agrees, that the Spanish inhabitants, or others, who would have been sub­jects to the Catholick King, in the said countries, may retire in all safety and freedom, &c.