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DESCRIPTION OF GEORGIA,

BY A GENTLEMAN WHO HAS RESIDED THERE

UPWARDS OF SEVEN YEARS,

AND WAS

ONE OF THE FIRST SETTLERS.

LONDON:

PRINTED FOR C. CORBET, BOOKSELLER AND PUBLISHER, AT ADDISON'S
HEAD, AGAINST ST. DUNSTAN'S CHURCH, IN FLEET STREET.

MDCCXLI.

12

P. FORCE, WASHINGTON, 1837.

GEORGIA.

G

EORGIA, formerly part of Carolina, named from his
Majesty King George the first, who purchased it from

the Lords Proprietors of Carolina. And by his charter to severall noblemen and gentlemen, dated the 9th of June, 1732, erected it into a seperate and independant province, in order to settle the same. It lies in Lat. 30 Deg. 30 Min. to 32. The first embarkation of people consisted of forty families, who, with James Oglethorpe, Esq. arrived there the 2nd of February following. There was then a remnant of the Creek Indians settled near where the town of Savannah is now built, whom, by our good conduct, and steady justice, we soon gained, as well as all the Indian Nations bordering round us, who freely consented to our present settlement; so that we never lost a Man by their means. It is a fine healthful country, moderately hot, by reason of frequent norwesters from the mountains, and fresh breezes from the sea, which blow in the hottest days. It is plentifully watered with fine springs of water. Its soil consists of four different sorts, viz. Pine-barren, which is a sandy soil; oak and hickory, which is a good land, fit for most sorts of grain; and swamp, which lies low, and is mostly clay, of fat mud, and is the richest and best; and lastly Savannah, whereon grows cane, or wild grass. That there is a good proportion of all these sorts of lands; and the higher you go into the country, the better the land. There is plenty of fine oak', cedar, cypress, and other timber, for building of "ships, and masts even for the tallest. It feeds great numbers of cattle. The mountains have gold, silver, and other ores, and the Savannahs are full of dyes and simples. There are numbers of fine harbours, and some have water enough for a 40 gun ship. There are several beautiful Islands all along the coast. The trees are diversified with various shades of green all the year, which delight the eye; and as the weather is mostly serene' and clear, you seldom or never hear of coughs or wheasings there. The woods abound with deer, and the trees with swarms of bees and singing birds. There are great numbers of hares and

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squirrels; and tame fowl, as well as hogs, breed in abundance, with little or no charge. There is great plenty of wild fowl, particularly turkies, partriges, doves, geese, ducks, teale, gannets, curlews, &c. And the greatest variety of fish in the world; especially sturgeon, which might be improved to great advantage. There are also fruit trees, as apples, pears, peaches, plumbs, nectarines, figs, olives, black and white mulberry trees, walnuts, chesnuts, chincopin nuts, hickory, ground nuts, several sorts of berries, and oranges to the southward: besides great quantities of grapes, both wild and cultivated, of exceeding good taste and flavour, and generally all the herbs and roots used in England. It produces good Indian corn and rice, which is naturall to the country; and all English grain will grow there, especially oats, barley, and wheat, as also beans and pease, of all which I have seen very good. An acre of hickory ground near Savannah, of which there is plenty, generally produces 25 or 30 bushels of Indian corn; and at Augusta-town, which lies up the river, an acre produces 35 bushels. I have seen the silkworms breed there and fed, and afterwards wound off the balls, by Mrs. Camus, the Italian silk winder there, and it is of the finest and best sort of silk in the world: I reckon they will produce this year thrice the quantity they did last, because of the vast increase of mulberry trees of the white sort which have been planted, and so in proportion will encrease the quantity every year. That the country is well adapted to produce silk, is most certain; for you shall see numbers of silk balls, sticking to the boughs of trees even in the woods. There are some thousands of vines of the Portugal growth planted there, which thrive exceedingly; and as they are daily encreasing their stocks, no doubt but we shall soon see wine. The annual cotton grows well there, and has been by some industrious people made into cloathes. Some vessels have been built there, and, as workmen are encouraged, we may expect to see more. Indigo and cochineal_may be also made, there being both the fly and the simple. Its commodities at present are deer skins, timber, bees wax, myrtle wax, honey, bears oil, furs, leather, pitch, tar, turpentine, drugs, and simples of several sorts. Several ships have been loaded there with joyce, cedar planks, green ebony, cypress shingles, pipe staves, hoop poles, and red bay (which is a closer grain, and a finer timber than mahogany) for the West Indies, and many more might every year with proper encouragement. The clay is so fine that very good potter's ware is made there, and sent to Carolina. Besides what provisions we raise, we are supplied from New England, New York and Pennsylvania, and have the necessaries of life at the following rates in

sterling; viz. beef, at one penny half-penny to two-pence halfpenny; pork, from two-pence to two-pence half-penny; veal, from two-pence half-penny to three-pence; mutton, from fourpence half-penny to five pence; good strong beer, from twopence half-penny to three pence per quart; Madeira wine at one shilling per quart; cyder at four-pence per quart; tea at six shillings per pound; coffee at one shilling six-pence; fine wheat flour at one penny per pound; rice at four shillings sixpence per hundred weight.

Georgia has at present two divisions, the Northward and Southward. There are three towns, several villages, and considerable plantations in the Northward; viz.

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Savannah is a regular well built healthful town, full of springs of fine fresh water, containing above 130 houses, besides warehouses and huts, which are as many more. It stands upon an eminence near forty feet from the surface of the water, and fronts Savannah river. It hath a Court of Record in it, consisting of three Bailiffs, and a Recorder, who holds a Court every six weeks. It is extremely well situated for trade, being hardly a tide from the sea; and where ships of three hundred tons may lie in fresh water, free from the worm, close to the wharfs and take in their loading. On the entrance of its harbour is a beacon of curious workmanship called the Light house. The bar is near half a mile in width, and has 22 feet and upwards at high water. The entrance is so safe, that ships of 40 tons, without altering their course, may run directly from the sea, over the bar, where you presently get into a fine harbour (of good anchorage, and deep water, where a whole fleet of ships may lie at anchor in safety) called Cockspur.

The river Savannah is navigable some hundred of miles, and runs into the Indian nation, and commands the Indian Trade, so that you see numbers of trading boats continually going back

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