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"the Clergy there, so long as that Duty is continued in South "Carolina, but the said Duty shall not be encreas'd in Azilia, "tho' the Assembly of South Carolina shou'd think fit to en"crease it there, nor shall it longer continue to be paid, than "while it shall remain appropriated, as at present, to the Main"tenance of the Clergy only: In Consideration of all which Powers, Rights, Priviledges, Prerogatives, and Franchises, Sir "Robert shall Transport at his own Expence, a considerable "Number of Families with all Necessaries for making a new "Settlement in the said Tract of Land, and in Case it be "neglected for the Space of three Years from the Date of this "Grant, The then Grant shall become void, any Thing herein "contain❜d to the contrary notwithstanding. Dated June the Nineteenth, 1717.

Cartaret, Palatine.

Ja. Bertie for the
Duke of Beaufort.
M. Ashley.

John Colleton, &c.

A Description of the Country.

T lies about the 31st and 32d Degree of Northern Latitude, is bounded Eastward by the great Atlantick Sea, To the West by a Part of the Apalachian Mountains, and to the North and South by the two great Rivers, mention'd in the Grant.

In the Maps of North America it may be taken Notice of, how well this Country lies for Trade with all our Colonies, and in Regard to every other Prospect, which can make a Situation healthy, profitable, lovely, and inviting; Florida, of which it is a Part, receiv'd that Name from its delightful, florid, and agreeable Appearance.

It has been commonly observ'd, that gay Descriptions of new Countries raise a Doubt of their Sincerity. Men are apt to think the Picture drawn beyond the Life, to serve the Interest of the Representer: To shun the Prejudice of this Opinion, whatever shall be said upon the Subject here, is all extracted from our English Writers, who are very numerous, and universally agree, that Carolina, and especially in its Southern Bounds, is the most amiable Country of the Universe; That Nature has not bless'd the World with any Tract, which can be preferable to it, that Paradise with all her Virgin Beauties, may be modestly suppos'd at most but equal to its Native Excellencies.

It lies in the same Latitude with Palestine Herself, That promis'd Canaan, which was pointed out by God's own Choice, to bless the Labours of a favourite People; It abounds with Rivers, Woods, and Meadows. Its gentle Hills are full of Mines,

Lead, Copper, Iron, and even some of Silver; 'Tis beautiful with odoriferous Plants, green all the Year. Pine, Cedar, Cypress, Oak, Elm, Ash, or Walnut, with innumerable other Sorts, both Fruit or Timber Trees grow every where so pleasantly that tho' they meet at Top, and shade the Traveller, they are, at the same Time, so distant in their Bodies, and so free from Underwood; or Bushes, that the Deer, and other Game, which feed in Droves along these Forests, may be often seen near half a Mile between them.

The Air is healthy, and the Soil in general fruitful, and of infinite Variety; Vines, naturally flourishing upon the Hills, bear Grapes in most luxuriant Plenty. They have every Growth, which we possess in England, and almost every Thing that England wants besides. The Orange, and the Limon thrive in the same common Orchard with the Apple, and the Pear-Tree, Plumbs, Peaches, Apricots, and Nectarins, bear from Stones in three Years growing. The Planters raise large Orchards of these Fruits to feed their Hogs with; Wheat Ears have been measur❜d there seven Inches long, and they have Barly, Beans, Pease, Rice, and all our Grains, Roots, Herbs, and Flowers not to speak of Numbers of their own, which we can find no Names for; Beef, Mutton, Pork, Tame Poultry, Wild Fowl, Sea and River Fish are all there Plentiful, and most at lower Rates, than in the cheapest Parts of Wales, or Scotland.

The many Lakes, and pretty Rivulets throughout the Province, breed a Multitude of Geese, and other Water Fowl; The Air is found so temperate, and the Seasons of the Year so very regular, that there is no Excess of Heat, or Cold, nor any sudden Alterations in the Weather; The River Banks are cover'd with a strange Variety of lovely Trees, which being always green, present a thousand Landskips to the Eye, so fine, and so diversified, that the Sight is entirely charm'd with them; the Ground lies sloping towards the Rivers, but, at a Distance rises gradually, and intermingles like Hills of Wood with fruitful Plains, all cover'd over with wild Flowers, and not a Tree to interrupt the Prospect: Nor is this tempting Country yet inhabited, except those Parts in the Possession of the English, unless by here and there a Tribe of wandering Indians, wild and ignorant, all artless, and uncultivated, as the Soil, which fosters them.

1

Of the Form propos'd in Settling.

OUR Meaning here relates to what immediate Measures will be taken, for Security against the Insults of the Natives, during the Infancy of our Affairs; To which End we shall not

satisfie ourselves with building here and there a Fort, the fatal Practice of America, but so dispose the Habitations, and Divisions of the Land, that not alone our Houses, but whatever we possess, will be enclos'd by Military Lines, impregnable again: the Savages, and which will make our whole Plantation one continued Fortress.

It need not be suppos'd, that all the Lands will thus be fortified at once; The first Lines drawn will be in just Proportion to the Number of Men they enclose; As the Inhabitants encrease, New Lines will be made to enclose them also, so that all the People will be always safe within a well defended Lime of Circumvallation.

The Reader will allow, it is not necessary, that these Retrenchments be of Bulk, like those of Europe; small Defence is strong against the poor unskilful Natives of America; They have accomplish'd all their bloody Mischiefs by Surprizes, and Incursions, but durst never think of a Defyance to Artillery.

The Massacres, and frequent Ruins, which have fallen upon some English Settlements for want of this one Caution, have sufficiently instructed us, that Strength, producing Safety, is the Point, which shou'd be chiefly weigh'd in such Attempts as these; Solon had Reason when he said to Crafus, looking on his Treasure, You are rich indeed, and so far you are mighty; But if any Man shou'd come with sharper steel then Yours, how easily will he be made the Master of your Gold?

At the Arrival therefore of the first Men carried over, proper Officers shall mark, and cause to be entrench'd a Square of Land, in just Proportion to their Number; On the Outsides of this Square, within the little Bastions, or Redoubts of the Entrenchment, they raise light Timber Dwellings, cutting down the Trees, which every where encompass them: The Officers are quartered with the Men, whom they command, and the Governour in Chief is plac'd exactly in the Center: By these means the labouring People (being so dispos'd, as to be always watchful of an Enemies Approach) are themselves within the Eye of those, set over them, and All together under the Inspection of their Principal.

The Redoubts may be near enough to defend Each other with Musquets, but Field Pieces, and Patarero's will be planted upon Each, kept charged with Cartridge shot, and Pieces of old Iron; Within these Redoubts are the Common Dwellings of the Men who must defend them; Between them runs a Palisadoe'd Bank, and a Ditch, which will be Scour'd by the Artillery. One Man in Each Redoubt kept Night and Day, upon the Guard, will give alarm upon Occasion to the others at their Work. So they cultivate their Lands, Secure their Cattle, and follow their

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