CHAPTER IV
Early in the morning, we mounted our horses, and in two days arrived in Savanna; here we learned that the superintendant of Indian affairs had left the capital, and was on his way to Augusta. I remained but one day in Savanna, which was employed in making up and forwarding the collections for Charleston.
The day following we set off for Augusta, which is on Savanna river, at least an hundred and fifty miles by land from the capital, and about three hundred by water. We followed the course of the river, and arrived there after having had a prosperous journey, though a little incommoded by the heats of the season.
As nothing very material occurred on the road, I shall proceed to give a summary account of the observations I made concerning the soil, situation, and natural productions of the country.
In our progress from the sea coast, we rise gradually, by several steps or ascents, in the following manner: first, from the sea coast, fifty miles back, is a level plain, generally of a loose sandy soil, producing spacious high forests, of Pinus tæda, P. lutea, P. squarrosa, P. echinata, 1. Quercus sempervirens, 2. Quercus aquatica, 3. Q. phillos, 4. Q. tinctoria, 5. Q. dentata, 6. Q. prinos, 7. Q. alba, 8. Q. finuata, 9. Q. rubra[10], Liriodendron tulipifera, Liquidambar styraciflua, Morus rubra, Cercis tilia, Populus heterophylla, Platanus occidentalis, Laurus sassafras, Laurus Borbonia, Hopea tinctoria, Fraxinus excelsior, Nyssa, Ulmus, Juglans exaltata, Halesa, Stewartia. Nearly one third of this vast plain is what the inhabitants call swamps, which are the sources of numerous small rivers and their branches: these they call salt rivers, because the tides flow near to their sources, and generally carry a good depth and breadth of water for small craft, twenty or thirty miles upwards from the sea, when they branch and spread abroad like an open hand, interlocking with each other, and forming a chain of swamps across the Carolinas and Georgia, several hundred miles parallel with the sea coast. These swamps are fed and replenished constantly by an infinite number of rivulets and rills, which spring out of the first bank or ascent; their native trees and shrubs are, besides most of those already enumerated above, as follow: Acer rubrum, Nyssa aquatica, Chionanthus, Celtis, Fagus sylvatica, Sambricus; and the higher knolls afford beautiful clumps of Azalea nuda and Azalea viscosa, Corypha palma, Corypha pumila, and Magnolia grandiflora; besides, the whole surface of the ground between the trees and shrubs appears to be occupied with canes (Arundo gigantea) entangled with festoons of the floriferous Glycine frutescens, Bignonia sempervirens, Glycine apios, Smilax, various species, Bignonia crucigera, Bign. radicans, Lonicera sempervirens, and a multitude of other trees, shrubs, and plants less conspicuous; and, in very wet places, Cupressus disticha. The upper soil of these swamps is a perfectly black, soapy, rich earth, or stiff mud, two or three feet deep, on a foundation or stratum of calcareous fossil, which the inhabitants call white marle; and this is the heart or strength of these swamps; they never wear out or become poor, but, on the contrary, are more fertile by tillage; for when they turn up this white marle, the air and winter frosts causing it to fall like quicklime, it manures the surface: but it has one disadvantage, that is, in great droughts, when they cannot have water sufficient in their reservoirs to lay the surface of the ground under water, it binds, and becomes so tough as to burn and kill the crops, especially the old cleared lands; as, while it was fresh and new, the great quantity of rotten wood, roots, leaves, &c. kept the surface loose and open. Severe droughts seldom happen near the sea coast.
We now rise a bank of considerable height, which runs nearly parallel to the coast, through Carolina and Georgia; the ascent is gradual by several flights or steps for eight or ten miles, the perpendicular height whereof, above the level of the ocean, may be two or three hundred feet (and these are called the sand-hills) when we find ourselves on the entrance of a vast plain, generally level, which extends west sixty or seventy miles, rising gently as the former, but more perceptibly. This plain is mostly a forest of the great long-leaved pine (P. palustris Linn.) the earth covered with grass, interspersed with an infinite variety of herbaceous plants, and embellished with extensive savannas, always green, sparkling with ponds of water, and ornamented with clumps of evergreen, and other trees and shrubs, as Magnolia grandiflora, Magnolia glauca, Gordonia, Ilex aquifolium, Quercus, various species, Laurus Borbonia, Chionanthus, Hopea tinctoria, Cyrilla, Kalmia angustifolia, Andromeda, varieties, Viburnum, Azalea, Rhus vernix, Prinos, varieties, Fothergilla, and a new shrub of great beauty and singularity; it grows erect, seven or eight feet high; a multitude of erect stems arise from its root; these divide themselves into ascendant branches, which are garnished with abundance of narrow lanceolate obtuse pointed leaves, of a light green, smooth and shining. These branches, with their many subdivisions, terminate in simple racemes of pale incarnate flowers, which make a fine appearance among the leaves; the flowers are succeeded by desiccated triquetrous pericarpi, each containing a single kernel.
The lowest sides of these savannas are generally joined by a great cane swamp, varied with coppices and hommocks of the various trees and shrubs already mentioned. In these swamps several rivulets take their rise, which drain them and the adjoining savannas, and thence meandering to the rivers through the forests, with their banks decorated with shrubs and trees. The earth under this level plain may be described after the following manner: the upper surface, or vegetative mould, is a light sandy loam, generally nine inches or a foot deep, on a stratum of cinereous coloured clay, except the sand-hills, where the loose sandy surface is much deeper upon the clay; stone of any sort, or gravel, is seldom seen.
The next ascent, or flight, is of much greater and more abrupt elevation, and continues rising by broken ridges and narrow levels, or vales, for ten or fifteen miles, when we rest again on another extensive nearly level plain of pine forests, mixed with various other forest trees, which continues west forty or fifty miles farther, and exhibits much the same appearance with the great forest last mentioned; its vegetable productions nearly the same, excepting that the broken ridges by which we ascend to the plain are of a better soil; the vegetative mould is mixed with particles of clay and small gravel, and the soil of a dusky brown colour, lying on a stratum of reddish brown tough clay. The trees and shrubs are, Pinus tæda, great black Oak, Quercus tinctoria, Q. rubra, Laurus, Sassafras, Magnolia grandiflora, Cornus Florida, Cercis, Halesia, Juglans acuminata, Juglans exaltata, Andromeda arborea; and, by the sides of rivulets (which wind about and between these hills and swamps, in the vales) Styrax latifolia, Ptelea trifoliata, Stewartia, Calycanthus, Chionanthus, Magnolia tripetala, Azalea and others.
Thus have I endeavoured to give the reader a short and natural description of the vast plain lying between the region of Augusta and the sea coast; for from Augusta the mountainous country begins (when compared to the level sandy plain already passed), although it is at least an hundred and fifty miles west, thence to the Cherokee or Apalachian mountains; and this space may with propriety be called the hilly country, every where fertile and delightful, continually replenished by innumerable rivulets, either coursing about the fragrant hills, or springing from the rocky precipices, and forming many cascades; the coolness and purity of which waters invigorate the air of this otherwise hot and sultry climate.
The village of Augusta is situated on a rich and fertile plain, on the Savanna river; the buildings are near its banks, and extend nearly two miles up to the cataracts, or falls, which are formed by the first chain of rocky hills, through which this famous river forces itself, as if impatient to repose on the extensive plain before it invades the ocean. When the river is low, which is during the summer months, the cataracts are four or five feet in height across the river, and the waters continue rapid and broken, rushing over rocks five miles higher up: this river is near five hundred yards broad at Augusta.
A few days after our arrival at Augusta, the chiefs and warriors of the Creeks and Cherokees being arrived, the Congress and the business of the treaty came on, and the negociations continued undetermined many days; the merchants of Georgia demanding at least two millions of acres of land from the Indians, as a discharge of their debts, due, and of long standing; the Creeks, on the other hand, being a powerful and proud spirited people, their young warriors were unwilling to submit to so large a demand, and their conduct evidently betrayed a disposition to dispute the ground by force of arms, and they could not at first be brought to listen to reason and amicable terms; however, at length, the cool and deliberate counsels of the ancient venerable chiefs, enforced by liberal presents of suitable goods, were too powerful inducements for them any longer to resist, and finally prevailed. The treaty concluded in unanimity, peace, and good order; and the honorable superintendant, not forgetting his promise to me, at the conclusion, mentioned my business, and recommended me to the protection of the Indian chiefs and warriors. The presents being distributed among the Indians, they departed, returning home to their towns. A company of surveyors were appointed, by the governor and council, to ascertain the boundaries of the new purchase; they were to be attended by chiefs of the Indians, selected and delegated by their countrymen, to assist, and be witnesses that the articles of the treaty were fulfilled, as agreed to by both parties in Congress.
Col. Barnet, who was chosen to conduct this business on the part of the Georgians, a gentleman every way qualified for that important trust, in a very friendly and obliging manner, gave me an invitation to accompany him on this tour.
It was now about the middle of the month of May; vegetation, in perfection, appeared with all her attractive charms, breathing fragrance every where; the atmosphere was now animated with the efficient principle of vegetative life; the arbustive hills, gay lawns, and green meadows, which on every side invest the villa of Augusta, had already received my frequent visits; and although here much delighted with the new beauties in the vegetable kingdom, and many eminent ones have their sequestered residence near this place, yet, as I was never long satisfied with present possession, however endowed with every possible charm to attract the sight, or intrinsic value to engage and fix the esteem, I was restless to be searching for more, my curiosity being insatiable.
Thus it is with regard to our affections and attachments, in the more important and interesting concerns of human life.
Upon the rich rocky hills at the cataracts of Augusta, I first observed the perfumed Rhododendron ferrugineum, white-robed philadelphus inodorus, and cerulean Malva; but nothing in vegetable nature was more pleasing than the odoriferous pancratium fluitans, which almost alone possesses the little rocky islets which just appear above the water.
The preparatory business of the surveyors being now accomplished, Mr. J. M’Intosh, yet anxious for travelling, and desirous to accompany me on this tour, joined with me the caravan, consisting of surveyors, astronomers, artisans, chain-carriers, markers, guides and hunters, besides a very respectable number of gentlemen, who joined us, in order to speculate in the lands, together with ten or twelve Indians, altogether to the number of eighty or ninety men, all or most of us well mounted on horseback, besides twenty or thirty pack-horses, loaded with provisions, tents, and camp equipage.
The summer season now rapidly advancing, the air at mid-day, about this region, is insufferably hot and sultry. We sat off from Augusta, early in the morning, for the Great Buffalo Lick, on the Great Ridge, which separates the waters of the Savanna and Alatamaha, about eighty miles distant from Augusta. At this Lick the surveyors were to separate themselves, and form three companies, to proceed on different routes. On the evening of the second day’s journey, we arrived at a small village on Little River, a branch of Savanna: this village, called Wrightsborough, was founded by Jos. Mattock, esq. of the sect called quakers. This public spirited man having obtained for himself and his followers, a district, comprehending upwards of forty thousand acres of land, gave the new town this name, in honour of Sir James Wright, then governor of Georgia, who greatly promoted the establishment of the settlement. Mr. Mattock, who is now about seventy years of age, healthy and active, and presides as chief magistrate of the settlement, received us with great hospitality. The distance from Augusta to this place is about thirty miles; the face of the country is chiefly a plain of high forests savannas, and cane swamps, until we approach Little River, when the landscape varies, presenting to view high hills and rich vales. The soil is a deep, rich, dark mould, on a deep stratum of reddish brown tenacious clay, and that on a foundation of rocks, which often break through both strata, lifting their backs above the surface. The forest trees are chiefly of the deciduous order, as, Quercus tinctoria, Q. lasciniata, Q. alba, Q. rubra, Q. prinus, with many other species; Celtus, Fagus sylvatica, and, on the rocky hills, Fagus castanea, Fag. pumila, Quercus castanea; in the rich vales, Juglans nigra, Jug. cinerea, Gleditsia triacanthos, Magnolia acuminata, Liriodendron, Platanus, Fraxinus excelsior, Cercea, Juglans exaltata, Carpinus, Morus rubra, Calycanthus, Halesia, Æsculus pavia, Æsc. arborea.
Leaving the pleasant town of Wrightsborough, we continued eight or nine miles through a fertile plain and high forest, to the north branch of Little River, being the largest of the two, crossing which, we entered an extensive fertile plain, bordering on the river, and shaded by trees of vast growth, which at once spoke its fertility. Continuing some time through these shade groves, the scene opens, and discloses to view the most magnificent forest I had ever seen. We rise gradually a sloping bank of twenty or thirty feet elevation, and immediately entered this sublime forest. The ground is perfectly a level green plain, thinly planted by nature with the most stately forest trees, such as the gigantic Black[11] Oak (Q. tinctoria) Liriodendron, Juglans nigra, Platanus, Juglans exaltata, Fagus sylvatica, Ulmus sylvatica, Liquidambar styraciflua, whose mighty trunks, seemingly of an equal height, appeared like superb columns. To keep within the bounds of truth and reality, in describing the magnitude and grandeur of these trees, would, I fear, fail of credibility; yet, I think I can assert, that many of the black oaks measured eight, nine, ten, and eleven feet diameter five feet above the ground, as we measured several that were above thirty feet girt, and from hence they ascend perfectly straight, with a gradual taper, forty or fifty feet to the limbs; but, below five or six feet, these trunks would measure a third more in circumference, on account of the projecting jambs, or supports, which are more or less, according to the number of horizontal roots that they arise from: the Tulip tree, Liquidambar, and Beech, were equally stately.
Not far distant from the terrace, or eminence, overlooking the low grounds of the river, many very magnificent monuments of the power and industry of the ancient inhabitants of these lands are visible. I observed a stupendous conical pyramid, or artificial mount of earth, vast tetragon terraces, and a large sunken area, of a cubical form, encompassed with banks of earth; and certain traces of a large Indian town, the work of a powerful nation, whose period of grandeur perhaps long preceded the discovery of this continent.
After about seven miles progress through this forest of gigantic Black Oaks, we enter on territories which exhibit more varied scenes: the land rises almost insensibly by gentle ascents, exhibiting desert plains, high forests, gravelly and stony ridges, ever in sight of rapid rivulets; the soil, as already described. We then passed over large rich savannas or natural meadows, wide-spreading cane swamps, and frequently old Indian settlements, now deserted and overgrown with forest. These are always on or near the banks of rivers, or great swamps, the artificial mounts and terraces elevating them above the surrounding groves. I observed, in the ancient cultivated fields, 1. Diospyros, 2. Gleditsia triacanthos, 3. Prunus Chicasaw, 4. Callicarpa, 5. Morus rubra, 6. Juglans exaltata, 7. Juglans nigra, which inform us, that these trees were cultivated by the ancients, on account of their fruit, as being wholesome and nourishing food. Though these are natives of the forest[12], yet they thrive better, and are more fruitful, in cultivated plantations, and the fruit is in great estimation with the present generation of Indians, particularly Juglans exaltata commonly called shell-barked hiccory; the Creeks store up the latter in their towns. I have seen above an hundred bushels of these nuts belonging to one family. They pound them to pieces, and then cast them into boiling water, which, after passing through fine strainers, preserves the most oily part of the liquid: this they call by a name which signifies Hiccory milk; it is as sweet and rich as fresh cream, and is an ingredient in most of their cookery, especially homony and corn cakes.
After four days moderate and pleasant travelling, we arrived in the evening at the Buffalo Lick. This extraordinary place occupies several acres of ground, at the foot of the S. E. promontory of the Great Ridge, which, as before observed, divides the rivers Savanna and Alatamaha. A large cane swamp and meadows, forming an immense plain, lies S. E. from it; in this swamp I believe the head branches of the great Ogeeche river take their rise. The place called the Lick contains three or four acres, is nearly level, and lies between the head of the cane swamp and the ascent of the Ridge. The earth, from the superficies to an unknown depth, is an almost white or cinereous coloured tenacious fattish clay, which all kinds of cattle lick into great caves, pursuing the delicious vein. It is the common opinion of the inhabitants, that this clay is impregnated with saline vapours, arising from fossile salts deep in the earth; but I could discover nothing saline in its taste, but I imagined an insipid sweetness. Horned cattle, horses, and deer, are immoderately fond of it, insomuch, that their excrement, which almost totally covers the earth to some distance round this place, appears to be perfect clay; which, when dried by the sun and air, is almost as hard as brick.
We were detained at this place one day, in adjusting and planning the several branches of the survey. A circumstance occurred during this time, which was a remarkable instance of Indian sagacity, and had nearly disconcerted all our plans, and put an end to the business. The surveyor having fixed his compass on the staff, and about to ascertain the course from our place of departure, which was to strike Savanna river at the confluence of a certain river, about seventy miles distance from us; just as he had determined upon the point, the Indian chief came up, and observing the course he had fixed upon, spoke, and said it was not right; but that the course to the place was so and so, holding up his hand, and pointing. The surveyor replied, that he himself was certainly right, adding, that that little instrument (pointing to the compass) told him so, which, he said, could not err. The Indian answered, he knew better, and that the little wicked instrument was a liar; and he would not acquiesce in its decisions, since it would wrong the Indians out of their land. This mistake (the surveyor proving to be in the wrong) displeased the Indians; the dispute arose to that height, that the chief and his party had determined to break up the business, and return the shortest way home, and forbad the surveyors to proceed any farther: however, after some delay, the complaisance and prudent conduct of the colonel made them change their resolution: the chief became reconciled, upon condition that the compass should be discarded, and rendered incapable of serving on this business; that the chief himself should lead the survey; and, moreover, receive an order for a very considerable quantity of goods.
Matters being now amicably settled, under this new regulation, the colonel having detached two companies on separate routes, Mr. M’Intosh and myself attaching ourselves to the colonel’s party, whose excursion was likely to be the most extensive and varied, we sat off from the Buffalo Lick, and the Indian chief, heading the party, conducted us on a straight line, as appeared by collateral observation, to the desired place. We pursued nearly a north course up the Great Ridge, until we came near the branches of Broad River, when we turned off to the right hand, and encamped on a considerable branch of it. At this place we continued almost a whole day, constituting surveyors and astronomers, who were to take the course, distance, and observations on Broad River, and from thence down to its confluence with the Savanna.
The Great Ridge consists of a continued high forest; the soil fertile, and broken into moderately elevated hills, by the many rivulets which have their sources in it. The heights and precipices abound in rock and stone. The forest trees and other vegetable productions are the same as already mentioned about Little River: I observed Halesia, Styrax, Æsculus pavia, Æsc. sylvatica, Robinia hispida, Magnolia acuminata, Mag. tripetala, and some very curious new shrubs and plants, particularly the Physic-nut, or Indian Olive. The stems arise many from a root, two or three feet high; the leaves sit opposite, on very short petioles; they are broad, lanceolate, entire, and undulated, having smooth surfaces of a deep green colour. From the bosom of each leaf is produced a single oval drupe, standing erect, on long slender stems; it has a large kernel, and thin pulp. The fruit is yellow when ripe; and about the size of an olive. The Indians, when they go in pursuit of deer, carry this fruit with them, supposing that it has the power of charming or drawing that creature to them; from whence, with the traders, it has obtained the name of the Physic-nut, which means, with them, charming, conjuring, or fascinating. Malva scandens, Felix scandens, perhaps species of Trichomanes; the leaves are palmated, or radiated; it climbs and roves about, on shrubs, in moist ground. A very singular and elegant plant, of an unknown family, called Indian lettuce, made its first appearance in these rich vales; it is a biennial; the primary or radical leaves are somewhat spatuled, or broad, lanceolate, and obtuse pointed, of a pale yellowish green, smooth surface, and of a delicate frame, or texture; these leaves, spread equally on every side, almost reclining on the ground; from their centre arises a straight upright stem, five, six, or seven feet high, smooth and polished; the ground of a dark purple colour, which is elegantly powdered with greenish yellow specks; the stem, three fourths of its length, is embellished with narrow leaves, nearly of the same form of the radical ones, placed at regular distances, in verticillate order. The superior one-fourth division of this stem is formed into a pyramidal spike of flowers, rather diffuse; these flowers are of the hexandria, large, and expanded; of a dark purple colour, delicately powdered with green, yellow, and red, and divided into six parts, or petals; these are succeeded by triquetrous dry pericarpi, when ripe.
This great ridge is a vast extended projection of the Cherokee or Alegany mountains, gradually increasing in height and extent, from its extremity at the Lick, to its union with the high ridge of mountains anciently called the Apalachian mountains; it every where approaches much nearer the waters of the Alatamaha than those of the Savanna. At one particular place, where we encamped, on the Great Ridge, during our repose there part of a day, our hunters going out, understanding that their route was to the low lands on the Ocone, I accompanied them: we had not rode above three miles before we came to the banks of that beautiful river. The cane swamps, of immense extent, and the oak forests, on the level lands, are incredibly fertile; which appears from the tall reeds of the one, and the heavy timber of the other.
Before we left the waters of Broad River, having encamped in the evening on one of its considerable branches, and left my companions, to retire, as usual, on botanical researches, on ascending a steep rocky hill, I accidentally discovered a new species of Caryophyllata (Geum odoratissimum); on reaching to a shrub, my foot slipped, and, in recovering myself, I tore up some of the plants, whose roots filled the air with animating scents of cloves and spicy perfumes.
On my return towards camp, I met my philosophic companion, Mr. M’Intosh, who was seated on the bank of a rivulet, and whom I found highly entertained by a very novel and curious natural exhibition, in which I participated with high relish. The waters at this place were still and shoal, and flowed over a bed of gravel just beneath a rocky rapid: in this eddy shoal were a number of little gravelly pyramidal hills, whose summits rose almost to the surface of the water, very artfully constructed by a species of small cray-fish (Cancer macrourus) which inhabited them: here seemed to be their citadel, or place of retreat for their young, against the attacks and ravages of their enemy, the gold-fish: these, in numerous bands, continually infested them, except at short intervals, when small detachments of veteran cray-fish sallied out upon them, from their cells within the gravelly pyramids, at which time a brilliant sight presented: the little gold-fish instantly fled from every side, darting through the transparent waters like streams of lightning; some even sprang above the surface, into the air, but all quickly returned to the charge, surrounding the pyramids as before, on the retreat of the cray-fish; in this manner the war seemed to be continual.
The gold-fish is about the size of the anchovy, nearly four inches long, of a neat slender form; the head is covered with a salade of an ultramarine blue, the back of a reddish brown, the sides and belly of a flame, or of the colour of a fine red lead; a narrow dusky line runs along each side, from the gills to the tail; the eyes are large, with the iris like burnished gold. This branch of Broad River is about twelve yards wide, and has two, three, and four feet depth of water, and winds through a fertile vale, almost overshadowed on one side by a ridge of high hills, well timbered with Oak, Hiccory, Liriodendron, Magnolia acuminata, Pavia sylvatica, and on their rocky summits, Fagus castanea, Rhododendron ferrugineum, Kalmia latifolia, Cornus Florida, &c.
One of our Indian young men, this evening, caught a very large salmon trout, weighing about fifteen pounds, which he presented to the colonel, who ordered it to be served up for supper. The Indian struck this fish, with a reed harpoon, pointed very sharp, barbed, and hardened by the fire. The fish lay close under the steep bank, which the Indian discovered and struck with his reed; instantly the fish darted off with it, whilst the Indian pursued, without extracting the harpoon, and with repeated thrusts drowned it, and then dragged it to shore.
After leaving Broad River, the land rises very sensibly, and the country being mountainous, our progress became daily more difficult and slow; yet the varied scenes of pyramidal hills, high forests, rich vales, serpentine rivers, and cataracts, fully compensated for our difficulties and delays. I observed the great Aconitum napellus, Delphinium perigrinum, the carminative Angelica lucida,[13] and cerulean Malva.
We at length happily accomplished our line, arriving at the little river, where our hunters bringing in plenty of venison and turkeys, we had a plentiful feast at supper. Next morning we marked the corner tree, at the confluence of Little River and the Savanna; and, soon after, the Indians amicably took leave of us, returning home to their towns.
The rocks and fossils, which constitute the hills of this middle region, are of various species, as, Quartsum, Ferrum, Cos, Silex, Glarea, Arena, Ochra, Stalactites, Saxum, Mica, &c. I saw no signs of Marble, Plaster, or Lime-stone; yet there is, near Augusta, in the forests, great piles of a porous friable white rock, in large and nearly horizontal masses, which seems to be an heterogeneous concrete, consisting of pulverized sea-shells, with a small proportion of sand; it is soft, and easily wrought into any form, yet of sufficient consistence for constructing any building.
As for the animal productions, they are the same which originally inhabited this part of North America, except such as have been affrighted away since the invasion of the Europeans. The buffalo (Urus) once so very numerous, is not at this day to be seen in this part of the country; there are but few elks, and those only in the Apalachian mountains. The dreaded and formidable rattle-snake is yet too common, and a variety of other serpents abound, particularly that admirable creature the glass-snake: I saw a very large and beautiful one, a little distance from our camp. The alligator, a species of crocodile, abounds in the rivers and swamps, near the sea coast, but is not to be seen above Augusta. Bears, tygers[14], wolves, and wild cats (Felis cauda truncata) are numerous enough; and there is a very great variety of Papilio and Phalena, many of which are admirably beautiful, as well as other insects of infinite variety.
The surveyors having completed their observations, we sat off next day on our return to Augusta, taking our route generally through the low lands on the banks of the Savanna. We crossed Broad River, at a newly settled plantation, near its confluence with the Savanna. On my arrival at Augusta, finding myself a little fatigued, I staid there a day or two, and then sat off again for Savanna, the capital, where we arrived in good health.
Having, in this journey, met with extraordinary success, not only in the enjoyment of an uninterrupted state of good health, and escaping ill accidents, incident to such excursions, through uninhabited wildernesses, and an Indian frontier, but also in making a very extensive collection of new discoveries of natural productions; on the recollection of so many and great favours and blessings, I now, with a high sense of gratitude, presume to offer up my sincere thanks to the Almighty, the Creator and Preserver.
[10] 1. Live Oak. 2. Della leaved Water Oak. 3. Willow-leaved Oak. 4. Great Black Oak. 5. Narrow-leaved Wintergreen Oak. 6. Swamp White Oak. 7. White Oak. 8. Spanish Oak. 9. Red Oak.
[11] Gigantic Black Oak. Querc. tinctoria; the bark of this species of oak is found to afford a valuable yellow dye. This tree is known by the name of Black Oak in Pennsylvania, New-Jersey, New-York, and New England.
[12] The Chicasaw plumb I think must be excepted, for though certainly a native of America, yet I never saw it wild in the forests, but always in old deserted Indian plantations: I suppose it to have been brought from the S. W. beyond the Missisippi, by the Chicasaws.
[13] Called Nondo in Virginia: by the Creek and Cherokee traders, White Root.
[14] This creature is called, in Pennsylvania and the northern States, Panther; but in Carolina and the southern States, is called Tyger; they are very strong, much larger than any dog, of a yellowish brown, or clay colour, having a very long tail; they are a mischievous animal, and prey on calves, young colts, &c.