a soft spongy mass, supposed to be higher than the surrounding country, and to hold the water by capillary attraction. The Little Dismal Swamp, of similar properties, lies between the two great Sounds; the whole level region extending about sixty miles from the coast, and being succeeded by the hill country in the centre, which, in turn, is followed by the mountainous country of the west, formed by the passages of several ridges of the great Alleghany range, in a south-west direction through the state. These mountains vary from 800 to above 6,000 feet in altitude. Mount Mitchell, or Black Mountain, in the north-west part of the state, is the highest summit east of the Mississippi river, having a height of 6,470 feet. This mountain has two peaks, the lower of which is called Potato Top; the other, Mount Mitchell, in honour of the professor of that name, by whom its real elevation was first ascertained. The former name, Black Mountain, is derived from the fact of its being covered, from the base to the summit, with a dense growth of pine, which gives it a funereal appearance from a short distance. The other peaks of any considerable height, are Roan Mountain, with an elevation of 6,038 feet; Grandfather Mountain, 5,556 feet; and Grandmother Mountain, 2,500 feet. Much of the Alleghany range that separates Tennessee from North Carolina, bears local names, such as Ironstone, Smoky, Bald, and Unaka Mountains; and between those and the Blue Ridge is a table-land, elevated from 2,000 to 2,500 feet above the sea.

The natural water-resources of North Carolina are abundant, as the following enumeration will show: viz., two shallow Sounds-named Albemarle, in the north-east; and Pamlico, in the east of the state-are cut off from the ocean by long and narrow sand-banks, or islands, through which there are inlets to the sea-constantly changing; the old being filled up with the shifting sands, while new passages are opened by the surging of the waters. Albemarle Sound extends about sixty miles westward, with a varying breadth of from four to fifteen miles, having several arms or bays communicating with Pamlico Sound, which extends eighty miles in a south-west direction, parallel with the coast-having greater breadth than Albemarle Sound, and twenty feet depth of water; the Hatteras banks, which protect it from the roll of the ocean, extending far out to sea, forming the well-known and dangerous point-Cape Hatteras. The points of Cape Look-Out and Cape Fear are prominent lower down the coast. Several small lakes are interspersed among the low marshy grounds between the two Sounds; while a chain of low islands, or rather sand-banks, extends to the mouth of Cape Fear River, cutting off several small lakes and lagoons.

The state is, moreover, traversed by several rivers of considerable magnitude; all of which, with the exception of a few small tributaries of the Tennessee, run in a south-east direction through the state, and discharge themselves into the Atlantic. Of these, commencing in the north-east, are the Choan and the Roanoke, which rise in Virginia, and empty themselves into Albemarle Sound. The Tar and the Neuse rise in the north of the state, and discharge their currents into Pamlico Sound. Cape Fear River, the largest stream that has its whole length confined within the state, rises in the north of it, and joins the Atlantic at its southern extremity. The Yadkin and Catawba rise in the north-west, and pass into South Carolina, where the former takes the name of the Great Pedee, and the latter, of the Wateree. The Waccamaw, also an eastern tributary of the Great Pedee, rises in the south part of the state.

Besides the above, there are a great number of tributaries of the Tennessee,

1

Congaree, and other rivers; but the majority of the rivers of North Carolina are so obstructed by sand-banks at their mouths, and by rapids and falls further up, as not to be navigable for vessels of a large size. Cape Fear River is, however, navigable for forty miles to Wilmington, by vessels drawing ten or twelve feet water; and to Fayetteville for steam-boats, which can also ascend the Neuse, 120 miles, to Waynesborough. The Tar is navigable for steam-boats, 100 miles, to Tarborough; the Roanoke, for smal sca-craft, thirty miles, and for steam-boats, 120 miles, to Halifax. The Choan is als navigable, by steamers, for a distance of seventy-five miles.

No state in the Union has greater variety of soil than North Carolina-a fac evinced by the indigenous vegetable productions. Around the mouth of Cape Fear River, the dwarf-palms and the oak flourish; whilst, in the western counties, the forest indicate a climate of much lower temperature. In the south-eastern counties, and partially, on the whole seaward zone, the staple production is cotton; but, as the wes is approached, this is entirely superseded by grain of almost every species cultivated in the United States, except rice. On the Lower Cape Fear River the fig-tree flourishes and, in the western and central counties, the apple is produced. The peach grows abundance throughout North Carolina. In the mountain districts, the soil and produ tions are nearly the same as in the northern states. Wheat, rye, barley, Indian com oats, and flax, are the crops generally cultivated. Cotton is also raised in considerab quantities. Tar and turpentine are produced in this state in large quantities. and gold

The mineral riches of North Carolina are great-iron ore being abundant; is found in considerable quantities. The gold mines are found on the Yadkin and its branches, and extend over an area comprising about 1,000 square miles. Throughor this territory gold is found in greater or less abundance, intermixed with the soil, and lumps have been met with of one and two pounds weight.

another

The communication by railway and canal is very comprehensive; the Gre Southern railroad crossing the entire state, and terminating at Wilmington: line extends from Gaston to Raleigh, the capital, and thence to Camden in South Carolina a third connects Weldon to Portsmouth, in Virginia: a fourth unites Golds borough to Raleigh, Hillsborough, and Greensborough; whence another line extends to Beaufort. The Dismal Swamp Canal unites the Pasquotank with Elizabeth River, in Virginia; and the water communication, uniting the Neuse with Beaufort Harbour, is of

infinite accommodation to the inland traffic of the state.

Raleigh, the seat of government, is pleasantly situated near the centre of the state. Newbern, Fayetteville, and Wilmington, are each flourishing towns; the latter being situated on the east side of Cape Fear River, just below the confluence of the t branches, about thirty-five miles from the sea. The harbour admits vessels of 300 tons; but the entrance is made difficult and dangerous by a large shoal. More produce is however, exported from Wilmington than from any other port belonging to the state.

The chief objects of interest in North Carolina, are the Black Mountain, or Mitchell's Peak, already referred to, which rises 6,476 feet above the level of the ses and commands a magnificent view of Swannanoa Gap-a pass in the mountains between Morgan Town and Ashville. The picturesque Catawba Falls are in the vicinity of this mountain. Pilot Mountain, in Surrey County, rises in a nearly cylindrical form,

from

path of the Indians. Painted Rock, a precipice over 200 feet high, and a singular rock, called the Chimneys, are in this district. In Burke County, on the summit of a mountain, called Gingercake, is the Gingercake Rock-a curious pile of stone, of the shape of an inverted pyramid, twenty-nine feet in height, which supports a slab of stone thirty-two feet long, and two feet thick, projecting for about half its length beyond the edge of the inverted pyramid, and resting with perfect stability, though apparently just ready to fall. From this point the view is very fine-looking down a ravine of from 800 to 1,200 feet in depth, with a river dashing over its rocky bed at the bottom, and a cliff, called the Hawk's-bill, projecting over it, at an elevation of 1,500 feet. Table Rock, a conical eminence of 2,500 feet, rising from the valley of the Catawba river, is also visible from the same point.

SOUTH CAROLINA.-The early history of the settlement of this state is associated with the persecutions and sufferings of the Huguenots; a party of whom, under the auspices of Admiral Coligny, and the immediate leadership of Ribault (an officer of great spirit and enterprise), emigrated from France in 1562, with the intention of forming a protestant colony in Florida. This effort, by the mismanagement of the authorities, resulted in a failure, and the colonists returned to France. A second attempt, under the same leader, was equally unsuccessful; and, for a time, the colonisation of this portion of the American continent was abandoned.

The next enterprise in this direction was undertaken in 1584, by Sir Walter Raleigh, who, having obtained a grant of the territory from Queen Elizabeth, chartered two vessels with emigrants for the American coast; and, landing, gave to the whole country the name of Virginia, from which the two states of North and South Carolina were subsequently formed. The first effort of Raleigh, like that of Ribault, was a disastrous failure; and the emigrants, worn out by disappointment, fatigue, and hunger, returned to England. Undeterred by the discouragements which had been fatal to the first expedition, Raleigh, in 1587, equipped another company of adventurers, who endeavoured to establish themselves at Roanoke, near Cape Hatteras, where they had landed on the 22nd of July. This effort, like the first, was unsuccessful: the colonists were either starved or destroyed by the Indians; and, during a space of twenty years, no further attempt was made to plant an English colony in America.

Omitting further reference here to the establishment of European colonies upon the vast continent, we arrive at the period when Carolina was first named as a separate state; namely, in the year 1638, when Charles I. granted to Sir Robert Heath, then attorney-general, a range of territory on the North American continent, stretching to the southward of Virginia, from the 36th degree of north latitude, by the name of Carolina. Little was done towards forming a settlement under this grant; but, between the years 1640 and 1650, many persons, suffering from religious intolerance in Virginia, fled beyond her limits, and occupied a portion of North Carolina, north of Albemarle Sound. In 1670, the settlement had assumed a permanent character at Port Royal, on the right bank of the Rappahannock river, twenty-two miles below the site of the present town of Fredericsburg. A constitution was drawn up for the colonists by John Locke, in 1665, which was found too Utopian in its principles to be reduced to practice. The distinctive appellations of North and South Carolina came into use about the same time. South Carolina continued to be a proprietary government until 1719, when it

became a royal colony, and subsequently took an active part in exciting and carrying on the resistance to the mother country, which ended in the revolution of 1775. Since the recognition of its independence as a Federal state, South Carolina has taken a conspicuous part in the affairs of the general government, and has furnished some of the most distinguished among American statesmen-the list embracing the names f Pinkney, Lowndes, IIayne, Calhoun, &c.

South Carolina has an area of about 29,885 square miles, and is naturally divided into three zones; of which the first, the maritime, rises by a very gentle acclivity from the ocean; and the rivers being mostly shallow near their mouths, much of the surface f this outer belt is liable to be flooded by the tides. This region is followed, about the lower falls of the rivers, by a still more sandy zone, which is, in turn, succeeded by a hilly tract, between the head of tides and the mountains. The third, or mountainous tract, with the exception of the mountain ridges and a still-increased elevation, does not differ in any essential point from the middle or hilly zone; but the country continues ascend until it terminates, in the extreme north-west, in the Blue Ridge Mountains which attain, in Table Mountain, an elevation of about 4,000 feet above the sea; th boundary line between North and South Carolina being formed by the King's Mountaiz. Along the coast is a chain of low islands, separated from the mainland by a series ✅ lagoons, through which a coast navigation is carried on, unimpeded by the changes the ocean.

The coast of South Carolina, from the mouth of the Great Pedee to that of th Savannah, is lined with a succession of bays, sounds, and lagoons, which, although nov mostly shallow, have sufficient depth to allow of the coasting trade already referred to The rivers and larger streams of the state run in a south-eastern direction, and afford inland navigation of about 2,400 miles, apart from the creeks and inlets of the The Savannah can be navigated by steam-boats to Hamburg, and, by smaller boats, st higher. The Waccamaw may be ascended twelve miles, the Great Pedee 200 miles, and the Congaree and the Wateree about the same distance by steam-boats. The only district in the state without the advantage of navigation is Greenville.

sea.

The soil of South Carolina is divided into six classes. 1. Tide-swamp-adapted t the culture of rice. 2. Inland swamp-devoted to cotton, corn, rice, peas, &c. 3. Salt marsh-to long cotton. 4. Oak and pine-to long cotton, corn, potatoes, &c. 5. O and hickory-long cotton, corn, &c. 6. Pine-barrens-fruit, vegetables, &c. Of these various qualities of land, the two first are peculiarly adapted to the production of rice and hemp. The third is favourable to the growth of hemp, corn, and indigo. The Saltmars! district has been long neglected; but the oak and hickory land is remarkably fertile, and well adapted to the culture of corn, as well as of indigo and cotton; while the pine-barren, though the least productive, is so much more salubrious than the other soil in the low country, that a proportion of it is an indispensable appendage to every swamp plantation. The staple commodities of this state are cotton and rice, of which grea quantities are annually exported; and those articles have so absorbed the attention of the planters, that the culture of wheat, barley, oats, indigo, and other crops, equally useill but less profitable, has been neglected.

This state has not taken a prominent share in the development of the manufacturing

and coarse cotton stuffs.

Its industrial establishments chiefly applying to mining,

manufactures and the mechanical arts are few.

As regards its commerce, cotton and rice, lumber and naval stores, form the chief =objects of its export trade.

The Table Mountain, or Table Rock, in Picken's district, South Carolina, is regarded as one of the most remarkable natural curiosities of the state, having an elevation of about 4,000 feet above the sea; and presenting, in one direction, a perpendicular face of 1,100 feet above the surrounding country. Cæsar's Head, a considerable elevation in the same locality, is so called from its close resemblance to a human face, and is visible at a great distance. Glen's Spring, in Spartanbury district, is a fashionable place of resort for invalids; and the Falls of the Saluda, which have a descent of from 300 to 400 feet, are also objects of curiosity.

Eloquence and genius are among the most marked attributes of the public men whom this state has contributed to the Federal councils; and it has been the nursery of some of the most able orators, whose talents have shed lustre upon the annals of the Union. The university of South Carolina is an institution of high repute, and has enrolled distinguished names amongst the list of its professors. The income from the pupils, at the South Carolina College, Columbia, is wholly expended in improvements; the establishment being supported by liberal appropriations from the state. The colleges and free schools are numerous and well attended.

Charleston-the largest city in the state-is situated on a peninsula, between the rivers Ashley and Cooper, which unite immediately below the city, and form a spacious and convenient harbour, communicating with the ocean at Sullivan's Island, seven miles south-east of the city. This harbour has a bar at its mouth, through which are two channels, the deepest having sixteen feet of water at low tide; and it is defended by Fort Pinkney and Fort Sumpter, both of which are on islands-the one two, the other four miles below the city; as also by Fort Moultrie, on Sullivan's Island. The city, which was formerly the seat of government, contains some magnificent public buildings, and is laid out in parallel lines of streets, intersected by others at right angles.

PENNSYLVANIA.-At an early period in the settlement of America, the territory of Pennsylvania was claimed by the Dutch, upon the grounds of first occupancy on the Delaware river. The Swedes, in 1631, contested the right; and, in 1640, the English, from New Haven, alleged a claim under the law of discovery. Governor Stuyvesant, of the Dutch at New Amsterdam (now New York), in 1655, took forcible possession of the Swedish settlements on the west bank of the Delaware, claiming the whole as within the jurisdiction of New Netherlands. The patent given to the Duke of York, in 1664, by Charles II., embraced the territory claimed by the Dutch on the Hudson and the Delaware rivers. In 1675, the western part of Pennsylvania was sold to Edward Bylinge, of the Society of Friends, for whom William Penn became trustee; and, in 1681, the king gave to William Penn a patent for the eastern lands, which were named Pennsylvania. Penn proceeded immediately to encourage emigration, and peace with the Indians. He devised a system of government, and a code of laws. The lands on the south side of the Delaware, embraced within the patent of the Duke of York, were purchased by Penn; and, in August, 1682, with 2,000 emigrants, he sailed for America. After his arrival, he made a treaty with the Indians, and organised his colony upon