and assumes the name of Apalachicola; it then runs & south-east course eighty miles, to the gulf of Mexico, which it enters by several mouths. Flint river is about 300 yards broad, and twelve or fifteen feet deep. It rises near the Okemulgee river, and runs, with a clear gentle current, a course to the west of south upwards of 200 miles. St. Mary's river rises in Okefanoke swamp, and running about 100 miles by a very crooked course, but rather eastwardly, forms the boundary line between the United States and East Florida, during its whole passage, and falls into the sea at St. Mary's, where it forms a good harbour. Its banks afford immense quantities of fine timber, suited to the West India market. Besides these there is Turtle river, Great Sitilla, Little Sitilla, Crooked river, and the Ogeche. All these rivers are stored with a great variety of fish, as rock, mullet, whiting, shad, trout, drum, bass, catfish, bream, and sturgeon; and the bays and lagoons are filled with oysters, and other shell fish, crabs, shrimps, &c. - This state, like the Carolinas, is naturally divided into two districts, the upper and the lower; of which the boundaries are remarkably well defined. The eastern part, between the ocean and the mountains, and the rivers Savannah and St. Mary's, a tract of country more than 120 miles from north to south, and forty or fifty east and west, is entirely level, without a hill or stone. At the distance of about fifty miles from the sea shore, the lands begin to be more or less uneven; the ridges gradually rising one above another into hills, and the bills successively increasing in height till they finally terminate in mountains. That vast chain which commences with Catskill, near Hudson's river, in the state of New York, known by the name of the Allegany mountains, terminate in this state, about sixty miles south of its northern boundary. From the foot of this mountain spreads a wide extended plain, of the richest soil, and in a latitude and climate favourably adapted to the cultivation of most of the East India productions, and those of the south of Europe. The state has a sea-coast of 100 miles, which is indented with bays and inlets, and studded with islands, well known by the name of Sea Islands These islands are surrounded by navigable creeks, between which and the main land is a large extent of salt marsh, fronting the whole state, not less than four or five miles in breadth, intersected with creeks in various directions, admitting, through the whole, an inland navigation, between the islands and the main land, from the north-east to the south-east corners of the state. Among these islands are the entrances of the rivers from the interior country, winding through the low salt marshes, and delivering their waters into the sounds, which form capacious harbours of from three to eight miles wide, and which communicate with each other by parallel salt creeks. In the southern part of the state lies a portion of Okefanoke swamp, one of the most remark, able in the world. It is situated between Flint and Okemulgee rivers, and is nearly 300 miles in circumfe rence. In wet seasons it appears like an inland sea, and has several large islands of rich land; one of which the Creek Indians represent as the most blissful spot upon earth. The rivers St. Mary and Sitilla, which fall into the Atlantic, and the beautiful little St. Juan, which empties into the bay of Apalachy, in the gulf of Mexico, flow from this lake. About ninety miles from the sea in a direct line, as you advance towards the mountains, is a very surprising bank of oyster shells of an uncommon size. They run in a direction nearly parallel with the sea-coast, in three dis tinct ridges near each other, which together occupy a space seven miles in breadth! The ridges commence at Savannah river, and have been traced to the northern branches of the Altamaha. This remarkable phenomenon cannot be accounted for in any other manner than by supposing that the sea-shore was formerly near this immense bed of shells; and that the ocean has, by the operation of certain causes not yet fully investigated, receded within its present bounds. These shells are an inexhaustible source of wealth to the neighbouring inhabitants, who carry them away in vast quantities for the purpose of making lime. Climate, soil, productions, &c.-The climate in many parts of this state cannot be esteemed healthy, at particular seasons of the year. In the low country near the rice swamps, bilious complaints and fevers of various kinds. are pretty universal during the months of July, August, and September, which, for this reason, are called the sickly months. The disorders peculiar to this climate originate chiefly from the badness of the water, which is generally brackish, and from the noxious putrid vapours which are exhaled from the stagnant waters in the rice swamps. Besides, the long continuance of warm weather produces a general relaxation of the nervous system; and as the inhabitants have no necessary labours to call them to exercise, a large share of indolence is the natural consequence; and indolence, especially among a luxurious people, is ever the parent of disease. Another cause of disorders is, the immense quantities of spirituous liquors which are used to correct the brackishness of the water, form a species of intemperance, which too often prove ruinous to the constitution. The winters in Georgia are very mild and pleasant, and snow is seldom or never seen. In the hilly country, which commences about 100 miles from the sea, the air is pure and salubrious, and the water plenty and good. In the flat country, there is here and there only a spring, which is clear and tolerably pure. In the south-east parts of this state, which lie within a few degrees of the torrid zone, the atmosphere is kept in motion by impressions from the trade winds. This serves to purify the air, and render it fit for respiration; so that it is found to have a very advantageous effect on persons of consumptive habits. The soil and its fertility are various, according to situation and different improvement. In the islands on the sea-coast, the natural growth is pine, oak, hickory, live oak (an uncommonly hard and very valuable wood) and some red cedar. These trees indicate a very fertile soil, and on cultivation it yields excellent crops of cotton, indigo, Indian corn, and potatoes. That superior kind of cotton well known in England by the name of Sea Island cotton, is raised in these islands; particularly in St. Symons and Cumberland isles. The soil of the main land, adjoining the marshes and creeks, is nearly of the same quality with that of the islands; except that which borders on those rivers which stretch far back into the country. On these, immediately after leaving the salt marsh, begin the valuable rice swamps, which on cultivation afford abundance of that great article of commerce. The soil between the rivers, after you leave the edge of the swamps, at the distance of twenty or thirty miles, changes from a gray to a red colour, on which grow plenty of oak and hickory, with some pine. In some places it is gravelly, but fertile, and so continues for a number of miles, gradually deepening the reddish colour of the earth, till it changes into what is called the mulatto soil, cousisting of a black and red earth. These mulatto lands are generally strong, and yield large crops of wheat, tobacco. Indian corn, &c. To this kind of land succeeds by turns a soil nearly black and very rich, on which grow large quantities of black walnut, mulberry, &c. This succession of the different soils continues uniform and regular, though there are some large veins of all the different soils intermixed; and what is more remarkable, this succession, in the order mentioned, stretches across this state nearly parallel with the sea-coast, and extends through the several states, nearly in the same direction, to the banks of Hudson's river. The agriculture and produce of this state are nearly similar to those of South Carolina. Cotton, rice, indigo, silk, Indian corn, potatoes, oranges, figs, &c.; but neither of the two fruits last mentioned can be recommended for excellence. The figs turn sour a few days after they have acquired the last degree of maturity; and the oranges consumed in Georgia and the Carolinas are not the produce of those states, but are brought from the island of St. Anastasia, situate opposite St. Augustin, the capital of East Florida; they are sweet, very large, fine skinned, and more esteemed than those brought from the West Indies. Cotton and rice are the staple commodities of this state; much tobacco is also raised; but as the land on which it grows is equally adapted for wheat, which is a much less exhausting crop, it is more than probable that in a short time the latter will entirely supercede the former. On the dry plains grow large crops of sweet potatoes, which are found to afford a wholesome nourishment, and from which is made a kind of whisky tolerably good, but inferior to that made from rye. By properly bruising and washing this root a sediment or starch is made, which has obtained the name of sago, and answers all the purposes of the Indian sago. Most of the tropical fruits would undoubtedly flourish in this state, with proper attention. The rice plant has been transplanted into it, and the tea plant may in like manner be introduced, with equal or superior advantage. The latitude, the soil, and the temperature of the climate, all invite to make the experiment; and it is not hazarding much to predict, that at no distant period, the south-western parts of this state, and the parts of Florida which lie adjoining, will become the vineyard of the United States. Civil divisions, towns, population, religion, character, &c.-Georgia before the revolution, was divided into parishes, afterwards into three districts, and since into two judiciary districts, viz. Upper and Lower, which are again subdivided into thirty-nine counties, containing by the last general census, in 1810, 252,433 inhabitants of whom 105,218 were slaves. Of the whole number, only 13,673 had obtained the age of forty-five years, while in New Jersey, with a population of nearly 7,000 less, the number of persons of forty-five years of age and upwards amounted to 31,113, and in Connecticut, where the popu lation was only 9,500 more than Georgia, the number who had arrived at the age of forty-five amounted to 43,180.-By the state census of 1817, the number of inhabitants was 408,567, being an increase of 156,134 in the space of seven years. Counties. Baldwin Bryan Bullock. Population. †Emanuel C. H. Appointed the seat of government for the state, since 1810. † Laid out since last census, 6,189 4,477 2,206 Carnesville, 78 Monticello, 220 Louisville, 524 Clinton, 85 Riceborough Darien, 206 Madison, 229 Eatonton, 180 C, H. 211,902 2 |