It Must Be Confess'd,
That The Most Noble And Sweetest Part Of This Country, Is Not Inhabited
By Any But
The Savages; and a great deal of the richest Part thereof,
has no Inhabitants but the Beasts of the Wilderness:
For, the Indians are not inclinable to settle in the richest Land,
because the Timbers are too large for them to cut down,
and too much burthen'd with Wood for their Labourers to make Plantations of;
besides, the Healthfulness of those Hills is apparent,
by the Gigantick Stature, and Gray-Heads, so common amongst the Savages
that dwell near the Mountains. The great Creator of all things,
having most wisely diffus'd his Blessings, by parcelling out
the Vintages of the World, into such Lots, as his wonderful Foresight saw
most proper, requisite, and convenient for the Habitations of his Creatures.
Towards the Sea, we have the Conveniency of Trade, Transportation,
and other Helps the Water affords; but oftentimes, those Advantages
are attended with indifferent Land, a thick Air, and other Inconveniences;
when backwards, near the Mountains, you meet with the richest Soil,
a sweet, thin Air, dry Roads, pleasant small murmuring Streams,
and several beneficial Productions and Species, which are unknown
in the European World. One Part of this Country affords
what the other is wholly a Stranger to.
{Chalybeate Waters.}
We have Chalybeate Waters of several Tastes and different Qualities;
some purge, others work by the other Emunctories. We have,
amongst the Inhabitants, a Water, that is, inwardly, a great Apersive,
and, outwardly, cures Ulcers, Tettars, and Sores, by washing therewith.
{Coal-Mine in Virginia.}
There has been a Coal-Mine lately found near the Mannakin Town,
above the Falls of James-River in Virginia, which proves
very good, and is us'd by the Smiths, for their Forges;
and we need not doubt of the same amongst us, towards the Heads of our Rivers;
but the Plenty of Wood (which is much the better Fuel)
makes us not inquisitive after Coal-Mines. {French Refugees.}
Most of the French, who lived at that Town on James-River, are remov'd
to Trent-River, in North-Carolina, where the rest were expected daily
to come to them, when I came away, which was in August, 1708.
They are much taken with the Pleasantness of that Country,
and, indeed, are a very industrious People. At present, they make
very good Linnen-Cloath and Thread, and are very well vers'd in cultivating
Hemp and Flax, of both which they raise very considerable Quantities;
and design to try an Essay of the Grape, for making of Wine.
{Planters.}
As for those of our own Country in Carolina, some of the Men
are very laborious, and make great Improvements in their Way;
but I dare hardly give 'em that Character in general. The easy Way of living
in that plentiful Country, makes a great many Planters very negligent,
which, were they otherwise, that Colony might now have been
in a far better Condition than it is, (as to Trade, and other Advantages)
which an universal Industry would have led them into.
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