As Good If Not Better Mines Than Those
The Spaniards Possess In America, Lie Full West From Us; And I Am Certain,
We Have As Mountainous Land, And As Great Probability Of Having Rich Minerals
In Carolina, As Any Of Those Parts That Are Already Found
To Be So Rich Therein.
But, waving this Subject, till some other Opportunity,
I shall now give you some Observations in general, concerning Carolina,
Which are, first, that it lies as convenient for Trade
as any of the Plantations in America; that we have Plenty of Pitch, Tar,
Skins of Deer, and Beeves, Furs, Rice, Wheat, Rie, Indian Grain,
sundry sorts of Pulse, Turpentine, Rozin, Masts, Yards, Planks and Boards,
Staves and Lumber, Timber of many common sorts, fit for any Uses;
Hemp, Flax, Barley, Oats, Buck-Wheat, Beef, Pork, Tallow, Hides,
Whale-Bone and Oil, Wax, Cheese, Butter, &c. besides Drugs, Dyes,
Fruit, Silk, Cotton, Indico, Oil, and Wine that we need not doubt of,
as soon as we make a regular Essay, the Country being adorn'd
with pleasant Meadows, Rivers, Mountains, Valleys, Hills, and rich Pastures,
and blessed with wholesome pure Air; especially a little backwards
from the Sea, where the wild Beasts inhabit, none of which are voracious.
The Men are active, the Women fruitful to Admiration, every House
being full of Children, and several Women that have come hither barren,
having presently prov'd fruitful. There cannot be a richer Soil;
no Place abounding more in Flesh and Fowl, both wild and tame,
besides Fish, Fruit, Grain, Cider, and many other pleasant Liquors;
together with several other Necessaries for Life and Trade,
that are daily found out, as new Discoveries are made. The Stone and Gout
seldom trouble us; the Consumption we are wholly Strangers to,
no Place affording a better Remedy for that Distemper,
than Carolina. For Trade, we lie so near to Virginia,
that we have the Advantage of their Convoys; as also Letters from thence,
in two or three Days at most, in some Places in as few Hours.
Add to this, that the great Number of Ships which come within those Capes,
for Virginia and Maryland, take off our Provisions,
and give us Bills of Exchange for England, which is Sterling Money.
The Planters in Virginia and Maryland are forc'd to do the same,
the great Quantities of Tobacco that are planted there,
making Provisions scarce; and Tobacco is a Commodity oftentimes so low,
as to bring nothing, whereas Provisions and Naval Stores
never fail of a Market. Besides, where these are raised,
in such Plenty as in Carolina, there always appears good Housekeeping,
and Plenty of all manner of delicate Eatables. For Instance,
the Pork of Carolina is very good, the younger Hogs fed on Peaches, Maiz,
and such other natural Produce; being some of the sweetest Meat
that the World affords, as is acknowledged by all Strangers
that have been there. And as for the Beef, in Pampticough,
and the Southward Parts, it proves extraordinary. We have not only
Provisions plentiful, but Cloaths of our own Manufactures, which are made,
and daily increase; Cotton, Wool, Hemp, and Flax, being of our own Growth;
and the Women to be highly commended for their Industry in Spinning,
and ordering their Houswifry to so great Advantage as they generally do;
which is much more easy, by reason this happy Climate,
visited with so mild Winters, is much warmer than the Northern Plantations,
which saves abundance of Cloaths; fewer serving our Necessities,
and those of our Servants. But this is not all; for we can go out
with our Commodities, to any other Part of the West-Indies,
or elsewhere, in the Depth of Winter; whereas, those in New-England,
New-York, Pensylvania, and the Colonies to the Northward of us,
cannot stir for Ice, but are fast lock'd into their Harbours.
Besides, we can trade with South-Carolina, and pay no Duties or Customs,
no more than their own Vessels, both North and South being under
the same Lords-Proprietors. We have, as I observ'd before,
another great Advantage, in not being a Frontier, and so continually alarm'd
by the Enemy; and what has been accounted a Detriment to us,
proves one of the greatest Advantages any People could wish; which is,
our Country's being faced with a Sound near ten Leagues over in some Places,
through which, although there be Water enough for as large Ships
to come in at, as in any part hitherto seated in both Carolinas;
yet the Difficulty of that Sound to Strangers, hinders them from attempting
any Hostilities against us; and, at the same time, if we consider
the Advantages thereof, nothing can appear to be a better Situation,
than to be fronted with such a Bulwark, which secures us from our Enemies.
Furthermore, our Distance from the Sea rids us of two Curses,
which attend most other Parts of America, viz. Muskeetos,
and the Worm-biting, which eats Ships Bottoms out; whereas at Bath-Town,
there is no such thing known; and as for Muskeetos, they hinder us
of as little Rest, as they do you in England. Add to this,
the unaccountable Quantities of Fish this great Water, or Sound,
supplies us withal, whenever we take the Pains to fish for them;
Advantages I have no where met withal in America, except here.
As for the Climate, we enjoy a very wholsome and serene Sky,
and a pure and thin Air, the Sun seldom missing to give us his daily Blessing,
unless now and then on a Winters Day, which is not often; and when cloudy,
the first Appearance of a North-West Wind clears the Horizon,
and restores the Light of the Sun. The Weather, in Summer, is very pleasant;
the hotter Months being refresh'd with continual Breezes of cool reviving Air;
and the Spring being as pleasant, and beautiful, as in any Place
I ever was in. The Winter, most commonly, is so mild,
that it looks like an Autumn, being now and then attended
with clear and thin North-West Winds, that are sharp enough to regulate
English Constitutions, and free them from a great many dangerous Distempers,
that a continual Summer afflicts them withal, nothing being wanting,
as to the natural Ornaments and Blessings of a Country,
that conduce to make reasonable Men happy.
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