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Title: History of Louisisana

Or Of The Western Parts Of Virginia And Carolina: Containing A

Description Of The Countries That Lie On Both Sides Of The River

Missisippi

Author: Le Page Du Pratz

Release Date: October, 2005 [EBook #9153]

[Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule]

[This file was first posted on September 8, 2003]

Edition: 10

Language: English

Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1

*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HISTORY OF LOUISISANA ***

Produced by Stan Goodman and Distributed Proofreaders

THE HISTORY OF LOUISIANA,

OR OF THE WESTERN PARTS

OF VIRGINIA AND CAROLINA:

Containing a DESCRIPTION

of the Countries

that lie on both Sides

of the River Missisippi:

With an ACCOUNT of the

SETTLEMENTS,

INHABITANTS,

SOIL,

CLIMATE,

AND

PRODUCTS.

Translated from the FRENCH

Of M. LE PAGE Du PRATZ;

With some Notes and Observations

relating to our Colonies.

Foreword

Antoine Simon Le Page Du Pratz was a Dutchman, as his birth in Holland

about 1695 apparently proves. He died in 1775, just where available

records do not tell us, but the probabilities are that he died in

France, for it is said he entered the French Army, serving with the

Dragoons, and saw service in Germany. While there is some speculation

about all the foregoing, there can be no speculation about the

statement that on May 25, 1718 he left La Rochelle, France, in one of

three ships bound for a place called Louisiana.

For M. Le Page tells us about this in a three-volume work he wrote

called, Histoire de la Louisiane, recognized as the authority to be

consulted by all who have written on the early history of New Orleans

and the Louisiana province.

Le Page, who arrived in Louisiana August 25, 1718, three months after

leaving La Rochelle, spent four months at Dauphin Island before he and

his men made their way to Bayou St. John where he set up a plantation.

He had at last reached New Orleans, which he correctly states,

"existed only in name," and had to occupy an old lodge once used by an

Acolapissa Indian. The young settler, he was only about 23 at the

time, after arranging his shelter tells us: "A few days afterwards I

purchased from a neighbour a native female slave, so as to have a

woman to cook for us. My slave and I could not speak each other's

language; but I made myself understood by means of signs." This slave,

a girl of the Chitimacha tribe, remained with Le Page for years, and

one draws the inference that she was possessed of a vigorous

personality, and was not devoid of charm or bravery. Le Page writes

that when frightened by an alligator approaching his camp fire, he ran

to the lodge for his gun. However, the Indian girl calmly picked up a

stick and hammered the 'gator so lustily on its nose that it

retreated. As Le Page arrived with his gun, ready to shoot "the

monster," he tells us: "She began to smile, and said many things which

I did not comprehend, but she made me understand by signs, that there

was no occasion for a gun to kill such a beast."

It is unfortunate, for the purpose of sociological study, that this

Indian girl appears so infrequently in the many accounts Le Page has

left us in his highly interesting studies of early Louisiana and its

original inhabitants. He does not even tell us the Indian girl's name.

We are told that after living on the banks of Bayou St. John for about

two years, he left for the bluff lands of the Natchez country. His

Indian girl decided she would go with him, as she had relatives there.

Hearing of her plan, her old father offered to buy her back from Le

Page. The Chitimacha girl, however, refused to leave her master,

whereupon, the Indian father performed a rite of his tribe, which made

her the ward of the white man--a simple ceremony of joining hands.

Le Page spent eight years among the Natchez and what he wrote about

them--their lives, their customs, their ceremonials--has been

acknowledged to be the best and most accurate accounts we have of

these original inhabitants of Louisiana. He has left us, in his

splendid history, much information on the other Indian tribes of the

lower Mississippi River country.

Antoine Simon Le Page Du Pratz tells us he spent sixteen years in

Louisiana before returning to France in 1734. They were years well

spent--to judge by what he wrote.

As it was written and published in the French language, Le Page's

history proved in many instances to be a tantalizing casket of

historical treasure that could not be opened by those who had not

mastered French. The original edition, published in Paris in 1758, a

score of years after the author landed in New Orleans, was followed in

1763 by a two-volume edition in English, and eleven years later in

1774, by a one-volume edition in English, entitled: "The History of

Louisiana, or of the Western Parts of Virginia and Carolina." The

texts in the English editions are identical.

Fortunately, early historians who could not read the French edition,

were now able to read M. Le Page's accounts of his adventures in the

New World. Unfortunately, especially for present day historians, the

English editions have become increasingly rare--many libraries do not

have them on their shelves. Therefore, the present re-publication

fills a long-felt want.

The English translation, with its added matter, is reproduced exactly

as it was printed for T. Becket to be sold in his shop at the corner

of the Adelphi in the Strand, London, 1774. Errors of grammar and

spelling are not corrected. The only change is the modernizing of the

old _s_'s which look like _f_'s.

The present edition is really two works in one, for the English

translation did not include any of the original edition's many

illustrations. The London books did have two folding maps, one of the

Louisiana province, the other of the country about the mouths of the

Mississippi River. Not only are these maps reproduced in the present

work, but in addition, all the other illustrations, including the rare

map of New Orleans, appearing in the original French edition, are

included. These quaint engravings of the birds, the beasts, the

flowers, the shrubs, the trees, fish, the deer and buffalo hunts, and

the habits and customs of the Natchez Indians, add much to the value

of the present re-publication. I have captioned them with present-day

names of the flora and fauna.

STANLEY CLISBY ARTHUR.

(_Mr. Arthur is a naturalist, historian and writer, and

executive-director of the Louisiana State Museum.--J. S. W.

Harmanson, Publisher_.)

CONTENTS

Preface

BOOK I.

The Transactions of the French in Louisiana.

CHAP. I.

Of the first Discovery and Settlement of Louisiana

CHAP. II.

The Return of M. de St. Denis: His settling the Spaniards

at the Assina‹s. His second Journey to Mexico, and Return

from thence

CHAP. III.

Embarkation of eight hundred Men by the West-India Company

to Louisiana. Arrival and Stay at Cape Fran‡ois. Arrival

at the Isle Dauphine. Description of that Island

CHAP. IV.

The Author's Departure for his Grant. Description of the

Places he passed through, as far as New Orleans

CHAP. V.

The Author put in Possession of his Territory. His

Resolution to go and settle among the Natchez

CHAP. VI.

The Voyage of the Author to Biloxi. Description of that

Place. Settlement of Grants. The Author discovers two

Copper Mines. His Return to the Natchez

CHAP. VII.

First War with the Natchez. Cause of the War

CHAP. VIII.

The Governor surprized the Natchez with seven hundred

Men. Astonishing Cures performed by the Natives. The

Author sends upwards of three hundred Simples to the

Company

CHAP. IX.

French Settlements, or Posts. Post at Mobile. The Mouths

of the Missisippi. The Situation and Description of New

Orleans

CHAP. X.

The Voyages of the French to the Missouris, Canzas, and

Padoucas. The Settlements they in vain attempted to make

in those Countries; with a Description of an extraordinary

Phaenomenon

CHAP. XI.

The War with the Chitimachas. The Conspiracy of the Negroes

against the French. Their Execution

CHAP. XII.

The War of the Natchez. Massacre of the French in 1729.

Extirpation of the Natchez in 1730

CHAP. XIII.

The War with the Chicasaws. The first Expedition by the

River Mobile. The second by the River Missisippi. The War

with the Chactaws terminated by the Prudence of M. de

Vaudreuil

CHAP. XIV.

Reflections on what gives Occasion to Wars in Louisiana.

The Means of avoiding Wars in that Province, as also the

Manner of coming off with Advantage and little Expence in

them

CHAP. XV.

Pensacola taken by Surprize by the French. Retaken by the

Spaniards. Again retaken by the French, and demolished

BOOK II.

Of the Country and its Products.

CHAP. I.

Geographical Description of Louisiana. Its climate

Description of the Lower Louisiana, and the Mouths of the

Missisippi.

CHAP. II.

The Author's journey in Louisiana, from the Natchez to the

River St. Francis, and the Country of the Chicasaws

CHAP. III.

The Nature of the Lands of Louisiana. The Lands on the

Coast.

CHAP. IV.

Quality of the Lands above the Fork. A Quarry of Stone

for building. High Lands to the East: Their vast Fertility.

West Coast: West Lands: Saltpetre

CHAP. V.

Quality of the Lands of the Red River. Posts of

Nachitoches. A Silver Mine. Lands of the Black River

CHAP. VI.

A Brook of salt Water: Salt Lakes. Lands of the River

of the Arkansas. Red-veined Marble: Slate: Plaster.

Hunting the Buffalo. The dry Sand-banks in the Missisippi

CHAP. VII.

The Lands of the River St. Francis. Mine of Marameg, and

other Mines. A Lead Mine. A soft Stone, resembling

Porphyry. Lands of the Missouri. The Lands North of the

Wabache. The Lands of the Illinois. De La Mothe's Mine,

and other Mines

CHAP. VIII.

Of the Agriculture, or Manner of cultivating, ordering,

and manufacturing the Commodities that are proper

Articles of Commerce. Of the Culture of Maiz, Rice, and

other Fruits of the Country. Of the Silk Worm

CHAP. IX.

Of Indigo, Tobacco, Cotton, Wax, Hops, and Saffron

CHAP. X.

Of the Commerce that is, and may be carried on in

Louisiana. Of the Commodities which that Province

may furnish in Return for those of Europe. Of the

Commerce of Louisiana with the Isles

CHAP. XI.

Of the Commerce with the Spaniards. The Commodities

they bring to the Colony, if there is a Demand for

them. Of such as may be given in Return, and may suit

them. Reflections on the Commerce of this Province,

and the great Advantages which the State and

particular Persons may derive therefrom

Some Abstracts from the Historical Memoirs of Louisiana,

by M. Dumont.

I. Of Tobacco, with the Way of cultivating and curing it

II. Of the Way of making Indigo

III. Of Tar; the Way of making it; and of making it into

pitch

IV. Of the Mines of Louisiana

Extract from a late French Writer, concerning the Importance

of Louisiana to France

BOOK III.

The Natural History of Louisiana.

CHAP. I.

Of Corn and Pulse

CHAP. II.

Of the Fruit Trees of Louisiana

CHAP. III.

Of Forest Trees

CHAP. IV.

Of Shrubs and Excrescences

CHAP. V.

Of Creeping Plants

CHAP. VI.

Of the Quadrupedes

CHAP. VII.

Of Birds and flying Insects

CHAP. VIII.

Of Fishes and Shell-Fish

BOOK IV.

Of the Natives of Louisiana.

CHAP. I.

The Origin of the Americans

CHAP. II.

An Account of the several Nations of Louisiana

SECT. I.

Of the Nations inhabiting on the East of the Missisippi

SECT. II.

Of the Nations inhabiting on the West of the Missisippi

CHAP. III.

A Description of the Natives of Louisiana; of their

Manners and Customs, particularly those of the Natchez:

Of their Language, their Religion, Ceremonies, Rulers,

or Suns, Feasts, Marriages, &c

SECT. I.

A Description of the Natives; the different Employments

of the two Sexes; and their Manner of bringing up their

Children

SECT. II.

Of the Language, Government, Religion, Ceremonies, and

Feasts of the Natives

SECT. III.

Of their Marriages, and Distinction of Ranks

SECT. IV.

Of the Temples, Tombs, Burials, and other religious

Ceremonies of the People of Louisiana

SECT. V.

Of the Arts and Manufactures of the Natives

SECT. VI.

Of the Attire and Diversions of the Natives: Of their

Meals and Fastings

SECT. VII.

Of the Indian Art of War

CHAP. IV.

Of the Negroes of Louisiana

SECT. I.

Of the Choice of Negroes; of their Distempers, and the

Manner of curing them

SECT. II.

Of the Manner of governing the Negroes

INDEX

List of Illustrations

Indian in Summer Time

Indian in Winter Time

Indian Woman and Daughter

Plan of New Orleans, 1720

Beaver, Beaver lodge, Beaver dam

Indians of the North Leaving in the Winter with their

Families for a Hunt

Indigo

Cotton and Rice on the Stalk

Appalachean Beans. Sweet Potatoes

Watermelon

Pawpaw. Blue Whortle-berry

Sweet Gum or Liquid-Amber

Cypress

Magnolia

Sassafras

Myrtle Wax Tree. Vinegar Tree

Poplar ("Cotton Tree")

Black Oak

Linden or Bass Tree

Box Elder or Stink-wood Tree

Cassine or Yapon. Tooth-ache Tree or Prickly Ash

Passion Thorn or Honey Locust. Bearded Creeper

Palmetto

Bramble, Sarsaparilla

Rattlesnake Herb

Red Dye Plant. Flat Root

Panther or Catamount. Bison or Buffalo

Indian Deer Hunt

Wild Cat. Opossum. Skunk

Alligator. Rattle Snake. Green Snake

Pelican. Wood Stock

Flying Squirrel. Roseate Spoonbill. Snowy Heron

White Ibis. Tobacco Worm. Cock Roach

Cat Fish. Gar Fish. Spoonbill Catfish

Indian Buffalo Hunt on Foot

Dance of the Natchez Indians

Burial of the Stung Serpent

Bringing the Pipe of Peace

Torture of Prisoners. Plan of Fort

{i}

PREFACE

The History of Louisiana, which we here present to the public, was

wrote by a planter of sixteen years experience in that country, who

had likewise the advantage of being overseer or director of the public

plantations, both when they belonged to the company, and afterwards

when they fell to the crown; by which means he had the best

opportunities of knowing the nature of the soil and climate, and what

they produce, or what improvements they are likely to admit of; a

thing in which this nation is, without doubt, highly concerned and

interested. And when our author published this history in 1758, he had

likewise the advantage, not only of the accounts of F. Charlevoix, and

others, but of the Historical Memoirs of Louisiana, published at Paris

in 1753, by Mr. Dumont, an officer who resided two-and-twenty years in

the country, and was personally concerned and acquainted with many of

the transactions in it; from whom we have extracted some passages, to

render this account more complete.

But whatever opportunities our author had of gaining a knowledge of

his subject, it must be owned, that he made his accounts of it very

perplexed. By endeavoring to take in every thing, he descends to many

trifles; and by dwelling too long on a subject, he comes to render it

obscure, by being prolix in things which hardly relate to what he

treats of. He interrupts the thread of his discourse with private

anecdotes, long harangues, and tedious narrations, which have little

or no relation to the subject, and are of much less consequence to the

reader. The want of method and order throughout the whole work is

still more apparent; and that, joined to these digressions, renders

his accounts, however just and interesting, so tedious and irksome to

read, and at the same time so indistinct, that few seem to have reaped

the benefit of them. For these reasons it was necessary to methodize

the whole work; to abridge some parts of it; and to leave out many

things that appear to be trifling. This we have endeavored to do in

the translation, by reducing the whole work to four general heads or

books; and {ii} by bringing the several subjects treated of, the

accounts of which lie scattered up and down in different parts of the

original, under these their proper heads; so that the connection

between them, and the accounts of any one subject, may more easily

appear.

This, it is presumed, will appear to be a subject of no small

consequence and importance to this nation, especially at this time.

The countries here treated of, have not only by right always belonged

to Great-Britain, but part of them is now acknowledged to it by the

former usurpers: and it is to be hoped, that the nation may now reap

some advantages from those countries, on which it has expended so many

millions; which there is no more likely way to do, than by making them

better known in the first place, and by learning from the experience

of others, what they do or are likely to produce, that may turn to

account to the nation.

It has been generally suspected, that this nation has suffered much,

from the want of a due knowledge of her dominions in America, which we

should endeavor to prevent for the future. If that may be said of any

part of America, it certainly may of those countries, which have been

called by the French Louisiana. They have not only included under that

name all the western parts of Virginia and Carolina; and thereby

imagined, that they had, from this nominal title, a just right to

those antient dominions of the crown of Britain: but what is of worse

consequence perhaps, they have equally deceived and imposed upon many,

by the extravagant hopes and unreasonable expectations they had formed

to themselves, of the vast advantages they were to reap from those

countries, as soon as they had usurped them; which when they came to

be disappointed in, they ran from one extreme to another, and

condemned the country as good for nothing, because it did not answer

the extravagant hopes they had conceived of it; and we seem to be

misled by their prejudices, and to be drawn into mistakes by their

artifice or folly. Because the Missisippi scheme failed in 1719, every

other reasonable scheme of improving that country, and of reaping any

advantage from it, must do the same. It is to wipe off these

prejudices, that the following account of these countries, which

appears to be both {iii} just and reasonable, and agreeable to every

thing we know of America, may be the more necessary.

We have been long ago told by F. Charlevoix, from whence it is, that

many people have formed a contemptible opinion of this country that

lies on and about the Missisippi. They are misled, says he, by the

relations of some seafaring people, and others, who are no manner of

judges of such things, and have never seen any part of the country but

the coast side, about Mobile, and the mouths of the Mississippi; which

our author here tells us is as dismal to appearance, the only thing

those people are capable of judging of, as the interior parts of the

country, which they never saw, are delightful, fruitful, and inviting.

They tell us, besides, that the country is unhealthful; because there

happens to be a marsh at the mouth of the Missisippi, (and what river

is there without one?) which they imagine must be unhealthful, rather

than that they know it to be so; not considering, that all the coast

both of North and South America is the same; and not knowing, that the

whole continent, above this single part on the coast, is the most

likely, from its situation, and has been found by all the experience

that has been had of it, to be the most healthy part of all North

America in the same climates, as will abundantly appear from the

following and all other accounts.

To give a general view of those countries, we should consider them as

they are naturally divided into four parts; 1. The sea coast; 2. The

Lower Louisiana, or western part of Carolina; 3. The Upper Louisiana,

or western part of Virginia; and 4, the river Missisippi.

I. The sea coast is the same with all the rest of the coast of North

America to the southward of New York, and indeed from thence to Mexico,

as far as we are acquainted with it. It is all a low flat sandy beach,

and the soil for some twenty or thirty miles distance from the shore,

more or less, is all a _pine barren_, as it is called, or a sandy

desart; with few or no good ports or harbours on the coast, especially

in all those southern parts of America, from Chesapeak bay to Mexico.

But however barren this coast is in other respects, it is entirely

covered with tall pines, which afford great store of pitch, tar, and

turpentine. {iv} These pines likewise make good masts for ships; which I

have known to last for twenty odd years, when it is well known, that our

common masts of New England white pine will often decay in three or four

years. These masts were of that kind that is called the pitch pine, and

lightwood pine; of which I knew a ship built that ran for sixteen years,

when her planks of this pine were as sound and rather harder than at

first, although her oak timbers were rotten. The cypress, of which there

is such plenty in the swamps on this coast, is reckoned to be equally

serviceable, if not more so, both for masts (of which it would afford

the largest of any tree that we know), and for ship building. And ships

might be built of both these timbers for half the price perhaps of any

others, both on account of the vast plenty of them, and of their being

so easily worked.

In most parts of these coasts likewise, especially about the

Missisippi, there is great plenty of cedars and ever-green oaks; which

make the best ships of any that are built in North America. And we

suspect it is of these cedars and the American cypress, that the

Spaniards build their ships of war at the Havanna. Of these there is

the greatest plenty, immediately; to the westward of the mouth of the

Missisippi where "large vessels can go to the lake of the Chetimachas,

and nothing hinders them to go and cut the finest oaks in the world,

with which all that coast is covered;" [Footnote: _Charlevoix_ Hist. N.

France, Tom. III. p. 444.] which, moreover, is a sure sign of a very

good, instead of a bad soil; and accordingly we see the French have

settled their tobacco plantations thereabouts. It is not without

reason then, that our author tells us, the largest navies might be

built in that country at a very small expence.

From this it appears, that even the sea coast, barren as it is, from

which the whole country has been so much depreciated, is not without

its advantages, and those peculiarly adapted to a trading and maritime

nation. Had these sandy desarts indeed been in such a climate as

Canada, they would have been of as little value, as many would make

them here. It might be difficult indeed to settle colonies merely for

these or any other {v} productions of those poor lands: but to the

westward of the Missisippi, the coast is much more fruitful all along

the bay of Mexico; being watered with a great number of rivers, the

banks of which are very fertile, and are covered with forests of the

tallest oaks, &c. as far as to New Mexico, a thing not to be seen any

where else on these coasts. The coast alone will supply all the

products of North America, and is as convenient to navigation as any

part of it, without going nigh the Missisippi; so that it is with good

reason our author says, "That country promises great riches to such as

shall inhabit it, from the excellent quality of its lands," [Footnote:

See p. 163.] in such a climate.

These are the productions of the dry (we cannot call them high)

grounds: the swamps, with which this coast abounds, are still more

fruitful, and abundantly compensate the avidity and barrenness of the

soil around them. They bear rice in such plenty, especially the marsh

about New Orleans, "That the inhabitants reap the greatest advantage

from it, and reckon it the manna of the land." [Footnote: _Dumont_,

I. 15.] It was such marshes on the Nile, in the same climate, that were

the granary of the Roman empire. And from a few such marshes in

Carolina, not to be compared to those on the Missisippi, either in

extent or fertility, Britain receives at least two or three hundred

thousand pounds a year, and might vend twice that value of their

products.

But however barren or noxious these low lands on the sea coast may be,

they extend but a little way about the Missisippi, not above thirty or

forty miles in a straight line, on the east side of that river, and

about twice as far on the west side; in which last, the lands are, in

recompence, much more fruitful. To follow the course of the river

indeed, which runs very obliquely south-east and north-west, as well

as crooked, they reckon it eighty-two leagues from the mouth of the

river to the Cut-Point, where the high lands begin.

II. By the Lower Louisiana, our author means only the Delta of the

Missisippi, or the drowned lands made by the overflowing of the river.

But we may more properly give {vi} that appellation to the whole

country, from the low and flat sea coast above described, to the

mountains, which begin about the latitude 35ø, a little above the

river St. Francis; that is, five degrees of latitude, or three hundred

and fifty statute miles from the coast; which they reckon to be six

hundred and sixty miles up the Missisippi. About that latitude a

continued ridge of mountains runs westward from the Apalachean

mountains nigh to the banks of the Missisippi, which are thereabouts

very high, at what we have called the Chicasaw Cliffs. Opposite to

these on the west side of the Missisippi, the country is mountainous,

and continues to be so here and there, as far as we have any accounts

of it, westward to the mountains of New Mexico; which run in a chain

of continued ridges from north to south, and are reckoned to divide

that country from Louisiana, about 900 miles west from the Missisippi.

This is one entire level champaign country; the part of which that

lies west of the Missisippi is 900 miles (of sixty to a degree) by

300, and contains 270,000 square miles, as much as both France and

Spain put together. This country lies in the latitude of those

fruitful regions of Barbary, Syria, Persia, India, and the middle of

China, and is alone sufficient to supply the world with all the

products of North America. It is very fertile in every thing, both in

lands and metals, by all the accounts we have of it; and is watered by

several large navigable rivers, that spread over the whole country

from the Missisippi to New Mexico; besides several smaller rivers on

the coast west of the Missisippi, that fall into the bay of Mexico; of

which we have no good accounts, if it be not that Mr. Coxe tells us of

one, the river of the Cenis, which, he says, "is broad, deep, and

navigable almost to its heads, which chiefly proceed from the ridge of

hills that separate this province from New Mexico," [Footnote:

Description of Carolina, p. 37] and runs through the rich and

fertile country on the coast above mentioned.

The western part of this country is more fertile, says our author,

than that on the east side of the Missisippi; in which part, however,

says he, the lands are very fertile, with a rich {vii} black mould

three feet deep in the hills, and much deeper in the bottoms, with a

strong clayey foundation. Reeds and canes even grow upon the hill

sides; which, with the oaks, walnuts, tulip-trees, &c. are a sure sign

of a good and rich soil. And all along the Missisippi on both sides,

Dumont tells, "The lands, which are all free from inundations, are

excellent for culture, particularly those about Baton Rouge,

Cut-Point, Arkansas, Natchez, and Yasous, which produce Indian corn,

tobacco, indigo, &c. and all kinds of provisions and esculent plants,

with little or no care or labour, and almost without culture; the soil

being in all those places a black mould of an excellent quality."

[Footnote: Memoires, I. 16.]

These accounts are confirmed by our own people, who were sent by the

government of Virginia in 1742, to view these the western parts of

that province; and although they only went down the Ohio and

Missisippi to New Orleans, they reported, that "they saw more good

land on the Missisippi, and its many large branches, than they judge

is in all the English colonies, as far as they are inhabited;" as

appears from the report of that government to the board of trade.

What makes this fertile country more eligible and valuable, is, that

it appears both from its situation, and from the experience the French

have had of it, [Footnote: See p. 120, 121.] to be by far the most

healthful of any in all these southern parts of North America; a thing

of the last consequence in settling colonies, especially in those

southern parts of America, which are in general very unhealthful. All

the sea coasts of our colonies, to the southward of Chesapeak bay, or

even of New-York, are low and flat, marshy and swampy, and very

unhealthful on that account and those on and about the bay of Mexico,

and in Florida, are withal excessively hot and intemperate, so that

white people are unfit for labour in them; by which all our southern

colonies, which alone promise to be of any great advantage to the

nation, are so thin of people, that we have but 25,000 white people in

all South Carolina. [Footnote: Description of South Carolina. by----,

p. 30.] But those lands on the Missisippi are, on {viii} the

contrary, high, dry, hilly, and in some places mountainous at no great

distance from the river, besides the ridges of the Apalachean

mountains above mentioned, that lie to the northward of them; which

must greatly refresh and cool the air all over the country, especially

in comparison of what it is on the low and flat, sandy and parched sea

coasts of our present colonies. These high lands begin immediately

above the Delta, or drowned lands, at the mouth of the Missisippi;

above which the banks of that river are from one hundred to two

hundred feet high, without any marshes about them; and continue such

for nine hundred miles to the river Ohio, especially on the east side

of the river. [Footnote: See p. 158]

Such a situation on rich and fertile lands in that climate, and on a

navigable river, must appear to be of the utmost consequence. It is only

from the rich lands on the river sides (which indeed are the only lands

that can generally be called rich in all countries, and especially in

North America), that this nation reaps any thing of value from all the

colonies it has in that part of the world. But "rich lands on river

sides in hot climates are extremely unhealthful," says a very good judge,

[Footnote: _Arbuthnot_ on Air. _App_.] and we have often found to our

cost. How ought we then to value such rich and healthful countries on

the Missisippi? As much surely as some would depreciate and vilify them.

It may be observed, that all the countries in America are only populous

in the inland parts, and generally at a distance from navigation; as the

sea coasts both of North and South America are generally low, damp,

excessively hot, and unhealthful; at least in all the southern parts,

from which alone we can expect any considerable returns. Instances of

this may be seen in the adjacent provinces of Mexico, New Mexico, Terra

Firma, Peru, Quito, etc. and far more in our southern colonies, which

never became populous, till the people removed to the inland parts, at a

distance from the sea. This we are in a manner prevented to do in our

colonies, by the mountains which surround us, and confine us to the

coast; whereas on the Missisippi the whole continent is open to them,

and they have, besides, this healthy {ix} situation on the lower parts

of that river, at a small distance from the sea.

If those things are duly considered, it will appear, that they who are

possessed of the Missisippi, will in time command that continent; and

that we shall be confined on the sea coasts of our colonies, to that

unhealthful situation, which many would persuade us is so much to be

dreaded on the Missisippi. It is by this means that we have so very few

people in all our southern colonies; and have not been able to get in

one hundred years above twenty-five thousand people in South Carolina;

when the French has not less than eighty or ninety thousand in Canada,

besides ten or twelve thousand on the Missisippi, to oppose to them. The

low and drowned lands, indeed, about the mouth of the Missisippi must no

doubt be more or less unhealthful; but they are far from being so very

pernicious as many represent them. The waters there are fresh, which we

know, by manifold experience in America, are much less prejudicial to

health than the offensive fetid marshes, that are to be found every

where else on the salt waters. Accordingly we are credibly informed,

that some of the inhabitants of New Orleans say, they never enjoyed

better health even in France; and for that reason they invite their

countrymen, in their letters to them, we are told, to come and partake

of the salutary benefits of that delightful country. The clearing,

draining, and cultivating of those low lands, must make a very great

change upon them, from the accounts we have had of them in their rude

and uncultivated state.

III. The Upper Louisiana we call that part of the continent, which

lies to the northward of the mountains above mentioned in latitude

35ø. This country is in many places hilly and mountainous for which

reason we cannot expect it to be so fertile as the plains below it.

But those hills on the west side of the Missisippi are generally

suspected to contain mines, as well as the mountains of New Mexico, of

which they are a continuation. But the fertile plains of Louisiana are

perhaps more valuable than all the mines of Mexico; which there would

be no doubt of, if they were duly cultivated. They will breed and

maintain ten times as many people, and supply them with {x} many more

necessaries, and articles of trade and navigation, than the richest

mines of Peru.

The most important place in this country, and perhaps in all North

America, is at the Forks of the Missisippi, where the Ohio falls into

that river; which, like another ocean, is the general receptacle of

all the rivers that water the interior parts of that vast continent.

Here those large and navigable rivers, the Ohio, river of the

Cherokees, Wabache, Illinois, Missouri, and Missisippi, besides many

others, which spread over that whole continent, from the Apalachean

mountains to the mountains of New Mexico, upwards of one thousand

miles, both north, south, east, and west, all meet together at this

spot; and that in the best climate, and one of the most fruitful

countries of any in all that part of the world, in the latitude 37ø,

the latitude of the Capes of Virginia, and of Santa Fe, the capital of

New Mexico. By that means there is a convenient navigation to this

place from our present settlements to New Mexico; and from all the

inland parts of North America, farther than we are acquainted with it:

and all the natives of that continent, those old friends and allies of

the French, have by that means a free and ready access to this place;

nigh to which the French formed a settlement, to secure their interest

on the frontiers of all our southern colonies. In short this place is

the centre of that vast continent, and of all the nations in it, and

seems to be intended by nature to command them both; for which reason

it ought no longer to be neglected by Britain. As soon as we pass the

Apalachean mountains, this seems to be the most proper place to settle

at; and was pitched upon for that purpose, by those who were the best

acquainted with those countries, and the proper places of making

settlements in them, of any we know. And if the settlements at this

place had been made, as they were proposed, about twenty years ago,

they might have prevented, or at least frustrated, the late attempts

to wrest that country, and the territories of the Ohio, out of the

hands of the English; and they may do the same again.

But many will tell us, that those inland parts of North America will

be of no use to Britain, on account of their distance {xi} from the

sea, and inconvenience to navigation. That indeed might be said of the

parts which lie immediately beyond the mountains, as the country of

the Cherokees, and Ohio Indians about Pitsburg, the only countries

thereabouts that we can extend our settlements to; which are so

inconvenient to navigation, that nothing can be brought from them

across the mountains, at least none of those gross commodities, which

are the staple of North America; and they are as inconvenient to have

any thing carried from them, nigh two thousand miles, down the river

Ohio, and then by the Missisippi. For that reason those countries,

which we look upon to be the most convenient, are the most

inconvenient to us of any, although they join upon our present

settlements. It is for these reasons, that the first settlements we

make beyond the mountains, that is, beyond those we are now possessed

of, should be upon the Missisippi, as we have said, convenient to the

navigation of that river; and in time those new settlements may come

to join to our present plantations; and we may by that means reap the

benefit of all those inland parts of North America, by means of the

navigation of the Missisippi, which will be secured by this post at

the Forks. If that is not done, we cannot see how any of those inland

parts of America, and the territories of the Ohio, which were the

great objects of the present war, can ever be of any use to Britain,

as the inhabitants of all those countries can otherwise have little or

no correspondence with it.

IV. This famous river, the Missisippi, is navigable upwards of two

thousand miles, to the falls of St. Anthony in latitude 45ø, the only

fall we know in it, which is 16 degrees of latitude above its mouth;

and even above that fall, our author tells us, there is thirty fathom

of water in the river, with a proportionate breadth. About one

thousand miles from its mouth it receives the river Ohio, which is

navigable one thousand miles farther, some say one thousand five

hundred, nigh to its source, not far from Lake Ontario in New York; in

all which space there is but one fall or rapide in the Ohio, and that

navigable both up and down, at least in canoes. This fall is three

hundred miles from the Missisippi, and one thousand three hundred from

the sea, with five fathom of water up to {xii} it. The other large

branches of the Ohio, the river of the Cherokees, and the Wabache,

afford a like navigation, from lake Erie in the north to the Cherokees

in the south, and from thence to the bay of Mexico, by the Missisippi:

not to mention the great river Missouri, which runs to the north-west

parts of New Mexico, much farther than we have any good accounts of

that continent. From this it appears, that the Missouri affords the

most extensive navigation of any river we know; so that it may justly

be compared to an inland sea, which spreads over nine tenths of all

the continent of North America; all which the French pretended to lay

claim to, for no other reason but because they were possessed of a

paltry settlement at the mouth of this river.

If those things are considered, the importance of the navigation of

the Missisippi, and of a port at the mouth of it, will abundantly

appear. Whatever that navigation is, good or bad, it is the only one

for all the interior parts of North America, which are as large as a

great part of Europe; no part of which can be of any service to

Britain, without the navigation of the Missisippi, and settlements

upon it. It is not without reason then, that we say, whoever are

possessed of this river, and of the vast tracts of fertile lands upon

it, must in time command that continent, and the trade of it, as well

as all the natives in it, by the supplies which this navigation will

enable them to furnish those people. By those means, if the French, or

any others, are left in possession of the Missisippi, while we neglect

it, they must command all that continent beyond the Apalachean

mountains, and disturb our settlements much more than ever they did,

or were able to do; the very thing they engaged in this war to

accomplish, and we to prevent.

The Missisippi indeed is rapid for twelve hundred miles, as far as to

the Missouri, which makes it difficult to go up the river by water.

For that reason the French have been used to quit the Missisippi at

the river St. Francis, from which they have a nigher way to the Forks

of the Missisippi by land. But however difficult it may be to ascend

the river, it is, notwithstanding often done; and its rapidity

facilitates a descent upon it, and a ready conveyance for those gross

commodities, which {xiii} are the chief staple of North America, from

the most remote places of the continent above mentioned: and as for

lighter European goods, they are more easily carried by land, as our

Indian traders do, over great part of the continent, on their horses,

of which this country abounds with great plenty.

The worst part of the navigation, as well as of the country, is

reckoned to be at the mouth of the river; which, however, our author

tells us, is from seventeen to eighteen feet deep, and will admit

ships of five hundred tons, the largest generally used in the

plantation trade. And even this navigation might be easily mended, not

only by clearing the river of a narrow bar in the passes, which our

author, Charlevoix, and others, think might be easily done; but

likewise by means of a bay described by Mr. Coxe, from the actual

survey of his people, lying to the westward of the south pass of the

river; which, he says, has from twenty-five to six fathom water in it,

close to the shore, and not above a mile from the Missisippi, above

all the shoals and difficult passes in it, and where the river has one

hundred feet of water. By cutting through that one mile then, it would

appear that a port might be made there for ships of any burden; the

importance of which is evident, from its commanding all the inland

parts of North America on one side, and the pass from Mexico on the

other; so as to be preferable in these respects even to the Havanna;

not to mention that it is fresh water, and free from worms, which

destroy all the ships in those parts.

And as for the navigation from the Missisippi to Europe, our author

shews that voyage may be performed in six weeks; which is as short a

time as our ships generally take to go to and from our colonies. They

go to the Missisippi with the trade winds, and return with the

currents.

It would lead us beyond the bounds of a preface, to shew the many

advantages of those lands on the Missisippi to Britain, or the

necessity of possessing them. That would require a treatise by itself,

of which we can only give a few abstracts in this place. For this

purpose we should compare those lands with our present colonies; and

should be well informed of the quantity and condition of the lands we

already possess, before {xiv} we can form any just judgement of what

may be farther proper or requisite.

Our present possessions in North America between the sea and the

mountains appear, from many surveys and actual mensurations, as well

as from all the maps and other accounts we have of them, to be at a

medium about three degrees of longitude, or one hundred and forty

miles broad, in a straight line; and they extend from Georgia, in

latitude 32ø, to the bay of Fundi, in latitude 45ø (which is much

farther both north and south, than the lands appear to be of any great

value); which makes 13 degrees difference of latitude, or 780 miles:

this length multiplied by the breadth 140, makes 109,200 square

miles., This is not above as much land as is contained in Britain and

Ireland; which, by Templeman's Survey, make 105,634 square miles.

Instead of being as large as a great part of Europe then, as we are

commonly told, all the lands we possess in North America, between the

sea and mountains, do not amount to much more than these two islands.

This appears farther, from the particular surveys of each of our

colonies, as well as from this general estimate of the whole.

Of these lands which we thus possess, both the northern and southern

parts are very poor and barren, and produce little or nothing, at

least for Britain. It is only in our middle plantations, Virginia,

Maryland, and Carolina, that the lands produce any staple commodity

for Britain, or that appear to be fit for that purpose. In short, it

is only the more rich and fertile lands on and about Chesapeak bay,

with a few swamps in Carolina, like the lands on the Missisippi, that

turn to any great account to this nation in all North America, or that

are ever likely to do it. This makes the quantity of lands that

produce any staple commodity for Britain in North America incredibly

small, and vastly less than what is commonly imagined. It is reckoned,

that there are more such lands in Virginia, than in all the rest of

our colonies; and yet it appeared from the public records, about

twenty-five years ago, that there was not above as much land patented

in that colony, which is at the same time the oldest of any in all

North America, than is in the county of Yorkshire, in England, to-wit,

{xv} 4684 square miles; although the country was then settled to the

mountains.

If we examine all our other colonies, there will appear to be as great

a scarcity and want of good lands in them, at least to answer the

great end of colonies, the making of a staple commodity for Britain.

In short, our colonies are already settled to the mountains, and have

no lands, either to extend their settlements, as they increase and

multiply; to keep up their plantations of staple commodities for

Britain; or to enlarge the British dominions by the number of

foreigners that remove to them; till they pass those mountains, and

settle on the Missisippi.

This scarcity of land in our colonies proceeds from the mountains,

with which they are surrounded, and by which they are confined to this

narrow tract, and a low vale, along the sea side. The breadth of the

continent from the Atlantic ocean to the Missisippi, appears to be

about 600 miles (of 60 to a degree) of which there is about 140 at a

medium, or 150 at most, that lies between the sea and mountains: and

there is such another, and rather more fertile tract of level and

improveable lands, about the same breadth, between the western parts

of those mountains and the Missisippi: so that the mountainous country

which lies between these two, is equal to them both, and makes one

half of all the lands between the Missisippi and Atlantic ocean; if we

except a small tract of a level champaign country upon the heads of

the Ohio, which is possessed by the Six Nations, and their dependents.

These mountainous and barren desarts, which lie immediately beyond our

present settlements, are not only unfit for culture themselves, and so

inconvenient to navigation, whether to the ocean, or to the

Missisippi, that little or no use can be made of them; but they

likewise preclude us from any access to those more fertile lands that

lie beyond them, which would otherwise have been occupied long ago,

but never can be settled, so at least as to turn to any account to

Britain, without the possession and navigation of the Missisippi;

which is, as it were, the sea of all the inland parts of North America

beyond the Apalachean mountains, without which those inland parts of

that continent can never turn to any account to this nation.

{xvi} It is this our situation in North America, that renders all that

continent beyond our present settlements of little or no use, at least

to Britain; and makes the possession of the Missisippi absolutely

necessary to reap the benefit of it. We possess but a fourth part of

the continent between that river and the ocean; and but a tenth part

of what lies east of Mexico; and can never enjoy any great advantages

from any more of it, till we settle on the Missisippi.

How necessary such settlements on the Missisippi may be, will farther

appear from what we possess on this side of it. The lands in North

America are in general but very poor or barren; and if any of them are

more fertile, the soil is light and shallow, and soon worn out with

culture. It is only the virgin fertility of fresh lands, such as those

on the Missisippi, that makes the lands in North America appear to be

fruitful, or that renders them of any great value to this nation. But

such lands in our colonies, that have hitherto produced their staple

commodities for Britain, are now exhausted and worn out, and we meet

with none such on this side of the Missisippi. But when their lands

are worn out, neither the value of their commodities, nor the

circumstances of the planters, will admit of manuring them, at least

to any great advantage to this nation.

The staple commodities of North America are so gross and bulky, and of

so small value, that it generally takes one half of them to pay the

freight and other charges in sending them to Britain; so that unless

our planters have some advantage in making them, such as cheap, rich,

and fresh lands, they never can make any; their returns to Britain are

then neglected, and the trade is gained by others who have these

advantages; such as those who may be possessed of the Missisippi, or

by the Germans, Russians, Turks, &c. who have plenty of lands, and

labour cheap: by which means they make more of our staple of North

America, tobacco, than we do ourselves; while we cannot make their

staple of hemp, flax, iron, pot-ash, &c. By that means our people are

obliged to interfere with their mother country, for want of the use of

those lands of which there is such plenty in North America, to produce

these commodities that are so much wanted from thence.

{xvii} The consequences of this may be much more prejudicial to this

nation, than is commonly apprehended. This trade of North America,

whatever may be the income from it, consists in those gross and bulky

commodities that are the chief and principal sources of navigation;

which maintain whole countries to make them, whole fleets to transport

them, and numbers of people to manufacture them at home; on which

accounts this trade is more profitable to a nation, than the mines of

Mexico or Peru. If we compare this with other branches of trade, as

the sugar trade, or even the fishery, it will appear to be by far the

most profitable to the nation, whatever those others may be to a few

individuals. We set a great value on the fishery, in which we do not

employ a third part of the seamen that we do in the plantation trade

of North America; and the same may be said of the sugar trade. The

tobacco trade alone employs more seamen in Britain, than either the

fishery, or sugar trade; [Footnote: By the best accounts we have, there

were 4000 seamen employed in the tobacco trade, in the year 1733, when

the inspection on tobacco passed into a law; and we may perhaps reckon

them now 4500, although some reckon them less.

By the same accounts, taken by the custom-house officers, it appeared,

that the number of British ships employed in all America, including

the fishery, were 1400, with 17,000 seamen; besides 9000 or 10,000

seamen belonging to North-America, who are all ready to enter into the

service of Britain on, any emergency or encouragement.

Of these there were but 4000 seamen employed in the fishery from

Britain; and about as many, or 3600, in the sugar trade.

The French, on the other hand, employ upwards of 20,000 seamen in the

fishery, and many more than we do in the sugar trade.

In short, the plantation trade of North America is to Britain, what

the fishery is to France, the great nursery of seamen, which may be

much improved. It is for this reason that we have always thought this

nation ought, for its safety, to enjoy an exclusive right to the one

or the other of these at least.] and brings in more money to the

nation than all the products of America perhaps put together.

But those gross commodities that afford these sources of navigation,

however valuable they may be to the public, and to this nation in

particular, are far from being so to individuals: they are cheap, and

of small value, either to make, or to trade {xviii} in them; and for

that reason they are neglected by private people, who never think of

making them, unless the public takes care to give them all due

encouragement, and to set them about those employments; for which

purpose good and proper lands, such as those on the Missisippi, are

absolutely necessary, without which nothing can be done.

The many advantages of such lands that produce a staple for Britain,

in North America, are not to be told. The whole interest of the nation

in those colonies depends upon them, if not the colonies themselves.

Such lands alone enable the colonies to take their manufactures and

other necessaries from Britain, to the mutual advantage of both. And

how necessary that may be will appear from the state of those colonies

in North America, which do not make, one with another, as much as is

sufficient to supply them only with the necessary article of

cloathing; not to mention the many other things they want and take

from Britain; and even how they pay for that is more than any man can

tell. In short, it would appear that our colonies in North America

cannot subsist much longer, if at all, in a state of dependence for

all their manufactures and other necessaries, unless they are provided

with other lands that may enable them to purchase them; and where they

will find any such lands, but upon the Missisippi, is more than we can

tell. When their lands are worn out, are poor and barren, or in an

improper climate or situation, or that they will produce nothing to

send to Britain, such lands can only be converted into corn and

pasture grounds; and the people in our colonies are thereby

necessarily obliged, for a bare subsistence, to interfere with

Britain, not only in manufactures, but in the very produce of their

lands.

By this we may perceive the absurdity of the popular outcry, that we

have already _land enough_, and more than we can make use of in North

America. They who may be of that opinion should shew us, where that

land is to be found, and what it will produce, that may turn to any

account to the nation. Those people derive their opinion from what

they see in Europe, where the quantity of land that we possess in

North America, will, no doubt, maintain a greater number of people

than we have there. But they should consider, that those people in

{xix} Europe are not maintained by the planting of a bare raw

commodity, with such immense charges upon it, but by farming,

manufactures, trade, and commerce; which they will soon reduce our

colonies to, who would confine them to their present settlements,

between the sea coast and the mountains that surround them.

Some of our colonies perhaps may imagine they cannot subsist without

these employments; which indeed would appear to be the case in their

present state: but that seems to be as contrary to their true

interest, as it is to their condition of British colonies. They have

neither skill, materials, nor any other conveniences to make

manufactures; whereas their lands require only culture to produce a

staple commodity, providing they are possessed of such as are fit for

that purpose. Manufactures are the produce of labour, which is both

scarce and dear among them; whereas lands are, or may, and should be

made, both cheap and in plenty; by which they may always reap much

greater profits from the one than the other. That is, moreover, a

certain pledge for the allegiance and dependance of the colonies; and

at the same time makes their dependance to become their interest. It

has been found by frequent experience, that the making of a staple

commodity for Britain, is more profitable than manufactures, providing

they have good lands to work.

It were to be wished indeed, that we could support our interest in

America, and those sources of navigation, by countries that were more

convenient to it, than those on the Missisippi. But that, we fear, is

not to be done, however it may be desired. We wish we could say as much

of the lands in Florida, and on the bay of Mexico, as of those on the

Missisippi: but they are not to be compared to these, by all accounts,

however convenient they may be in other respects to navigation. In all

those southern and maritime parts of that continent the lands are in

general but very poor and mean, being little more than _pine barrens_,

or _sandy desarts_. The climate is at the same time so intemperate, that

white people are in a great measure unfit for labour in it, as much as

they are in the islands; this obliges them to make use of slaves, which

are now become so dear, that it is to be doubted, whether all the

produce {xx} of those lands will enable the proprietors of them to

purchase slaves, or any other labourers; without which they can turn to

little or no account to the nation, and those countries can support but

very few people, if it were only to protect and defend them.

The most convenient part of those countries seems to be about Mobile

and Pensacola; which are, as it were, an entrepot between our present

settlements and the Missisippi, and safe station for our ships. But it

is a pity that the lands about them are the most barren, and the

climate the most intemperate, by all accounts, of any perhaps in all

America. [Footnote: See page 49, 111, &c. _Charlevoix_ Hist. N. France,

Tom. III. 484. _Laval, infra_, &c.] And our author tells us, the lands

are not much better even on the river of Mobile; which is but a very

inconsiderable one. But the great inconvenience of those countries

proceeds from the number of Indians in them; which will make it very

difficult to settle any profitable plantations among them, especially

in the inland parts that are more fertile; whereas the Missisippi is

free from Indians for 1000 miles. It was but in the year 1715, that

those Indians overran all the colony of Carolina, even to

Charles-Town; by which the French got possession of that country, and

of the Missisippi; both which they had just before, in June 1713,

dispossessed us of.

If we turn our eyes again to the lands in our northern colonies, it is

to be feared we can expect much less from them. There is an

inconvenience attending them, with regard to any improvements on them

for Britain, which is not to be remedied. The climate is so severe,

and the winters so long, that the people are obliged to spend that

time in providing the necessaries of life, which should be employed in

profitable colonies, on the making of some staple commodity, and

returns to Britain. They are obliged to feed their creatures for five

or six months in the year, which employs their time in summer, and

takes up the best of their lands, such as they are, which should

produce their staple commodities, to provide for themselves and their

stocks against winter. For that reason the people in all our northern

colonies are necessarily obliged to become farmers, {xxi} to make corn

and provisions, instead of planters, who make a staple commodity for

Britain; and thereby interfere with their mother country in the most

material and essential of all employments to a nation, agriculture.

In short, neither the soil nor climate will admit of any improvements

for Britain, in any of those northern colonies. If they would produce

any thing of that kind, it must be hemp; which never could be made in

them to any advantage, as appears from many trials of it in New

England. [Footnote: See _Douglas's_ Hist. N. America. _Elliot's_

Improvements on New England, &c.] The great dependance of those

northern colonies is upon the supplies of lumber and provisions which

they send to the islands. But as they increase and multiply, their

woods are cut down, lumber becomes scarce and dear, and the number of

people inhances the value of land, and of every thing it produces,

especially provisions.

If this is the case of those northern colonies on the sea coast, what

can we expect from the inland parts; in which the soil is not only

more barren, and the climate more severe, but they are, with all these

disadvantages, so inconvenient to navigation, both on account of their

distance, and of the many falls and currents in the river St.

Lawrence, that it is to be feared those inland parts of our northern

colonies will never produce any thing for Britain, more than a few

furrs; which they will do much better in the hands of the natives,

than in ours. These our northern colonies, however, are very populous,

and increase and multiply very fast. There are above a million of

people in them, who can make but very little upon their lands for

themselves, and still less for their mother country. For these reasons

it is presumed, it would be an advantage to them, as well as to the

whole nation, to remove their spare people, who want lands, to those

vacant lands in the southern parts of the continent, which turn to so

much greater account than any that they are possessed of. There they

may have the necessaries of life in the greatest plenty; their stocks

maintain themselves the whole year round, with little or no cost or

labour; "by which means many people have a thousand head {xxii} of

cattle, and for one man to have two hundred, is very common, with

other stock in proportion." [Footnote: Description of South Carolina, p.

68.] This enables them to bestow their whole labour, both in summer

and winter, on the making of some staple commodity for Britain,

getting lumber and provisions for the islands, &c. which both enriches

them and the whole nation. That is much better, surely, than to perish

in winter for want of cloathing, which they must do unless they make

it; and to excite those grudges and jealousies, which must ever

subsist between them and their mother country in their present state,

and grow so much the worse, the longer they continue in it.

The many advantages that would ensue from the peopling of those

southern parts of the continent from our northern colonies, are hardly

to be told. We might thereby people and secure those countries, and

reap the profits of them, without any loss of people; which are not to

be spared for that purpose in Britain, or any other of her dominions.

This is the great use and advantage that may be made of the expulsion

of the French from those northern parts of America. They have hitherto

obliged us to strengthen those northern colonies, and have confined

the people in them to towns and townships, in which their labour could

turn to no great account, either to themselves or to the nation, by

which we have, in a great measure, loss the labour of one half of the

people in our colonies. But as they are now free from any danger on

their borders, they may extend their settlements with safety, disperse

themselves on plantations, and cultivate those lands that may turn to

some account, both to them and to the whole nation. In short, they may

now make some staple commodity for Britain; on which the interest of

the colonies, and of the nation in them, chiefly depends; and which we

can never expect from those colonies in their present situation.

What those commodities are, that we might get from those southern

parts of North America, will appear from the following accounts; which

we have not room here to consider more particularly. We need only

mention hemp, flax, and silk, those great articles and necessary

materials of manufactures; for which alone this nation pays at least a

million and an half {xxiii} a-year, if not two millions, and could

never get them from all the colonies we have. Cotton and indigo are

equally useful. Not to mention copper, iron, potash, &c. which, with

hemp, flax, and silk, make the great balance of trade against the

nation, and drain it of its treasure; when we might have those

commodities from our colonies for manufactures, and both supply

ourselves and others with them. Wine, oil, raisins, and currants, &c.

those products of France and Spain, on which Britain expends so much

of her treasure, to enrich her enemies, might likewise be had from

those her own dominions. Britain might thereby cut off those resources

of her enemies; secure her colonies for the future; and prevent such

calamities of war, by cultivating those more laudable arts of peace:

which will be the more necessary, as these are the only advantages the

nation can expect, for the many millions that have been expended on

America.

_A Description of the Harbour of_ PENSACOLA.

As the harbour of Pensacola will appear to be a considerable

acquisition to Britain, it may be some satisfaction to give the

following account of it, from F. Laval, royal professor of

mathematics, and master of the marine academy at Toulon; who was sent

to Louisiana, on purpose to make observations, in 1719; and had the

accounts of the officers who took Pensacola at that time, and surveyed

the place.

"The colonies of Pensacola, and of Dauphin-Island, are at present on

the decline, the inhabitants having removed to settle at Mobile and

Biloxi, or at New-Orleans, where the lands are much better; for at the

first the soil is chiefly sand, mixed with little earth. The land,

however, is covered with woods of pines, firs, and oaks; which make

good trees, as well as at Ship-Island. The road of Pensacola is the

only good port thereabouts for large ships, and Ship-Island for small

ones, where vessels that draw from thirteen to fourteen feet water,

may ride in safety, under the island, in fifteen feet, and a good

holding gr