Part 10 (1/2)

On the 17th of September, M. Michaux took leave of Mr. Fisk, and proceeded alone towards Jonesborough, a town about a hundred miles distant; and situated at the foot of the lofty mountains which separate North Carolina from Tenessee. On leaving Knoxville the soil was uneven, stony, and bad; and the forests contained a great number of pine-trees.

Before he reached _Macby_, M. Michaux observed, for the s.p.a.ce of two miles, a copse extremely full of young trees, the loftiest of which was not more than twenty feet high. The inhabitants of the country informed him that this place had formerly been part of a barren, or meadow, which had clothed itself again with trees, after its timber, about fifteen years before, had been totally destroyed by fire. This appears to prove, that the s.p.a.cious meadows in Kentucky and Tenessee owe their origin to some great conflagration which has consumed the forests and that they continue as meadows, by the practice, still continued, of annually setting them on fire, for the purpose of clearing the land.

M. Michaux stopped, the first day, at a place where most of the inhabitants were Quakers. One of these, with whom he lodged, had an excellent plantation, and his log-house was divided into two rooms.

Around the house were growing some magnificent apple-trees: these, although produced from pips, bore fruit of extraordinary size and excellent flavour, a circ.u.mstance which proves how well this country is adapted for the culture of fruit-trees. At this house there were two emigrant families, consisting of ten or twelve persons, who were going to settle in Tenessee. Their clothes were ragged, and their children were barefooted and in their s.h.i.+rts.

Beyond this place the road divided into two branches, both of which led to Jonesborough; and, as M. Michaux was desirous of surveying the banks of the _river Nolachuky_, renowned for their fertility, he took the branch which led him in that direction. As he proceeded he found many small rock crystals, two or three inches long, and beautifully transparent. They were loose, and disseminated upon the road, in a reddish kind of earth.

On the twenty-first he arrived at _Greenville_, a town which contained scarcely forty houses, constructed with square beams, and somewhat in the manner of log-houses. The distance between this place and Jonesborough, is about twenty-five miles: the country was slightly mountainous, the soil was more adapted to the culture of corn than that of Indian wheat; and the plantations were situated near the road, two or three miles distant from each other.

_Jonesborough_, the last town in Tenessee, consisted, at this time, of about a hundred and fifty houses, built of wood, and disposed on both sides of the road. Four or five respectable shops were established there, and the tradespeople, who kept them, received their goods from Richmond and Baltimore.

On the twenty-first of September, M. Michaux set out from Jonesborough to cross the _Alleghany Mountains_, for North Carolina. In some places the road, or rather the path, was scarcely distinguishable, in consequence of the plants of various kinds that covered its surface. It was also enc.u.mbered by forests of rhododendron: shrubs, from eighteen to twenty feet in height, the branches of which, twisted and interwoven with each other, greatly impeded his progress. He had also to cross numerous streams; particularly a large torrent, called Rocky Creek, the winding course of which cut the path in twelve or fifteen directions.

On the twenty-third this gentleman proceeded twenty-two miles, through a hilly country; and, in the evening, arrived at the house of a person named Davenport, the owner of a charming plantation upon _Doe River_. M.

Michaux staid here a week, in order to rest himself and recruit his strength, after a journey of six hundred miles which he had just made.

On the second of October, he again set out, and proceeded towards Morganton. About four miles from Doe River he pa.s.sed the chain of the _Blue Ridges_, and afterwards that of the _Linneville Mountains_. From the summit of the latter he observed an immense extent of mountainous country, covered with forests. Only three small places appeared to be cleared, which formed as many plantations, three or four miles distant from each other.

From the Linneville Mountains to Morganton, the distance is about twenty-five miles: in this interval the country was slightly mountainous, and the soil extremely bad.

_Morganton_, the princ.i.p.al town of the county of Burke, contained about fifty houses built of wood, almost all of which were inhabited by tradesmen. There was only one warehouse, and this was supported by a commercial establishment at Charleston. To it the inhabitants of the country, for twenty miles round, came to purchase English manufactured goods and jewellery; or to exchange, for these, a portion of their own produce, consisting of dried hams, b.u.t.ter, tallow, bear-skins and stag-skins.

From Morganton to Charleston the distance is two hundred and eighty-five miles. There are several roads; but M. Michaux took that which led through Lincolnton, Chester, and Columbia. The distance from Morganton to Lincolnton, is forty-five miles. Through the whole of this s.p.a.ce the soil is extremely barren; and the plantations, straggling five or six miles from each other, have an unfavourable appearance. The woods are chiefly composed of different kinds of oaks; and the surface of the ground is covered with gra.s.s, intermixed with other plants.

_Lincolnton_, at this time, consisted of forty houses, and, like all the small towns in the interior of the United States, was surrounded by woods. There were, at Lincolnton, two or three large shops, which transacted the same kind of business as that at Morganton. The tradesmen who kept them sent the produce of the adjacent country to Charleston, but they sometimes stocked themselves with goods from Philadelphia.

At Lincolnton a newspaper was published twice a week. The price of subscription was two dollars per annum, but the printer, who was his own editor, took, by way of payment, flour, rye, wax, or other traffic, at the market-price. As in England, the advertis.e.m.e.nts were the most important source of profit. The foreign news was almost wholly extracted from papers published at the sea-ports.

The district around Lincolnton was peopled, in a great measure, by Germans from Pennsylvania. Their plantations were kept in excellent order, and their lands were well cultivated. Almost all had negro slaves, and there reigned among them a greater independence than in the families of English origin.

From Lincolnton to Chester, in the state of South Carolina, the distance is about seventy miles. Through the whole of this s.p.a.ce the earth is light, and of a quality inferior to that between Morganton and Lincolnton, although the ma.s.s of the forests is composed of various species of oaks. In some places, however, pine-trees are in such abundance that, for several miles, the ground is covered with nothing else.

_Chester_ contained about thirty houses, built of wood; and among the number were two inns and two respectable shops.

From Chester the country becomes worse in every respect than before; and the traveller is obliged to put up at inns, where he is badly accommodated both in board and lodging, and at which he pays dearer than in any other part of the United States. The reputation of these inns is esteemed according to the quant.i.ty and different kinds of spirits which they sell.

From Chester to Columbia the distance is fifty-five miles. M. Michaux pa.s.sed through _Winesborough_, containing about a hundred and fifty houses. This place is one of the oldest inhabited towns in Carolina, and several planters of the low country go thither every year to spend the summer and autumn.

[_Columbia_, now the seat of government for the state of South Carolina, is situated below the confluence of the _Broad_ and _Saluda Rivers_. It is laid out on a regular plan, the streets intersecting each other at right angles. The buildings are erected at the distance of about three quarters of a mile from the _Cangaree River_, on a ridge of high land, three hundred feet above the level of the water. In 1808, Columbia contained about one hundred and fifty houses. Vineyards, cotton, and hemp-plantations are successfully cultivated in its vicinity; and oil-mills, rope walks, and some other manufactories have been established here.]

The distance from Columbia to Charleston is about a hundred and twenty miles; and, through the whole of this s.p.a.ce, the road crosses an even country, sandy and dry during the summer, whilst in the autumn and winter, it is so covered with water that, in several places, for the s.p.a.ce of eight or ten miles, the horses are up to their middle. Every two or three miles there were, by the side of the road, miserable log-houses, surrounded by little fields of Indian corn.

The extreme unwholesomeness of the climate is shown by the pale and livid countenances of the inhabitants, who, during the months of September and October, are almost all affected with tertian fevers. Very few persons take any remedy for this complaint: they merely wait the approach of the first frosts, which, if they live so long, generally effect a cure.

M. Michaux arrived at _Charleston_ on the eighteenth of October, 1802, three months and a half after his departure from Philadelphia, having, in that time, travelled over a s.p.a.ce of nearly eighteen hundred miles.

Eleventh Day's Instruction.