from divers parts of the Kings Dominions to trade there which great concourse of shipping will undoubtebly in a short time make it a considerable Town The Eastern Shore of America whether it be by reason of its having the great Body of the Continent to the Westward of it and by consequence the Northwest-Wind which Flows contrary to the Sun the Freezing-Wind as the North-East is in Europe or that the Frozen Lakes which Lye-in beyond Canada and lye North and West from the Shore Impregnate the Freezing Wind with more chill and congealing qnalities or that the uncultivated Earth covered for the most part with large shading Trees breathes forth more nitrous Vapours than that which is cultivated or all these Reasons together it is certainly much more cold than any part of Europe in the same Degree of Latitude of thirty nine and forty and more North though above six hundred Miles nearer the Sun than England is notwithstanding many Degrees colder in the Winter The Author having been informed by those that say they have seen it that in those Parts it Freezeth above six Inches thick in a Night and great Navigable Rivers are Frozen over in the same space of time and the Country about Ashly-River though within nine Degrees of the Tropick hath seldom any Winter that doth not produce some Ice though I cannot yet learn that any hath been seen on Rivers or Ponds above a quarter of an Inch thick which vanisheth as soon as the Sun is an hour or two high and when the Wind is not at North-west the weather is very mild So that the December and January of Ashly-River I suppose to be of the same Temperature with the latter end of March and beginning of April in England this small Winter causeth a fall of the Leaf and adapts the Country to the production of all the Grains and Fruits of England as well as those that require more Sun insomuch that at Ashly-River the Apple the Pear the Plum the Quince Apricock Peach Medlar Walnut Mulberry and Chesnut thrive very well in the same Garden together with the Orange the Lemon the Olive the Pomgranate the Fig and Almond nor is the Winter here Cloudy Overcast or Foggy but it hath been observed that from the twentieth of August to the tenth of March including all the Winter Months there have been but eight overcast days and though Rains fall pretty often in the Winter it is most commonly in quick Showers which when past the Sun shines out clear again The Summer is not near so hot as in Virginia or the other Northern American English Collonys which may hardly gain belief with those that have not considered the reason which is its neerness to the Tropicks which makes it in a greater measure than those parts more Northward partake of those Breezes which almost constantly rise about eight or nine of the Clock within the Tropicks and blow fresh from the East till about four in the Afternoon and a little after the Sea-breeze dys away there rifes a North-wind which blowing all night keeps it fresh and cool In short I take Carolina to be much of the same nature with those delicious Countries about Aleppo Antioch and Smyrna but hath the advantage of being under an equal English Government Such who in this Country have seated themselves near great Marshes are subject to Agues as those are who are so seated in England but such who are planted more remote from Marshes or standing Waters are exceeding healthy insomuch that out of a Family consisting of never less than twelve Perons not one hath died since their first Arrival there which is nine years but what is more not one hath been sick in all that time nor is there one of the Masters of Families that went over in the first Vessels dead of sickness in Carolina except one who was seventy and five years of Age before he came there though the number of those Masters of Families be pretty considerable divers persons that went out of England Ptisical and Consumptive have recover'd and others subject in England to frequent fits of the Stone have been absolutely freed from them after they have been there a short time nor is the Gout there yet known The Ayr gives a strony Appetite and quick Digestion nor is it witetlh suitable effects men finding themselves apparntly more lightsome more prone and more able to al Youthful Exercises than in England the Women are very Fruitful and the Children have fresh Sanguine Complexions The Soyle is generally very fertile but hath some sandy tracts so as to make an agreable variety but even this Land produceth good Corne and is excellent pasture Wheat Rye Barly Oates and Peas thrive exceedingly and the ground yeilds in greater abundance than in England Turnips Parsnips Carrots Potatoes and Edoes a substantial wholesome nourishing Root growes well and all excellent in their kindes they have near twenty sorts of Pulse that we have not in England all of them very good food insomuch that the English Garden Bean is not regarded Near the Sea the Trees are not very large they grow pritty neare together farther up they are larger and grow farther asunder and are in most parts free from Underwood so that you may see near half a mile amongst the bodyes of large tall timber trees whose tops meeting make a very pleasing shade yet hinders not grass myrtle and other sweet scenting shrubs here and there from growing under them Amongst these Groves of Timber Trees are here and there Savana's or grassy plains of severall magnitudes clear of Trees which hath occasion'd some that have seene them to compare Carolina to those pleasant Parks in England that have abundance of tall Timber Trees unlop'd here you may hunt the Hare Fox and Deere all day long in the shade and freely spur your horse through the Woods to follow the chase This Country hath the Oak Ash Elm Poplar Beech and all the other sorts of usefull Timber that England hath and divers sorts of lasting Timber that England hath not as Cedar white and red Cypress Locust Bay and Laurell Trees equal to the biggest Oaks large Mirtles Hickery black Wallnut and Pynes big enough to Mast the greatest Ships and divers other sorts which I cannot enumerate The woods abound with Hares Squirrels Ratoons Possums Conyes and Deere which last are so plenty that an Indian hunter hath kill'd nine fatt Deere in a day all shott by himself and all the considerable Planters have an Indian hunter which they hire for jess than twenty shillings a year and one hunter will very well find a Family of thirty people with as much Venison and Foul as they can well eat Here are also in the woods great plenty of wilde Turkeys Partridges something smaller than those of England but more deicate Turtle Doves Paraquetos and Pidgeons On the grassy plaines the whistling Plover and Cranes and divers sorts of Birds unknowne in England Carolina doth so abound in Rivers
AN ACCOUNT OF THE Province OF CAROLINA IN AMERICA TOGETHER WITH An Abstract of the PATENT and several other Necessary and Useful Particulars to such as have thoughts of Transporting themselves thither Published for their Information LONDON Printed by G. Larkin for Francis Smith at the Elephant and Castle in Cornhil 1682. To the Right Honourable William Earl of Craven Pallatine and the rest of the true and absolute Lords and Proprieters of the Province of CAROLINA May it please your Lordships FInding by my Conversation with People who have an Inclination to try their Fortunes in America that your Province of Carolina had not its due valuation for want of being made known to the World and not hearing of any that had undertaken it I looked upon it as a Duty incumbent upon me who have had the Honour to be your Secretary in your Carolina-Affairs now four years to Publish the ensuing Treatise whereby is made known the Greatness of your Soveraigns Gift to your Selves and to the World the Greatness of your Trust and Favour with Him and to those that have a desire of settling there to what kind of Countrey and Climate they Transport Themselves Wherein I have most strictly kept to the Rules of Truth there not being any thing that I have written in Commendation of your Province which I cannot prove by Letters from thence now in my possession and by Living Witnesses now in England I should not have been thus presumptuous to adventure upon this Work and to have crav'd for it your Lordships Patronage had not the Employment I have under you which hath given me frequent Opportunities of discovering the Humanity and Softness with which you Treat all Those who apply to you your constant Endeavours for the Good of all those who come under your Government in Carolina and the great care you have taken by your admirable Constitution of Government which you have there settled for the lasting security peace and well being of all the Inhabitants of your Province induc'd me to beleive that the same goodness with which you treat others will be extended to me and that you will pardon my present presumption and all the other Imperfections of May it please your Lordships Your Lordships most Faithful and Obliged Humble Servant SAMUEL WILSON AN ACCOUNT OF THE Province OF CAROLINA IN AMERICA CAROLINA is that part of Florida which lies between twenty nine and thirty six Degrees and thirty Minutes of Northern Latitude On the East it is washed with the Atlantick Ocean and is bounded on the West by Mare Pacificum or the South Sea and within these bounds is contained the most healthy Fertile and pleasant part of Florida which is so much commended by the Spanish Authors This Province of Carolina was in the Year 1663. Granted by Letters Pattents in Propriety of his most Gracious Majesty unto the Right Honourable Edward Earl of Clarendon George Duke of Albemarle William Earl of Craven John Lord Berkely Anthony Lord Ashly now Earl of Shaftsbury Sir George Carteret and Sir John Colleton Knights and Barronets Sir William Berkeley Knight by which Letters Pattents the Laws of England are to be of force in Carolina but the Lords Proprietors have power with the consent of the Inhabitants to make By-Laws for the better Government of the said Province So that no Money can be raised or Law made without the consent of the Inhabitants or their Representatives They have also power to appoint and impower Governours and other Magistrates to Grant Liberty of Conscience make Constitutions c. With many other great Priviledges as by the said Letters Pattents will more largely appear And the said Lords Proprietors have there setled a Constitution of Government whereby is granted Liberty of Conscience and wherein all possible care is taken for the equal Administration of Justice and for the lasting Security of the Inhabitants both in their Persons and Estates By the care and endeavours of the said Lords Proprietors and at their very great charge two Colonys have been setled in this Province the one at Albemarle in the most Northerly part the other at Ashly River which is in the Latitude of thirty two Degrees odd Minutes Albemarle bordering upon Virginia and only exceeding it in Health Fertility and Mildness of the Winter is in the Growths Productions and other things much of the same nature with it Wherefore I shall not trouble the Reader with a perticular Description of that part but apply my self principally to discourse of the Collony at Ashly-River which being many Degrees more Southward than Virginia differs much from it in the Nature of its Clymate and Productions Ashly-River was first setled in April 1670 the Lords Proprietors having at their sole charge set out three Vessels with a considerable number of able Men eighteen Moneths Victuals with Cloths Tools Ammunition and what else was thought necessary for a new Settlement and continued at this charge to supply the Collony for divers years after until the Inhabitants were able by their own Industry to live of themselves in which condition they have been for divers years past and are arrived to a very great Degree of Plenty of all sorts of Provisions Insomuch that most sorts are already cheaper there than in any other of the English Collonys and they are plentifully enough supplied with all things from England or other Parts Ashly-River about seven Miles in from the Sea divides it self into two Branches the Southermost retaining the name of Ashly-River the North Branch is called Cooper-River In May 1680. the Lords Proprietors sent their Orders to the Government there appointing the Port-Town for these two Rivers to be Built on the Poynt of Land that divides them and to be called Charles Town since which time about an hundred Houses are there Built and more are Building daily by the Persons of all sorts that come there to Inhabit from the more Northern English Collonys and the Sugar Islands England and Ireland and many Persons who went to Carolina Servants being Industrious since they came out of their times with their Masters at whose charge they were Transported have gotten good Stocks of Cattle and Servants of their own have here also Built Houses and exercise their Trades And many that went thither in that condition are now worth several Hundreds of Pounds and live in a very plentiful condition and their Estates still encreasing And Land is become of that value near the Town that it is sold for twenty Shillings per Acre though pillaged of all its valuable Timber and not cleared of the rest and Land that is clear'd and fitted for Planting and Fenced is let for ten Shillings per annum the Acre though twenty miles distant from the Town and six men will in six weeks time Fall Clear Fence in and fit for Planting six Acres of Land At this Town in November 1680. There Rode at one time sixteen Sail of Vessels some of which were upwards of 200 Tuns that came
that within fifty miles of the Sea you can hardly place your self seven miles from a Navigable River and divers are navigable for good big Vessels above three hundred miles The Rivers abound with variety of excellent Fish and near the Sea with very good Oysters in many of which are Pearl the Author having seen Pearl that have been taken out of some of them bigger than Rouncival Pease and perfectly round On the Rivers and brooks are all the winter moneths vast quantitys of Swan wild Geese Duck Widgeon Teale Curlew Snype Shell Drake and a certaine sort of black Duck that is excellent meat and stayes there all the year Neat Cattle thrive and increase here exceedingly there being perticular Planters that have already seven or eight hundred head and will in a few years in all probability have as many thousands unless they sell some part the Cattle are not subject to any Disease as yet perceiv'd and are fat all the Year long without any Fother the little Winter they have not pinching them so as to be perceiv'd which is a great advantage the Planters here have of the more Northern Plantations who are all forc'd to give their Cattle Fother and must spend a great part of their Summers Labour in providing three or four Months Fother for their Cattle in the Winter or else would have few of them alive in the Spring which will keep them from ever having very great Heards or be able to do much in Planting any Comodity for Forreign Markets the providing Winter Food for their Cattle taking up so much of their Summers Labour So that many Judicious Persons think that Carolina will be able by Sea to supply those Northern Collonys with salted Beef for their Shipping cheaper than they themselves with what is bred amongst them for considering that all the Woods in Carolina afford good Pasturage and the small Rent that is paid to the Lords Proprietors for Land an Ox is raised at almost as little expence in Carolina as a Hen is in England And it hath by experience been found that Beef will take salt at Ashly-River any Month in the Year and save very well Ewes have most commonly two or three Lambs at a time their Wool is a good Staple and they thrive very well but require a Shepherd to drive them to Feed and to bring them home at night to preserve them from the Wolves Hogs increase in Carolina abundantly and in a manner without any charge or trouble to the Planter only to make them Sheds wherein they may be protected from the Sun and Rain and Morning and Evening to give them a little Indian Corn or the pickings and parings of Potatoes Turnips or other Roots and at the same time blowing a Horn or making any other constant noyse to which being us'd they will afterwards upon hearing it repair home the rest of their Food they get in the Woods of Masts and Nuts of several sorts and when those fail they have Grass and Roots enough the ground being never frozen so hard as to keep them from Rooting these conveniencies breeds them large and in the Mast time they are very fat all which makes the rearing them so easy that there are many Planters that are single and have never a Servant that have two or three hundred Hogs of which they make great profit Barbados Jamaica and New-England affording a constant good price for their Pork by which means they get wherewithal to build them more convenient Houses and to purchase Servants and Negro-slaves There have been imported into Carolina about an hundred and fifty Mares and some Horses from New-York and Road-Island which breeds well and the Coalts they have are finer Lim'd and Headed than their Dams or Sires which gives great hopes of an excellent breed of Horses as soon as they have gotten good Stalions amongst them Negros By reason of the mildness of the Winter thrive and stand much better than in any of the more Northern Collonys require less clothes which is a great charge sav'd With the Indians the English have a perfect freindship they being both usefull to one another And care is taken by the Lords Proprietors that no Injustice shall be done them In order to which they have established a particular Court of Judicature compos'd of the soberest and most disinteressed Inhabitants to determine all differnces that shall happen between the English and any of the Indians this they do upon a Christian and Moral Consideration and not out of any apprehension of danger from them for the Indians have been always so ingaged in Wars one Town or Village against another their Government being usually of no greater extent that they have not suffered any increase of People there having been several Nations in a manner quite extirpated by Wars amongst themselves since the English setled at Ashly River This keeps them so thin of people and so divided that the English have not the least apprehensions of danger from them the English being already too strong for all the Indians within five hundred Miles of them if they were united and this the Indians as well know that they will never dare to break with the English or do an Injury to any particular person for fear of having it reveng'd upon their whole Nation The Lords Proprietors do at present grant to all persons that come there to Inhabit as follows viz. To each Master or Mistriss of a Family fifty acres and for every able son or man servant they shall carry or cause to be transported into Carolina fifty acres more and the like for each Daughter or woman servant that is marrigeable and for each child man or woman servant under sixteen years of age forty acres and fifty acres of Land to each servant when out of their time this Land to be injoy'd by them and their Heirs for ever they paying a Penny an Acre Quit-rent to the Lords Proprietors the Rent to commence in two years after their taking up their Land But forasmuch as divers persons who are already Inhabitants of Carolina and others that have Intentions to transport themselves into that Province desire not to be cumber'd with paying of a Rent and also to secure to themselves good large convenient tracts of Land without being forc'd to bring thither a great number of servants at one time The Lords Proprietors have been Prevail'd upon and have agreed to sell to those who have a mind to buy Land after the rate of fifty pound for a Thousand Acres reserving a Pepper-Corn per annum Rent when demanded The way of any ones taking up his Land due to him either by carrying himself or servants into the Country or by purchasing it of the Lords Proprietors is after this manner He first seeks out a place to his mind that is not already possessed by any other then applyes himself to the Governour and Proprietors Deputys and shew what rights he hath to Land either by Purchase or otherwise who