Travels in North America, From Modern Writers

All the inhabitants of the western country, who go by the river to New Orleans, return by land and pass through Nasheville, which is the first town beyond Natchez. The interval which separates these towns is about six hundred miles, and was, at this time, entirely uninhabited. Several persons who had travelled this road, assured M. Michaux that, for a space of four or five hundred miles beyond Natchez, the country was very irregular; that the soil was sandy, in some parts covered with pines, and not much adapted for culture; but that, on the contrary, the borders of the river Tenessee were fertile, and superior even to the richest parts of Kentucky.

On the fifth of September, M. Michaux set out from Nasheville for Knoxville. He was accompanied by a Mr. Fisk, one of the commissioners who had been appointed to determine the boundaries between the states of Tenessee and Kentucky. They stopped on the road, with different friends of Mr. Fisk; among others, with General Smith, one of the oldest inhabitants of the country. M. Michaux saw, en passant, General Winchester. He was at a stone house which was building for him on the road. This mansion, the state of the country considered, bore the external marks of grandeur: it consisted of four large rooms on the ground-floor, one story, and a garret. The workmen employed to finish the inside had come from Baltimore, a distance of near seven hundred miles.

A few miles from the residence of General Winchester, and at a short distance from the road, is a small town which had been founded but a few years, and to which the inhabitants had given the name of Cairo, in memory of the taking of Cairo by the French.

Between Nasheville and Fort Blount the plantations, though always isolated in the woods, were, nevertheless, by the side of the road, and within two or three miles of each other: the inhabitants resided in log-houses, and most of them kept negroes, and appeared to live happily and in abundance. Through the whole of this space the soil was but slightly undulated: in some places it was level, and in general it was excellent.

Fort Blount had been constructed about eighteen years before M. Michaux was in America. It had been built for the purpose of protecting, against the attacks of the Indians, such emigrants as came, at that time, to settle in its vicinity. But peace having been concluded with the Indians, and the population having much increased, the fortifications now no longer existed.

On the eleventh of September M. Michaux and Mr. Fisk left Fort Blount; and, at the house of Major Russel, some miles distant, they were obligingly furnished with provisions for two days' journey through the territory of the Cherokees.

The country became now so mountainous, that they could not proceed more than forty-five miles the first day, though they travelled till midnight. They encamped near a small river, where there was an abundance of grass; and, after having lighted a fire, they slept in their rugs, keeping watch alternately, in order to guard their horses. During this day's journey they had seen no animals, except some flocks of wild turkeys.

The second day after their departure, they met a party of eight or ten Indians, who were searching for grapes and chinquapins, a small species of chesnuts, superior in taste to those of Europe. As M. Michaux and his friend had only twenty miles to go before they reached West Point, they gave to these men the remainder of their provisions. With the American Indians bread is a great treat; for their usual food consists only of venison and wild-fowl.

The road, which crosses this part of the Indian territory, cuts through the mountains of Cumberland; and, in consequence of the great number of emigrants who travel through it, to settle in the western country, it was, at this time, as broad and commodious as the roads were near Philadelphia. In some places, however, it was very rugged. Little boards painted black and nailed against the trees, every three miles, indicated to travellers the distance they had to go.

In this part of Tenessee the mass of the forests is composed of all the species of trees which belong more particularly to the mountainous regions of North America; such as oaks, maples, hickory-nut trees, and pines.

At West Point there was a fort palisadoed round with trees, and built upon a lofty eminence, at the conflux of the rivers Clinch and Holstein. A company of soldiers was kept here, for the purpose of holding the Indians in check, and also of protecting them against the inhabitants on the frontiers, whose cruelty and illiberal proceedings had frequently excited them to war.

These Indians are above the middle size, are well-proportioned, and healthy in appearance, notwithstanding the long fasting they are frequently obliged to endure, whilst in pursuit of animals, the flesh of which forms their chief subsistence. The carbine is the only weapon they use: they are very dexterous with it, and are able to kill animals at a great distance. The usual dress of the men consists of a shirt, which hangs loose, and of a slip of blue cloth, about half a yard in length, which serves them for breeches; they put it between their thighs, and fasten the two ends, before and behind, to a sort of girdle. They wear long gaiters, and shoes made of prepared goat-skins. When full dressed they wear a coat, waistcoat, and hat; but they never have breeches. On the top of their heads they have a tuft of hair, which they form into several tresses, that hang down the sides of their face; and they frequently attach quills or little silver tubes to the extremities. Many of them pierce their noses, in order to put rings through. They also cut holes in their ears, which are made to hang down two or three inches, by pieces of lead, which are fastened to them. They paint their faces red, blue, or black.

A shirt and a short petticoat constitute the chief dress of the women, who also wear gaiters like the men. Their hair, which is of jet-black colour, they suffer to grow to its natural length; but they do not pierce their noses, nor disfigure their ears. In winter both the men and women, in order to guard against cold, wrap themselves in blue rugs, which they always carry with them, and which form an essential part of their luggage.

M. Michaux was informed, at West Point, that the Cherokees had lately begun to cultivate their possessions, and that they had made a rapid progress in agriculture. Some of them had good plantations, and even negro slaves. Several of the women spin cotton and manufacture cotton-stuffs.

The distance from West Point to Knoxville is thirty-five miles. About a mile from West Point the travellers passed through Kingstown, a place consisting of thirty or forty log-houses. After that the road extended, upwards of eighteen miles, through a rugged and flinty soil, covered with a kind of grass. The trees that occupied this space, grew within twenty or thirty yards of each other.

Knoxville, the seat of government for the state of Tenessee, is situated on the river Holstein, here a hundred and fifty fathoms broad. The houses were, at this time, about two hundred in number, and were built chiefly of wood. Although it had been founded eighteen or twenty years, Knoxville did not yet possess any kind of commercial establishment, or manufactory, except two or three tan-yards. Baltimore and Richmond are the towns with which this part of the country transacts most business. The distance from Knoxville to Baltimore is seven hundred miles, and to Richmond four hundred and twenty. The inhabitants of Knoxville send flour, cotton, and lime, to New Orleans, by the river Tenessee; but the navigation of this river is much interrupted, in two places, by shallows interspersed with rocks.

In the tavern at Knoxville travellers and their horses are accommodated at the rate of about five shillings per day; but this is considered dear for a country where the situation is by no means favourable to the sale of provisions. A newspaper is published at Knoxville twice a week.

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 space 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 spacious 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 circumstance 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 shirts.

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 encumbered 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 passed 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 principal 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, butter, 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 space 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 grass, 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 advertisements 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 space the earth is light, and of a quality inferior to that between Morganton and Lincolnton, although the mass 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 quantity and different kinds of spirits which they sell.

From Chester to Columbia the distance is fifty-five miles. M. Michaux passed 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 space, 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 space 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 space of nearly eighteen hundred miles.

Eleventh Day's Instruction.

UNITED STATES CONTINUED

A Description of Charleston, and of some places in the adjacent parts of

Carolina and Georgia

Charleston is situated at the conflux of the rivers Ashley and Cooper. The ground that it occupies is about a mile in length. From the middle of the principal street the two rivers might be clearly seen, were it not for a public edifice, built upon the banks of the Cooper, which intercepts the view. The most populous and commercial part of the town is situated along the Ashley. Several ill-constructed quays project into the river, to facilitate the trading-vessels taking in their cargoes. These quays are formed of the trunks of palm-trees, fixed together, and laid out in squares, one above another. The streets of Charleston are wide, but not paved; consequently, every time the foot slips, from a kind of brick pavement before the doors, it is immersed, nearly ancle deep, in sand. The rapid and almost incessant motion of carriages grinds this moving sand, and pulverizes it in such a manner, that the most gentle wind fills the shops with it, and renders it very disagreeable to foot-passengers. The principal streets extend east and west between the two rivers, and others intersect these nearly at right angles.

From its exposure to the ocean, this place is subject to storms and inundations, which affect the security of its harbour. The town also has suffered much by fires. The last, in 1796, destroyed upwards of five hundred houses, and occasioned damage to the amount of £.300,000 sterling.

The houses, in the streets near the water-side, are, for the most part, lofty, and built close together. The bricks are of a peculiar nature, being porous, and capable of resisting weather better than the firm, close, and red bricks of the northern states. They are of a dark brown colour, which gives to the buildings a gloomy appearance. The roofs are tiled or slated. In this part of the town the principal shopkeepers and merchants have their stores and warehouses. Houses here bear a very high rent: those in Broad and Church-streets, which are valuable for shops, let for more than £.300 per annum; and those along the bay, with warehouses, let for £.700 and upwards, according to the size and situation of the buildings. The houses in Meeting-street and the back part of the town, are in general lofty and extensive, and are separated from each other by small gardens or yards, in which are the kitchens and out-offices. Almost every house is furnished with balconies and verandas, some of which occupy the whole side of the building, from top to bottom, having a gallery for each floor. The houses are sometimes shaded with Venetian blinds, and afford to the inhabitants a cool and pleasant retreat, from the scorching rays of the sun. Most of the modern houses are constructed with taste and elegance; but the chief design seems to be, to render them as cool as possible. The town is also crowded with wooden buildings, of an inferior description.

Three of the public buildings in Charleston, and the episcopal church of St. Michael, are situated at the corners, formed by the intersection of Broad and Meeting-streets. St. Michael's is a large and substantial edifice, with a lofty steeple and spire. The Branch Bank of the United States occupies one of the corners: this is a substantial, and, compared with others in the town, is a handsome building; but, from an injudicious intermixture of brick, stone, and marble, it has a very motley appearance. Another corner of the street is occupied by the gaol and armory: the fourth corner has a large and substantial brick building, cased with plaster. The ground-floor of this building is appropriated to the courts of law: in the first story are most of the public offices; and the upper story contains the public library and the museum.

A kind of tree, called the "pride of India," (melia azedarach,) is planted, in rows, along the foot-paths and the streets of Charleston. It does not grow very high; but its umbrageous leaves and branches afford, to the inhabitants, an excellent shelter from the sun. It has the advantage also of not engendering insects; for, in consequence of its poisonous qualities, no insect can live upon it. When in blossom, the large clusters of its flowers resemble those of the lilac; these are succeeded by bunches of yellow berries, each about the size of a small cherry. It is a deciduous tree; but the berries remain during the winter, and drop off in the following spring.

The health of the inhabitants is very much injured, in consequence of their general neglect of cleanliness. The drains that are formed for carrying off the filth and putrid matter, which collect from all parts of the town, are too small for the purpose. This circumstance, added to the effluvia of the numerous swamps and stagnant pools in the neighbourhood, are known to be extremely injurious. Another neglect of health and comfort arises from a filthy practice, which prevails, of dragging dying horses, or the carcasses of dead ones, to a field in the outskirts of the town, near the high road, and there leaving them, to be devoured by troops of ravenous dogs and vultures. The latter, in appearance, are not much unlike turkeys, and thence have obtained the name of turkey buzzards; but, from their carnivorous habits, they have a most offensive smell. These birds hover over Charleston in great numbers; and are useful in destroying putrid substances, which lie in different parts of the city.

At Charleston there is a garden dignified by the name of Vauxhall. It is situated in Broad-street, at a short distance from the theatre; but it possesses no decoration worthy of notice. It cannot even be compared with the common tea-gardens in the vicinity of London. On one side of it are warm and cold baths, for the accommodation of the inhabitants. During summer, vocal and instrumental concerts are performed here, and some of the singers from the theatre are engaged for the season. The situation and climate of Charleston are, however, by no means adapted for entertainments of this description.

There are, in this town, four or five hotels and coffee-houses; but, except the Planters' Hotel, in Meeting-street, not one of them is superior to an English public-house.