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A66582
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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.
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Wilson, Samuel, fl. 1682.
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1682
(1682)
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Wing W2932; ESTC R14591
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11,836
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28
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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
thereupon issue out their Warrant to the Surveyor-General to measure him out a Plantation containing the number of acres due to him who making Certificate that he hath measur'd out so much Land and the Bounds a Deed is prepar'd of course which is signed by the Governour and the Lords Proprietors Deputys and the Proprietors Seal affixed to it and Register'd which is is a good Conveyance in Law of the Land therein mention'd to the party and his Heirs for ever I have here as I take it described a pleasant fertile Country abounding in health and pleasure and with all things necessary for the sustenance of mankind and wherein I think I have written nothing but truth sure I am I have inserted no wilful falshood I have also told you how men are to have Land that go there to Inhabit But a rational man will certainly inquire When I have Land what shall I doe with it what Comoditys shall I be able to produce that will yeild me mony in other Countrys that I may be inabled to buy Negro slaves without which a Planter can never do any great matter and purchase other things for my pleasure and convenience that Carolina doth not produce To this I answer That besides the great profit that will be made by the vast heards of Cattle and Swine the Country appears to be proper for the Commoditys following viz. Wine There are growing naturally in the Country five sorts of Grapes three of which the French Vignaroons who are there judge will make very good Wine and some of the Lords Proprietors have taken care to send plants of the Rhenish Canary Clarret Muscatt Madera and Spanish Grapes of all which divers Vinyards are planted some wine was made this year that proved very good both in colour and taste and an indifferent good quantity may be expected the next year The Country hath gentle rising hills of fertile sand proper for Vines and farther from the Sea rock and gravel on which very good grapes grow naturally ripen well and together and very lushious in taste insomuch as the French Protestants who are there and skill'd in wine do no way doubt of producing great quantitys and very good Oyl There are severall Olive trees growing which were carryed thither some from Portugal and some from Bermeudas and flourish excedingly and the Inhabitants take great care to propagate more so that in all probability it will be an excellent oyl-Oyl-Country Silk There is in Carolina great plenty of Mulberry Trees such as are by experience found to feed the Silk-worm very well yea as well as the white Mulberry but there is of that sort also which are propagated with a great deal of ease a stick new cut and thrust into the ground seldom failing to grow and so likewise if the Seed if them be sown Tobacco Tobacco doth here grow very well and is nearer to the nature of the Spanish Tobacco than that of Virginia Indigo Indigo thrives well here and very good hath been made Cotton Cotton of the Cyprus and Smyrna sort will grow well and good plenty of the Seed is sent thither Flax Hemp Thrives exceedingly Good plenty of Pitch and Tar is there made there being particular persons that have made above a thousand barrels Here is great plenty of Oake for Pipe staves which are a good Commodity in the Maderas Canaryes Barbados the Leeward Islands Sumack Sumack growes in great abundance naturally so undoubtedly would Woad Madder Sa-Flower if planted Drugs Jallop Sassaparilla Turmerick Sassafras Snake-root divers others In short This Country being of the same Clymate and Temperature of Aleppo Smyrna Antioch Judea and the Province of Nanking the richest in China will I conceive produce any thing which those Countrys do were the Seeds brought into it The Tools that men who goe thither ought to take with them are these viz. An Ax a Bill and a broad Hoe grabbing Hoe for every man and a cross cut Saw to every four men a Whip-saw a set of Wedges and Fraus and Betle-Rings to every family and some Reaping Hooks and Sythes as likewise Nails of all sorts Hooks Hinges Bolts Locks for their Houses The Merchandizes which sell best in Carolina are Linnen and Woollen and all other Stufs to make clothes of with Thread Sowing Silk Buttons Ribbons Hats Stockings Shoes c. which they sell at very good rates and for these goods any man may purchase the Provision he hath need of The Passage of a man or woman to Carolina is five Pound Ships are going thither all times of the year Some of the Lords Proprietors or my self will be every Tuesday at 11 of the clock at the Carolina-Coffee-house in Burching-Lane near the Royal Exchange to inform all people what Ships are going or any other thing whatsoever An Abstract of the Pattent granted by the King the 30th of June in the 17th Year of his Reign under the Broad Seal of England unto Edward Earl of Clarendon George Duke of Albermarle William Earl of Craven John Lord Berkley Anthony Lord Ashly Sir George Carteret and Sir John Colleton Knights and Barronets and Sir William Berkeley Knight their Heirs and Assigns Impri AS a mark of our particular Favour we do give and Grant all that Province Territory or Tract of Land lying within our Dominions of America extending North and Eastward as far as the North-end of Caraliuck-River or inlet upon a streight Westerly Line to Wyanoake-Creek which lies within or about the Degrees of 36 and 30 Minutes Nothern Latitude and so West in a direct line as far as the South-Seas and South and Westward as far as the Degrees of 29 inclusive Nothern Latitude And so West in a direct line as far as the South-Seas 2. Also all Ports Harbours Bays Rivers and Inlets belonging to the Province and Territory aforesaid 3. All the Soyl Land Feild Woods Mountains Ferns Lakes Rivers Bays and Inlets within the limits before mentioned with the Fishing of all sorts of Fish together with the Royalty of the Sea upon that Coast And all Veins Mines and Quarries of Gold Silver Gems and Precious Stones or any other thing whatsoever 4. The Patronage and Advowsons of all Churches and Chappels with License to build and found Churches to exercise and enjoy as ample priviledges c. as any Bishop of Durham in our Kingdom of England 5. We do by these presents constitute the aforenamed Persons their Heirs and Assigns the true and absolute Lords and Proprietors of the said Province to be holden of Vs our Heirs and Successours as of our Mannor of East-Greewich in our County of Kent in free and common Soccage and not in capite nor by Knights service paying yearly for the same the fourth part of all Gold and Silver-Oar which shall from time to time be found besides the yearly Rent of twenty Mark 6. We do grant full power to the aforesaid Proprietors to make several Counties Baronies and Collonies within the said Province