furnished with excellent accommodations: the table was better supplied than in most hotels on shore, the captain was a gentlemanly and attentive man, and the passengers, to the number of nearly 100, contained many intelligent and agreeable persons, so that the time was beguiled by varied and instructive conversation. During our stay in this creek, only one alligator was seen, though they abound here in the summer; but at this season they are thought to be concealed in holes along the banks, in a state of torpidity. They are not dangerous to man, like the alligators of the tropics, but fly at the least sound or pursuit; though they will sometimes stand at bay with a dog, and instances have been known of large alligators drawing a young dog into the water, but this is rare. Musquitoes also abound here in the summer season; and the whole region being one of marshy land, and often flooded, is extremely unhealthy from August to October, when few white persons remain here, and all intercourse by the inner passage is then suspended for the more healthy route by the open sea.

At four o'clock in the morning of the 9th, the water was found to be just high enough to float the vessel off the mud, though we had not three inches of depth to spare; and we were obliged to propel the vessel to her utmost capacity of speed to, get through this shallow cut while the high water continued. We continued our course through the same description of creeks and narrow passages, and with the same character of scenery on both sides; the weather was however delicious, the thermometer being at 65°, the air fresh and balmy, like a fine

English day in June, though now in the early part of February, when the cold in the Chesapeake was so severe, as to close the navigation of that noble bay by the ice.

At sunrise of the second day we arrived at Edisto, a small village on the northern edge of the island of that name, one of the sea-islands devoted to the cultivation of cotton. And after receiving a supply of fire-wood, we proceeded on our way, with increasing breadth of water, and increasing interest of scenery from the greater variety and abundance of wood; until, at sun-set we reached the town of Beaufort, or Port Royal, where we remained for an hour to discharge and take in freight and passengers.

This is a small place, inhabited chiefly by wealthy planters, and families in easy circumstances, who come here to reside at certain seasons of the year, for the sake of the sea-breezes, which blow through the inlet at the head of which it is situated, and is not at all a place of trade. Its population, white and coloured, does not exceed 1,000 persons. The most healthy spots along the coast are the dry sandy ridges near the sea; and these preserve their salubrity throughout the summer and autumn; while, within a mile of such positions, where moisture and decayed vegetation exist, the miasma produces a fever that is fatal to strangers, and very dangerous even to the natives of the soil, who leave these parts to the negroes and a few overseers on their estates.

At eight o'clock we left Beaufort, and at ten arrived at a place called Hilton Head, the opening of a broader passage, where we anchored for the night; and getting under way at four in the morning, we

passed at daylight, a small fort and light-house, on Cockspur Island; and at eight o'clock entered a stream called the Tybee, which led us soon into the Savannah river. After passing by a number of large ships anchored a few miles below the town, two or three only of which were American, and the greater number from London, Liverpool, Glasgow, and Cork, we reached the city of Savannah at ten o'clock, and hauling alongside the wharf, were soon furnished with conveyances to take us to the Pulaski Hotel, where we took up our abode.

We remained here a fortnight, and passed our time most agreeably. Having been favoured with many letters of introduction from Charleston, we were soon surrounded by a large circle of friends, and many of the principal families to whom we had no letters, were quite as cordial in the voluntary tender of their hospitalities. We attended several large parties, and many more small social circles, in each of which we found ourselves completely at home. We were taken to some of the pleasantest drives around the city, and to all the public institutions within it, while my two courses of lectures, which were very fully attended, that on Palestine in the Unitarian church, and that on Egypt in the Baptist church, brought us every day acquainted with new friends, not only among the residents of the city, but with persons from the interior passing through Savannah, on their way to other places, and many and urgent were the entreaties that I would visit the several towns from whence they came.

CHAP. VII.

Foundation, rise, and progress of Savannah-Visit of Sir Walter Raleigh and Goyernor Oglethorpe-Philanthropic design of the original colony-Oglethorpe's first treaty with the Indian chiefs -Visit of the warriors to the king of England-First code of laws framed for Georgia-Prohibition of rum, and of negro slavery - Emigration of Moravians-Voyage of John WesleyStriking picture of their religious exercises-Emigration of Scottish highlanders to Darien-Foundation of AugustaMoravian settlements Testimony of Charles Wesley on the treatment of slaves-Visit of George Whitefield after John Wesley's return-Charter of Georgia surrendered to the crown -Character of her population at this period-Emigration of Quakers-Attack of the French and Americans on Savannah— Evacuation of the British-Surrender of the city-Progress of Georgia since that period-Statistics of her population and commerce-General description of the State-Geography— Productions-Government Judiciary-Education-Religion -Banking and trade.

THE history of the foundation and progress of the State of Georgia may be more briefly told than that of the more northern provinces, though it is not without its incidents of public interest. It appears from Sir Walter Raleigh's Journal, corroborated by the testimony of the Indians, at the first settlement of Georgia, that long before its being taken possession of by the English, it had been visited by Sir Walter Raleigh, who sailed up the Savannah river, and landed and held a conference with some Indian chiefs on the very spot on which the city of Savannah now stands. The territory now forming the State of Georgia, was first included in the patent granted to South Carolina, of which the history has been already given; and it was then under a proprietary

government. In 1719, however, it became a royal territory, its limits being between the 31st and 36th degrees of latitude; and it was not until 1732 that it was granted by charter to an incorporated company by George the Second, in honour of whom its present name of Georgia was given.

The circumstances which gave rise to this grant were of a mixed character. The possession of Florida by the Spaniards was a source of continual apprehension and difficulty to the settlers of South Carolina; and it was thought desirable to interpose between these two a barrier State or province, and by peopling it with Europeans well armed and trained, to make it answer as an advanced post of defence. This was undoubtedly the first motive which led to the settling of Georgia. About the same period, however, that this was projected, a number of Englishmen, some animated by religious zeal, some by philanthropy, and some by patriotism, conceived the design of promoting the settlement of this then unoccupied region; the religionists, to open an asylum for the persecuted Protestants of various countries in Europe; the philanthropists, to secure a home for the many poor families in Britain, whose labour was inadequate to obtain them a decent subsistence; and the patriots, to strengthen the British power, and extend its dominion over these distant lands.

It was in 1728, that General Oglethorpe, who may be called the founder of Georgia, being then a member of the British House of Commons, obtained its sanction to the appointment of a committee of inquiry into the state of the prisons in England. Of this committee he was nominated chairman; and in