These hills are shaded with glorious Magnolia grandiflora, Morus rubra, Tilia, Quercus, Ulmus, Juglans, &c. with aromatic groves of fragrant Callicanthus Floridus, Rhododendron ferrugineum, Laurus Indica, &c. Æsculus pavia, Cornus Florida, Azalea coccinea, Philadelphus inodorous and others; but who would have expected to see the Dirca palustris and Dodecathean meadea grow in abundance in this hot climate! it is true they are seen in the rich and deep shaded vales, between the hills and North exposure; but they attain to a degree of magnitude and splendour never seen in Pennsylvania.
[46] Pinus palutstris, Linn. the long leaved Pitch Pine, or yellow Pine.
[47] A few years after the above remark, the seat of government was removed from Savanna to Augusta.
After conferring with gentlemen in Augusta, conversant in Indian affairs, concerning my future travels in those distant, unexplored regions, and obtaining letters to their agents in the Indian territories, I set off, proceeding for Fort James Dartmouth, at the confluence of Broad River with Savanna, the road leading me near the banks of the river for the distance of near thirty miles, crossing two or three of its considerable branches, besides rivulets and smaller brooks. The surface of the land uneven, by means of ridges or chains of swelling hills and corresponding vales, with level downs; the soil a loose, greyish-brown loamy mould on the hills, but darker and more cohesive and humid in the vales and downs; this superficial, vegetative earth, covers a deep stratum of very tenacious yellowish clay: the downs afford grass and various herbage; the vales and hills, forest trees and shrubs of various tribes, i. e. Quercus tinctoria, Q. alba, Q. rubra, Q. lobata, Acer rubrum, A. Saccharinum, A. glaucum, Morus rubra, Gleditsia triacanthus, Juglans hickory, various species, Quercus phillos, Quer. dentata, s. hemispherica, Quercus aquatica, or Maryland Water Oak, Ulmus sylvatica, Liriodendron, Liquidambar, Diospyros, Cornus Florida, Prunus Indica, Prunus padus and Æsculus pavia; and near water courses in the vales, Stewartia malachodendron, Halesia, Æsculus sylvatica, Styrax, Carpinus, Magnolia acuminata, Mag. tripetala, Mag. auriculata, Azalea, &c. The rich humid lands in the vales bordering on creeks and bases of the hills, likewise produce various trees, shrubs and plants, as Cercis, Corylus, Ptelea, Evonimus, Philadelphus inodorous, Staphylea trifoliata, Chionanthus, Hamamelis, Callicarpa, Sambucus, Cornus alba, Viburnum dentatum, Spirea opulifolia, Cornus sanguinea, Cephalanthus, &c. and of herbaceæ a vast variety and abundance, as Verbesina, Rudbeckia, Phaseolus, Tripsacum, Aconitum napellus, Delphinium, Angelica lucida, Tradescantia, Trillium fessile, Trillium cernuum, Actæa, Chelone, Glycine apios, Convalliaria racemosa, Mediola, Carduus, Bidens frondosa, Arum triphyllum, Coreopsis alternifolia, Circæa, Commelina, Aster, Solidago, Eupatorium, Helianthus and Silphium, together with a variety of other tribes and species new to me. In the evening I arrived at Little river, and took up my quarters at a public house on its banks, near its confluence with the Savanna. This is a beautiful rapid water, about fifty yards over. On a branch of this river is situated the town of Wrightsborough.