filled with the richest planters of the province, who resort hither
in quest of health and pleasure. Here are always to be seen a great
number of valetudinarians from the West Indies, seeking for the
renovation of health, exhausted by the debilitating nature of their
sun, air, and modes of living. Many of these West Indians have I
seen, at thirty, loaded with the infirmities of old age; for nothing
is more common in those countries of wealth, than for persons to
lose the abilities of enjoying the comforts of life, at a time when
we northern men just begin to taste the fruits of our labour and
prudence. The round of pleasure, and the expenses of those citizens'
tables, are much superior to what you would imagine: indeed the
growth of this town and province has been astonishingly rapid. It is
pity that the narrowness of the neck on which it stands prevents it
from increasing; and which is the reason why houses are so dear. The
heat of the climate, which is sometimes very great in the interior
parts of the country, is always temperate in Charles-Town; though
sometimes when they have no sea breezes the sun is too powerful. The
climate renders excesses of all kinds very dangerous, particularly
those of the table; and yet, insensible or fearless of danger, they
live on, and enjoy a short and a merry life: the rays of their sun
seem to urge them irresistibly to dissipation and pleasure: on the
contrary, the women, from being abstemious, reach to a longer period
of life, and seldom die without having had several husbands. An
European at his first arrival must be greatly surprised when he sees
the elegance of their houses, their sumptuous furniture, as well as
the magnificence of their tables. Can he imagine himself in a
country, the establishment of which is so recent?

The three principal classes of inhabitants are, lawyers, planters,
and merchants; this is the province which has afforded to the first