appeared awful and great. The beasts of the field retire from the
thicket, and shew evident symptoms of silent awe and astonishment during
the storm, and man's ultimate source of confidence is in the divine
protection. In every quarter you meet with the blasted trees of the
forest, which wither and decay at the lightning's stroke. No earthquakes,
such as are commonly known in the West-India islands, have ever been felt
here; but whirlwinds sometimes have made avenues through the thick
forest, by levelling the loftiest trees, or sweeping them away before
them like chaff. These terrible blasts are generally confined to a
narrow tract, and run in an oblique and crooked direction. Hurricanes
have also often visited the country and through such low and flat lands
have spread their defolation far and wide.

In travelling along the coast of Carolina, partly by water and partly by
land, the stranger has an excellent view of the natural beauties, and
rural inhabitants of the forest. At a distance the marshes and savannas
appear like level meadows, with branches or creeks of the sea running
through them. On one hand the evergreen pines appear, and engross almost
the whole higher lands of the country; on the other the branching oaks
and stately hickories stand covered with mossy robes: now he passes a
grove covered with cypress; then the laurels, the bays, the palmetoes,
the beech or mulberry-trees surround him, all growing as the hand of
nature hath wildly scattered them. In the spring the dogwood,
cherry-trees, and many others blossom, and, together with the jessamines,
perfume the air; while the luxuriant vines climb over the loftiest trees,
and bushes or shrubs of humbler growth fill up the thicket.

At this early period the rude hunters, though masters of the woods,
while they attracted the attention of the stranger, must also have
convinced him how little human nature uncultivated is exalted above the