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SOUTHERN RECORDER. jss—’sssrm /VOL. I. MILLEDGEVILLE, TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 18*21. No. 52. rUBLISHED WEEKLY, (on TUESDAYS) BY S. CR AMT LAM'D ff R. M ORME, AT TIlnr.F- DOLLARS, IN ADVANCE, OR FOUR DOLLARS AT THE EXPIRATION OF TIIE YEAR. O’ Advertisements conspicuously inserted at the customary rates. FLORIDA. Bernard Romans was an enlightened physician and observer, who spent several years in Florida, lie divides the. country in to two elitnates ; one, of which he calls the northern, extending from latitude SI to s27 de"\ 10 min.; the southern extending to the end of the peninsula, in latitude 24. This distinction lie chiefly founds upon the fre quency of frosts within one line, and their rarity heyond it. He might hove said, more accurately and distinctly, that water freezes as far south as 27 d. 40 tn., but ceases to freeze in the rest of the peninsula. The air of the country is clear and pure. Fogs are unknown, except upon St.John’s river, but the dews are heavy. Spring and autumn are dry seasons, hut the tempera ture of the latter is very variable. Winter sets in with wetand tempestuous weather— February and March are dry and clear from September to June, inclusive, there cannot be a finer climate; but July. August and September are intensely hot, though the temperature is less variable than that of Ca rolina, and frost is much more rare. The noon-day sun is scorching at all sea sons, anJ the cold never injures the orange, which fleurishes here in the greatest perfec tion. St. Augustine is on the frontier of the two climates.* The eastern trade winds prevails on the Atlantic side of the peninsula. On the coast of the gulph, the west and the north-west sen breezes diffuse an agreeable coolness every where in summer. All kinds of fruit flourish here, without being incommoded by extremes of heat or cold. The rains is foretokened one or two days beforehand, by excessive daws, or by thu total want of them. The winds fluctuate less than in the country fur ther north. During tile greater part of spring, throughout summer, and in the first months of autumn, the wind is chiefly north-east— at the close of winter and the opening of spring, it is westand north-west. For twenty days before the autumnal equi nox, and seventy or eighty after it, storms and hurricanes are to he expected in this quarter; but our historian relates, that he ne ver heard of any violent commotion at the vernal equinox. The dreadful hurricane of 171S8 began on the 29th October, that of 1772 on tiie oOth August. It first blew east and south-east at Mobile—further west its course was north north-east. It did little damage at Pensacola. This tempest swelled all the rivers to a great height and extent—hut the most remarkable circumstance attending it was the mulberry-trees putting out a second crop of blossoms and fruit. The south and south-west winds occasion very thick und unwholesome fogs. They also breathe that suffocating air, so much complained of in July and August. The south-east and north-east winds, on the con trary, are cool; they moisten the earth, and fertilize the very sand with frequent show ers. The winds between east and north are sprightly and cool. Between north k north west they are almost cold. The mercury ranges between 84 and 8ft degrees in the shade, where there is ample, ventilation.—In July and August, in the shade, it reaches 94. In the sunshine it mounts to 1J4. It never sinks belmv ;iU. The weather, from Octo ber to June, inclusive, is inexpressibly delight ful. The eastern side of the peninsula is more sultry thnn the west, or than the north ern district, the shore of which is obnoxious to the keen blasts of winter. The extremity of Florida, on the western side, is very liable to storms and whirlwinds, from May to August. They rise .suddenly lroru the south-west and south south-west, and are transient. Dr. Mackenzie has said much of the effect of the air in producing mould, rust, kc. hut though this is manifest at St. Augustine, yet there is not a healthier place than this in this quarter. The inhabitantsenjov sound health, and reach great longevity, a id invalids resort hither from Cuba, as to another Montpellier. The northern district, which is formed by the continental part of Florida;? resembles the southern part of the peninsula, hut its customary winds are somewhat colder. , The epidemic of Mobile, in 1700, arose en tirely from the intemperance of the soldiers. Kven physicians advise the settlers tn a mo derate ure of liquor, hut, unluckily, they are sure to overleap the prescribed hounds, and to run into excess. , , The soil of Florida is generally a lieu of white clay, with a stratum above it of white •and. Tiie const is naked and bare, but the inland is a forest of firs. On the soil and produce of the country, our author is very full and satisfactory , lie divides the land into six different kinds: the pine land, hammock laud, savannahs, Swamps, marshes and bay, or cypress galls. “First, the pine land, commonly called pine barren, which makes up the largest «>- dv bv far, the peninsula being scarce tiny thing else; but about a hundred miles to wards the north-west from St. Augustine, ami about two hundred from the sea to Vjcst Florida, carry us entirely out oi it. lilts land consists of a grey or white sand, and in many places of a red or yellow gravel, it produces a great variety of shrubs or plants. The principal produce from whence it de rives its name is the firms folus long us urns ex una theca tern is, or yellow pine and Pjreli pinc-tres, which I take to lie a variety o, the samu species, both excellent and good tim- “ Also the chamcerops fr on dibus pal mot is plicalis stipitibus aerrutia, of whose fruit all animals are very fond. « It is on this-kind of land that immense Stocks of cattle are maintained, although thu most natural gra^ui this soil ia ot a harsh * A eeoeraphici^^W)i^^' r ol ne y *> **’ IS til'' 11 being in latitude 29 <t. 46 m. RomansexpTfcss- !y placed this line about two degrees southward of tbit town —Trans. M nature, and the cattle not at all fond of it. It is known by tiie name of wire grass, and they only eat. it while young. For the procuring it young, or renewing this kind of pasture, the woods are frequently fired, and at differ- ent seasons, in order to have a succession of young grass, hut the savannahs that are in terspersed in this kind of laud furnishes a more plentiful and more proper food for the cattle. “ Some high pine hills are so covered with two or three rarities of the oak, as to make an underwood to the lofty pines; and a species of dwarf chesnut is often found here; another species, of a larger growth, is also found in the lower parts, particularly iu the cdge3 of the hay or cypress galls. “ Tiiis barren and unfavorable soil, in a wet season, hears many things far beyond expectation, and is very useful fur the culti vation of peach and mulberry orchards.-— This land might also be rendered useful for many other purposes; but either the people do not clitise to gn out of the old beaten track, or content themselves with looking elsewhere for new land, improvable with less cost. Tile method of meliorating it is cer tainly obvious to the meanest capacity, as it every w here, at a greater or less depth, cov ers a stiff marly kind of clay, which I am cer tain, was it properly mixed with the sand, would render it fertile; and this might he done with little expense, the clay lying, in some places, within half a foot or a foot of tho surface : in most places it is found at the depth of three, four, or five feet, consequent ly nor very hard to come. at. In East Flo rida, in tiie southern parts, this kind of land is very rocky, but especially from the lati tude 25 d. 09 m.,and southward to the point, where it is a solid rock, of a kind of lime stone, covered with innumerable small, loose and sharp stones, every where. “ In west Florida the pine land is also fre quently found rocky, with an iron stone, es pecially near where the pines are found grow ing in a gravelly tract, which is frequently the case here. “The hammock land, so called from its appearing in tufts among the lofty pines:— some small spots of this kind, if seen at a dis tance, have a very romantic appearance.— Tiie large parcels of it often divide swamps, creeks, or rivers from the pine land; this is indeed its most common situation. The whole of the uplands, remote from the sea in the northern parts, is this kind ofland : its soil is various, in some, places a sand of di- sers colours, and in East Florida often a white sand ; hut the true hammock soil is a mixture of clay and a blackish sand, and in some spots a kind of ochre. In East Flori da some of this is also sometimes rookv—on every kind of this land lies a stratum of black mould, made by the decayed Icrvcs, kc. of the wood and other plants growing up on it. The salts contained in this stratum render it very fruitful, and, when cleared, this is the best, nay, the only fit laud, for the production of indigo, potatoes, and pulse :— the first c'Wps, by means of the manure above- mentioned, generally are very plentiful—but the salts soon being evaporated) if the soil over which it lay should prove to be sand, it is not better than pine land; the other sort hears many years planting: its natural pro duce is so various in this climate, that the complete description of all would be more work than one man’s life-titne would be suf ficient for. The savannahs are in this country of two very different kinds : the one is to he found in the pine la/ids, and, notwithstanding the black appearance of the soil, they are ns much a white sand as tho higher lands round them. True it is that clay is very often much nearer to their surface than in tile higher pine lands; they are a kind of sinks or drains to those higher lands,and their low situation only prevents the growth of pities in them. In wet weulher, the loads leading through them are almost impassable. Oil account of their producing some species of grast, of a better kind than the wire gras.-, they arc very often styled meadows; and I believe, if they could he improved by draining tjiem, without taking away all tlie.irjnoisture, very useful grass might he raised in them; but on draining them completely, they prove to he as arrant a sand ns any in this country-— These savannahs often have spots in them more low than common, and filled with wa ter: they are overgrown with different spe cies of the caratixgilt, or haw thorn, as also very often a species of shrub much resemb ling the laurus in appearance, hut, as I never had an opportunity of seeing it in blossom, I cannot describe it, so as to asi irtnin the ge nus it belongs to. In its fruit it is widely dil- ferent from any of the laurel kind, that have fallen under my inspection ; it is a baern, with several cells, full of an agreeable acid, like the common lime from the West-Indies —it is of the size of a large pigeon’s erg, hut more oblong. W r <: also find it on the low banks of ri'ers in Georgia, and know it by the name of the Ogechre lime. “ The other savannahs differ very widely from those, and are chiefly (n be found in West Florida. They consist of a high ground, often wit h small gentle i i -ings in them. Home tire of a vast extent, and on the west of Mississippi, they are said to be many days journey over. The largest within my know ledge is on the road from the Cl o taw to the Chickasaw nation, and is in length nearlorty miles over, from north to south, and from one end to the other a horizon, similar to that at soil, appears. There is generally a rivulet at one or other, or at each, end ot the savannahs, and some come to the. nver banks —in one or tw o of them I have seen soni very small remairik of ancient liuls, by w hich ■ • " - ’ inhabited by ln- I judge they were formerly diitns. Tho soil hero is very fertile,; in seine 1 have seen fossil shell.; in great numbers, ill others flint, in others .again some chalk and marl. It is remarkable, that cattle are very fond of the grass growing here ; the Chicka saw old fields, as it is termed, is a clear de monstration of this, for the cattle will come to it from any distance, even when the grass scarcely appears; mid in all the circumjacent tract are abundance of both winter and sum mer canes to he found, on which they m,gnt more luxuriously feed. In these savannahs, if a well or pond is dug, the water has a ve ry strong nitrous taste. _ I have seen some very curious plants in litis ground but there was no time for my taatmr oi them, except a nondescript of the genus ta- getes, of a line crimson colour. 1 shall, in some measure, describe and give the figure of this plant. The only high growth 1 have seen iu these savannahs are some willows and other aquatic plants, by the side of rivu lets, in or near them : some of the smaller kind of oaks, and a few small jumpers, are also to lie’ seen in those places ; thefragaria, or strawberry’, is very common iu them. “ Swamps are also found of two kinds, ri ver and inland awamps. Those on the ri vers are justly esteemed the most valuable, and the more so if they are in the tide way, because then the river water may lie at plea sure let on or kept out, with much less labor and expence than in the other kinds. These lands are the sources of riches in these pro vinces, because, where they lie between the sandy pine barrens, they produce that valu able staple rice, and on the Mississippi, where much of this river laud is situated a great deal higher than the common run of it in Carolina and other similar countries, this soil is the best adapted for corn and indigo yet known. Some of these grounds are clay, others sand, and others again partake of both—when used for rice it matters not which of these soils they arc made up of— but, I believe, were the sandy ones to he quite drained, they would prove barren e- nottgli. The use of water on nee is more to suppress the growth of noxious weeds if grass, w hich would otherwise, stifle the grain, than for promoting the growth of the rice itself— for none of the grasses can stand the water, hut rice does, as long as it is not totally im mersed. Therefore it is, that after weeding, the planter, if he has it convenient, lets on water to about half the height ofltis grain. By swamps then, in general, is to be under stood any low ground subject to inundations, distinguished from marshes in having a large grow th of timber, and much underwood, canes, reeds, wytlics, vines, briars and such like, so malted together, that they are, in a great measure, impenetrable toman or beast. The produce of these swamps, if sandy, is more generally tile, cypress tree, which is here of three species: two of these grow in this kind ofland—tho common sort grows to an enormous size, but none so large as what are seen on or near the banks of the Missis sippi ; tiie other kind, vulgarly miscalled white cedar, is in great quantities near Pensa cola, particularly in the swamps of Chester river : this likewise grows to a tree, which may be ranked among those of the first mag nitude. “ The back and inland swamps answer in situation to what are called the meadows or savannahs,among the pine lands: their soil being rich, occasions them to hear trees.— The true back swamps, that ate in wet sea sons full of standing water, bear scarcely any other tree, than-i variety of that species of nyssa, distinguished by botanists by Ihe name of nyssnfoliislati acuminatis non dec- totisfructn cdcagni minore, ptdunculis mul- tifore, vulgarly culled bottle arsed tupelo..— The continuance of water on this kind of ground is the reason why scarce any under growth is found here. There are swamps also called h«ck swamps, but they are either at tho head of some stream, or have more nr less water running through them ; these are generally easy to drain. 1 would have confined my descriptions of hack swamps to the first or standing ones, and ranked the last, which I think might properly be dune, among Ihe river swamps, but 1 was apprehensive that it might have displeased some persons, who entertain the more established opinion. These last described often are found mere cypress swamps; in that case they are al most impassable, by reason of the cypress spurs, even when dry, and for horses they are extremely dangerous, as they often get staked on those spurs. This vegetable mou nter I do not remember to have seen menti oned anywhere. When this kind of swamp is not overgrown with cypress alone, its pro duct is the same as that of the river swamps above mentioned, and in that case, the soil is certainly good; these iast, when property drained, are the best land for the cultivation of hemp; “ The marshes are next to be considered. They are of four kinds, two in the salt, and two in the fresh water. They are either soft or hard—the soft marshes, consisting of a very wet clay or mud, are as yet of no use, without a very great expcuce to drain them —the hard ones are made up of a kind of marly clay, which in dry seasons is almost burned up. True it is, they afford a pasture sufficient to keep any graminivorous animals in good order—hut their milk and flesh, in seasons n lien the cattle near the sea side can not find any other food, and consequently feed on this alone, have so horrible a taste, that no stranger to thocountry can make use of them. Hard marshes, in general, are stirlt whose soil has too much solidity for water to disunite its particles, by penetrating them—the soft marshes are those whose spungy nature allows the water easily to pc- nettaii: them. I have seen of both kinds on Turtle i n er, about £0 miles tip, in which, at about eight or ten feet helotv the surface, there are numbers of cypress and other stumps remaining, but chiefly cypress, and many of the fallen trees crossing each, other —this is only to be seen at low water, and to the height above mentioned. These trees are covered with a rich, nitrous, muddy soil — but 1 beg leave to expert, that better na turalists max explain this extraordinary ap pearance : I believe them ruins of ancient forests, on which the sea has encroached* “ Tho marsh;s on fresh water arc in every respect similar to those ou thu salt, except that they arc not impregnated with the sa line particles, of whir h the first tire very re plete—therefore the hard ones, with little trouble, are adapted to cultivation ; the soft ones cost a considerable deal more of ox- peneu, to render them fit :o answer this pur pose, hut when so drained a-j to answer tiiis end, they certainly are by no means inferior to any land in this country. In «.*> lower part of these marshes grows a kind of hither to ur.described grain, of which tho western Indians make a great use for bread. I never could see it in blossom, therefore cannot de scribe it. It is known by the name of wild oats. t “ This kind ofland produces rice very wil lingly, but, if sufficiently mnde dry, always proves the best for corn, indigo nnd hemp. I have seen at Mr. Brewinglon’s plantation, about, three miles below Savannah, in Geor gia, very good corn and rice together, With the two kinds of melons, and cucumbers in great perfection, on this species of soil. “ 1 shall next describe the bay andeypress galls. These intersect the pine lands, and Hre seldom of any breadth; the bay gulls are properly water courses, covered with u spun gy earth, mixed witli a kind ol matted vege table fibres. They are so very unstable as to shake for a great extent round a person, who, standing on some part thereof, moves himself slightly up and down ; they often prove fatal to cattle—and sometimes I have been detained lor above an hour at the nar rowest passes of them, they being so dange rous to cross, that frequently a horse plung es in, so as to leave only hit head in sight.— Their natural preduce is a stately tree, called loblolly bay*, and many different vines, bri ars, thorny vvylhs, and on their edges a spe cies of red or summer cane, which together combine to make this ground impenetrable, as if nature had tints intended lo prevent the destruction of cattle in these dismal bogs, which would be particularly fatal to many of them in spring, when the early produce of grass and green leaves in these galls might entice them into this danger, was not such a natural obstacle in their way. As these have generally vent, they are sometimes drained, and rice planted therein, which, for one or two years, thrives there tolerably—but this ground is so replete with vitriolic principles, that the water standing in them is impreg nated with acid, insomuch that I have tast ed it sour enough to have persuaded a per son, unacquainted with this circumstance, that it was an equal portion of vinegar and water mixed together, therefore it requires to lie open at least one year before it will bear any thing, and they generally, by lying open four or five years without any other draining, become quite dry, and might be advantage ously used for pasture ground. “ The cypress trails differ from there, in being a firm sandy soil, in having no vitriolic taste in the water, and very seldom vent.—I never knew these made use of for the pur pose of planting, and the cypress they pro duce is a dwarf kind, not fit lor use, being ve ry much twisted and often liollow. There is no undergrowth here, hut in dry seasons some tolerable grass. Through all the above species of land we find a distribution of ve ry fine clay, fit for manufacturing. The fin est I ever saw is at the village on Mobile Bay, where 1 have seen the inhabitants, in imitation of the savages, have several rough made vessels thereof. There is also a great variety of nitrous mid bituminous earths, fossils, marls, boles, magnetic and other iron ore, lead, coal, chalk, slate, freestone, chrya- tals, anil white topazes : these last in the beds of rivers. Ambergris is sometimes found—one Stirrup, a few years ago, found a piece of a very enormous size on one of the keys. There is also much of a natural pitch, or asphnllhvs, vulgarly called wiun- giuc, thrown up by the sea. The upland ai-o afford a metallic substance, appearing like musket bullets, which on being thrown into the fire, go offin smoke with a very sul phtiriotis stench. “ The water in this country is very vari ous as to taste, quality and use. There ate salt, brackish, nitrous, sulphurious,and good fresh springs in most parts of this coun try, as well as salt nnd fresh lakes, lagoons and rivers. The rivers also vary in many respects, and so tioes the sea, as well in the color and clearness of (lie water, as in its de gree of saltness. The water of St. Mary's and Nassau, and all the brooks that run into them, is very good, wholesome, and well tasted. The. colour in the rivers is dark, a in ail the American rivers of the southern district. St. John’s is a curiosity anting ri- tho house of Mr. Rolle, who has here made auodd attempt towards settling ami making alt cstato in as complete u sandy d< : art ns can he found. Just above this, it is full of islands, exhibiting every where a very ro mantic appearance. There is « fine piece of water, called Dun’s Lake—this is about nine miles from the river, eastward from this place; this empties itself by a stream into tho river. Anothor, called the Doctor's Lake, is on the w;st side, about sixty miles from the mouth: we see a variety of aqua tic plants floating thereon. “In my journey by land from the Ray of Tampe across the peninsula to St. Augustine, I crossed 23 miles from eust to west of mi serable barren sand bills: the grain of the sand is vrF_v small and ferrugineous. These hills rise a considerable height—on them ia some growth of very small pines, and a very humble kind of oak grows so thick, that with the addition of some wythes and other plants, tn me ut'.erly unknown, they render it absolutely impenetrable. Id this ridge, which, as far as I cun learn, extends from north tn south, between the rivers St. John and Ocklaw-wawhato, for about a hundred ar.d fifty miles, having no w here nny water in its whole extent; my Indian guide had the precaution to carry water for ourselves nnd horses, which proved very serviceable, ns it was a very hot day, no growth of trees to shade us, and such a burning snnil for tip) sun to reflect on. I leave tho reader to judge what we suffered, though it was hut a short distHiicr over—both ourselves k beasts often experienced the necessity of carrying water. What must travelling over this place be in a hot day, where it is forty or more miles wide ? “ Before I leave St. John’s river, I must not forget the river running front south to north, called Pablo. This originates at a small distance from St. Mark’s or North Ri ver, and empties into St John’s, at a small distance from the mouth. The water of this river is good, so*s the land on it—and it is thought that a communication with St. Mark’s or the North River might tie effect ed without much difficulty—this would 11- pen an inland navigation by cannon or boots, all the way from Carolina to near the JMox- keto. _ t “The river St. Mary’s, although it is said to originate in the T.kanphanwkin swamp*, has a current of fine, elear, and wholesome water, supplied from the pine lands through which it flows, with many line springs, runs, and rivulets of very clear water. Nassau has also the same blessings, but doth not spring far distant from the sea. On Amelia Isht-.d, near the sea, is a very good spring, which makes a fine stream for some miles,dividing .the island almost in two—but below the spring its water is not commendable. On the beach between St. John’s and St. Augus tine, at nr near the place called the Horse- guards, there arc three good springs running into the sea, and in every paid where the beadI is clear sand, water is olnained by digging. About four miles north of St. Augustine, ris es St. Sebastian's creek, being a good fresh spring ; it soon joins a creek in salt marshes, and at a small distance from town it becomes very large and deep. It empties into St. Anastasia’s Sound, two miles south ol St. Augustine, makings peninsula of this terri tory nearly in form of a crescent. Three miles farther south is the mouth of the river St. Nicholas, not very considerable; St.Ce- cilia in the same sound ; the North-west, south of the Mntanra and Penon ; the To- moke and Spruce creek, in the Musketo La goon, and in short every river und creek in the country, except those ubove named, are excellent wholesome water. Thus much, I suppose, will suffice as to the nature and qui^- iity of tho water. All the rivets and springs in West Florida are good.” Sudden and violent changes of tempera ture, with heavy dews, are frequent at Ht. John’s, Nassau, Mobile, und Campbleton; hut at Pensacola and the country cast of it, at New-Orlcans and on the Miss issippi, they vers indeed—this rises at 11 small distance j were nnt complained of. These iticonveni- from the lagoon called Indian river, some- j nticies, however, are much greater in Geor- where in or near the latitude £7, perhaps out gin, and greater still in Carolina. People of the lake Mayacco, which I have reason to believe really exists, and is the head of tiie river St. Lucia, as 1 am told by a credible Spanish hunter, who had been cartird there by way of this last river. From its origin it runs through wide extended plains k marsh es, till near tho latitude 2K, where it ap proaches the lagoon much. It then conti nues its course with a considerable current northward, and Elides through five great lakes, of which the last, called lake George, is bv nitteh the most considerable. In this last lake is about eight feet water ; it is £0 miles long, and about eleven or twelve wide. Ali these lakes and the river in general is ve ry pleasant. Endless orange groves are found here, and indeed on every part of the river—below these the river grows wider, loses its current, k has in some places none, in others a retrogade one, when vet lower down it-is again in its true direction. The hanks of this river are very poor hind, and exhibit, in a number of places, sad monu ments of the felly and extravagant ijo is of the first European adventurers k sent iners, and the tiffany of their managers. The (id does not affect this river very far up. In ma ny places, high up this river, are found extraordinary springs, which, at a small ins tance from the river, on both sides, rush or il out of the earth, at once becoming na vigable for boats, and from twenty-five to forty yards wide: their course is scldunt. half a mile before they meet the liver.— Tlleir water is, contrary to that of tile river, clear, sons to admit of sect'll^ a small piece of money at the depth of ten feet or more they snn 1^'strong of sulphur, and whatever is thrown in them becomes soon encrusted with a white fungous rnattei—their taste is bituminous, very disagreeable, and they, in my opinion, cause the greet) cloudings w see on the surface of the water of this river, and make it putrid, and so unwholesome as experience has taught us it is. “ I have no sufficient ground to decide up on another circumstance, which I atri told viz. that when rice is overflown with the ri ver water, it kills it: above tho springs the uard against them by kindling an evening fire, ami by putting on flannel. There are no brackish swamps, except at St. John’s, whereas they are common in Georgia and the Carolina’s, und the air is loaded with their mosquitoes and noisome exhalations. Flies and mosquitoes abound only in the plantations ofrice and indigo. As cultivati on advances they retire. The shores of the Mississippi are infested with these veno mous insects, to a degree scarcely credible, nor is there any living, hut under the protec tion of musquitoe nels.f Oke,fin,o,rail (or hog) from Okc,water, in the Kemliiolie tongue, and I'’iii,o,i:uo,(|uivei ing, n the Cm k 'onsne. This is sometimes called E,cun,fni,o,cat),from E,ciin»naii,earth, and l in,- ctnt, quivering.—Cot. Hatekint. t At night, ancHii the houses or woods, for half the year, this plague prevails, and the ve- y negroes nrc obliged to screen themselves behind a curtain or net.—Trans. FROM TIIF. NF.W-YORK COLUMBIAN. Peter OTSAqiXTTE was the son of a man of consideration among the Indians of our frontier. He belonged to the Na tion of the Oneidas, and was classed a- ming a division of them designated by the appellation oFthe W’oll Tribe. At the ckse of the revolutionary war, he was'ttoliced by the Marquis de la Fay-* tttc, a nobleman who, to martial prow ess and a noble zeal for liberty, united the most philanthropic feelings. After tiie successful struggle for independence required only a formal acknowledgment from our oppressors to perfect it, it ap peared as if be still aimed at the exten sion of further benefit to that country to wards the emancipation of which he bad so materially contributed. Viewing, Hereford, this young savage with pecu liar interest, and anticipating the happy results to be derived from his moral re generation, lea determined, though he nette was still in the zenith of their glory, lie was there taught every accomplish* cnent of a gentleman ; no care was spar ed in giving him every necessary in struction ; und to this was added the stu dy of music, drawing, and fencing ; and he danced with h grace that n V'estrie could not but admire. At about eigh teen, the period of his separation from ft country in which he bad spent his time so agreeably and se profitably, became necessary, i.nd, laden with favours from the Marquis, and tho minatures of those friends he hud left behind, he departed for America—buoyed up, perhaps, with the idea that the deep ignorance in which the nation to w hich lie belonged was bu ried, with that of the Indians of Ihe whole continent, might be dispollpd by his efforts, nnd he become the proud in strument of the civilization of thousand*, rie cqiue, soon after his urrtval, to the city of Albany—not the uncivilized sa- * vage—not with any of those marks whirl! bespoke a birth in the forests, or yeare spent in toiling through the wilds of ua uncultivated country—but possessing a line commanding figure, an expressive couotennnce, and an intelligent eye, with a face scarcely indicative of the race from which he was descended. Ha presented, at this period, an interesting spectacle. -A child of the wilderness was beheld about to proceed to the home of hit forefathers, having received the brilliant advantages of a cultivated mind, und on his \vuy to impart the benefits which civilization had given him, to the uation that owned him. It was an op portunity for the philosopher to contem plate, and to reflect on the anticipation* of the future good this young Indian might be the means of producing. Short ly after he arrvied in Albany, where be visited among Ihe first families, he took advantage ofGuveriior Clintou’sjourney to Fort Stanwix, lo make a treaty with the Indians, to return to his tribe. On (lie route, Otsuquette amused the com pany (among whom were the French Minister, Count Moustiers, and several gentlemen of respectability,) by his pow ers on various instruments of music. At Fort Stanwix, after a long absence of several years, he found himself again will) the companions of his early days, ' who saw and recognized him ; his friends and relations had not forgotten him, and he was welcomed to bis home and to his blanket. Rut that wMkh occurred soon after uis reception, led but to n too fearful anticipation of an unsuccessful project ; for the Oneida*, as if they could not ac knowledge Otsuquette, attired in the dress he appeared in before them, ft mark which did not disclose hit nation, and thinking he had assumed it as if asha med of the garb and habiliments of his ancestors, tore it from him with a sav age avidity and a fiend-like ferociousness; daubed on the very paint to which he had been so long unused, und clothed him with the uncouth garments that the tribe held sacred. Their fiery impe tuosity, in the performance ot the act, showed but too well the bold stand they were about to tuke against the innova tions they supposed Otsnquelte was lo be the agent of effecting against their cus toms aod manners, which, from the ven erable antiquity of their structure, it would be sacrilege to destroy. The re formed savage was taken back again to his native barbarity, und, as if to com plete the climax of degradation to a mind just susceptible of its own powers, was married. From that day be was no longer the u/’complisbed Indian, from whom every tali of philauthroptiy was expected to he realized ; he became no longer the instrument by w hose power the emanci pation of his countrymen, from the ttfral- doui of ignorance uud superstition, was to be effected ; from the any Otsuquelte was again an inmate of the forest, fio was once more buried in lus original obscuri ty, and bis nation only viewed him as an equal ; and even tfie lifiei ,d grunt of the state failed of giving him that superior consideration among them dhich Ins ci vilization find procured for him w ith the rest of mankind. The commanding pre-eminence acquired from instruction, from which it was expected ambition would have sprung up, and acted as a double stimulant, from either the natu ral inferiority of the savage miud or the predetermination of hit countrymen, be came of no effect, and, in a little time, was destroyed—Otsaquette was lost! Ujs moral perdition began from the hour lid left Fort-Stanwix. Scarcely threw months had Transpired, before intemper ance had marked him for its own, and soou hurried him to the grave : and, as if the very transition bad deadened all the finer feelings of his nature, the picture the Marquis gave him—the very picture of his affectionate friend himself, he par ted with. Poor youth t we cannot refrain from letting a tear fall to thy momory. In the downf.il to our high raised expectations, you stand before us aa a ^nelaucholy, though forcible illustrate pSjfat- our “ * Tin* whole appearance of tlilsrivericem* to indicate ccch an ancient nnd unrecorded hurricane., on this part of tho C'xi;t. I ; ; . . , p , 1 generation, oe determined, iiiougu tie 1 wuucu ion am* one'and a'haif'to'thre^miles whkq except* at! acar cely 12 yt^trs old, to take him j thoughts, our morals, a^|u*moat fi.od jed j to I ranee. He* arrived at that period 1 belief, arc consequences dF^ur place Ol •* Ihiperium, scu, Gardenia Lcsianthus. when IsOuisHh^lOth and Marie Antio* birth consequences dp^ur placet How shprt/Ha» the period ol