Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 22.djvu/309

 SOUTH CAROLINA between 32 4' 30" and 35 12' K lat. and between 78 25' and 83 49' W. long. In shape it is an irregular triangle, the vertex resting upon the Blue Ridge Mountains in the extreme north-west, while the Atlantic forms its base. It is bounded N. and N.E. by North Carolina, S.E. by the Atlantic, and S.W. by the Savannah river, which, with its tributaries the Tugaloo and Chatauga, separates it from Georgia. The state is 189 miles long and 160 broad, containing 30,961 square miles or 19,815,040 acres, and is divided into thirty-four counties (formerly districts). At the census of 1880 the population numbered 995,577, of whom 391,105 were white, the rest Surface, coloured. Very few Indians are to be found. The surface may be about equally divided into high, middling, and low land, the last-named rising from the sea-coast, where it is very flat and level, and gradually increasing in elevation towards the interior, where it attains a mean of 250 feet, continuing to the north line, where, after varying from 300 to 800 feet it reaches its highest elevation of 1000 feet. The land along and near the coast is low, marshy, and swampy, especially on the rivers' banks, rolling and diversified -towards the centre, and undulating near the mountain slope, but in places abrupt, King's Mountain rising almost perpendicularly 500 feet. The chief eleva- tions in this section are the Saluda Mountains, spurs of the Blue Ridge, King's Mountain (1692 feet), Paris Mountain (2054 feet), Table Rock (3000 feet), Cesar's Head (3118 feet), and Mount Pinnacle (3436 feet). This region abounds in beautiful and picturesque scenery, rendering it attractive to tourists, and making it a great summer resort. Elvers. The land is irrigated and Avell-drained by numerous rivers, the largest of which is the Santee, formed by the Saluda, Congaree, Catawba, and Wateree, uniting at the centre of the State. The other rivers of any size are the Waccamaw, Lynch's, Great and Little Peedee, forming the Peedee, Black, Wando, Ashley, Cooper, Edisto, Combahee, Ashepoo, Coosaw, Port Royal, and Broad (on the coast), this last being more of a bay. The sea-coast is fringed by numerous islands, and indented by bays and inlets, Winyaw and Bull's Bays, Charleston Harbour, Stono Inlet, North and South Edisto Inlets, St Helena Sound, and Port Royal, the last one of the finest harbours in the world, as its name, said to have been given on this account by the early discoverers and explorers, would imply. The entire coast south of Winyaw is composed of a network of creeks and sounds, so that, for small craft, navigation inland may be had from this point to the mouth of the Savannah on the extreme south-west. Most of the rivers rising in the mountains are navigable nearly to the foot-slope. Here numerous rapids and waterfalls afford excellent mill-power. Canals throughout the State are not numerous, the few formerly in use having been abandoned in favour of the railroads. The Santee Canal, connecting that river with the headwaters of the Cooper, 22 miles in length, has given place to the North-Eastern Railway. Climate. The climate of South Carolina is mild and genial, snow falling in the mountains but rarely in the middle sections, and seldom or never along the coast. The sea islands generally, as well as the pine barrens, are healthy, furnish- ing the planter with a summer home and safe retreat from the malaria of the rice lands. These regions were formerly innocuous to the whites, as they still are to the negroes, but subsequent clearance and cultivation have rendered them fatal in summer. The midlands are considered healthy in all parts except here and there along the creeks, while the mountain region is unexceptionable. Earth- The coast of South Carolina, like places in the same latitude, is quakes, subject to violent storms, tornadoes, and cyclones, which make their annual visits on or about the autumnal equinox, doing much damage. Till quite recently the district has never been seriously troubled with earthquakes. Slight tremors have indeed been felt and recorded since 1754, without, however, causing serious injury. But on the night of the 31st August 1886 Charleston was visited by an earthquake which was followed by other shocks and tremors, which continued night and day at intervals with greater or less violence, as the following list shows : August 27... 1 shock, slight. August 28... 1 shock, slight. August 31.. .5 shocks, destructive. Sept. Sept. Sept. Sept Sept. Sept. .3 shocks, severe. 2... 3 shocks, severe. 3... 2 shocks, severe. 4... 2 shocks, slight. 5...1 shock, moderate. 7... 2 shocks, slight. Sept. 8...1 shock, slight. Sept. 10... 1 shock, slight. Sept. 12...1 shock, slight. Sept. 15. ..2 shocks, moderate. Sept. 21... 1 shock, severe. Sept. 22 ... 1 shock,moderate,local. Sept. 27... 1 shock, severe. Sept. 28... 1 shock, moderate. Sept. 30... 1 shock, slight. The main shock was very destructive to property, while about forty lives were lost, and many more were, injured. Crevices several yards in length and varying from one to four inches in width appeared, and in some places in the suburbs of the city fissures of much larger proportions threw up water to the height of several feet. There was no warning given except that in the small town of Smnmerville, about 22 miles to the north, consider- able disturbance was caused by thuds and tremors with detona- tions on the 27th and 28th, felt on the latter date to some extent in Charleston. The violence of these shocks was confined almost exclusively to this State, though they were felt in a slighter degree in Georgia and North Carolina. The soil in the low country is remarkably fertile, the river Vegeta- swamps and reclaimed marshes being admirably adapted to the tion. cultivation of rice, while the sandy loam of the sea islands and surrounding main produces the finest long staple, black seed, or sea island cotton of silky fibre. As we recede from the salt the staple becomes shorter and the plant has a less luxuriant growth. The rice produced here, noted abroad as Carolina rice, is considered first in the markets of the world. The State was the first to introduce rice culture in America, the seed having been brought in 1693 by a vessel from Madagascar. Abundant crops are raised of wheat, rye, maize, oats, barley, buckwheat, pease, beans, sugar, tobacco, indigo, sorghum, broom-corn, sunflower, guinea-corn, sweet and Irish potatoes, hemp, flax, and hops. Numerous orchards, all over the State, furnish quantities of apples, pears, quinces, plums, peaches, nectarines, apricots, cherries, and along the coast figs, oranges, lemons, olives, and pomegranates. The raspberry, blackberry, mulberry, and whortleberry are produced. The strawberry is extensively cultivated along the coast, and shipped in immense quantities to the northern markets. Of nuts, the walnut, pecan, chestnut, hickory, shell-bark, hazel nut, and chinquapin may be mentioned. The grape grows wild in many portions of the State, and in great varieties, which, when culti- vated, yield a delicious wine. In certain sections hundreds of acres are devoted to the culture. The gardens and farms produce in abundance turnips, beets, parsnips, carrots, artichokes, mustard, bonne, rhubarb, arrowroot, water and musk melons, cucumbers, .cabbages, kale, lettuce, cayenne pepper, squashes, okra, pumpkins, onions, leeks, beans, radishes, celery, green pease, and tomatoes, the last two from early spring to mid-winter. The jasmine, Cherokee rose or nondescript, wild honeysuckle, and sweet-brier perfume the woods ; the dog-wood and fringe tree abound in the forest ; and garden flowers in the cities, especially Charleston, Columbia, and Beaufort, are the admiration of strangers. Con- spicuous among these are the Camellia japonica of all varieties and shades, azalea in every hue, roses of numberless descriptions, hyacinth, snowdrop, violet, dahlia, tulip, verbena, sweet olive, and heliotrope. Valuable and almost inexhaustible forests extend over the greater part of the State, the long leaf or yellow pine, confined chiefly to the low country, covering 10,000,000 acres, and furnishing immense quantities of timber, tar, pitch, turpentine, and rosin. Here and elsewhere are found the magnolia, sweet and black gum, white, water, red, and live oak, black walnut, elm, hickory, maple, sycamore, ash, cypress, chestnut, beech, locust, persimmon, dogwood, poplar. The palmetto is peculiar to the coast. The forests abound in deer, wild turkeys, foxes, wild cats, Animals. raccoons, opossums, rabbits, and squirrels ; and along the water- courses are found the musk otter, &c. Among the birds are pigeons, doves, partridges, woodcock, snipe, immense flocks of wild ducks, including the English or canvas-back, teal, blackhead, &c. Freshwater fish of every variety are taken in all the streams in the interior, and the bays and inlets furnish whiting, mackerel, bass, flounder, sheephead, shad, mullet, blackfish, sturgeon, terrapin, turtle, shrimps, crabs, and oysters. Quantities of salmon and carp have been furnished by the fish commissioners for stocking the waters. Minerals are liberally diffused over the State. Gold _ is found in Minerals. Lancaster, York, Union, Spartanburg, Greenville, Pickeus, and Abbeville counties ; copper in York, Spartanburg, and Pickens ; lead in the last ; iron of a superior quality in Union, Spartanburg, Greenville, and Pickens ; manganese in Lancaster, York, Chester,