rest, on the border of a swamp, and near the river, he
reached a cow-pen, the proprietor of which possessed about fifteen
hundred head of cattle. He was a man of amiable manners, and treated Mr.
Bartram with great hospitality. The chief profits made by this person
were obtained from beef, which he sent, by the river, for the supply of
distant markets.

About one hundred miles beyond this place is _Augusta_, in one of the
most delightful and most eligible situations imaginable. It stands on
an extensive plain, near the banks of the river Savannah, which is here
navigable for vessels of twenty or thirty tons burden. Augusta, thus
seated near the head of an important navigation, commands the trade and
commerce of the vast and fertile regions above it; and, from every side,
to a great distance. [Since Mr. Bartram was here, this place has become
the metropolis of Georgia.]

Below Augusta, and on the Georgia side of the river, the road crosses a
ridge of high swelling hills, of uncommon elevation, and sixty or
seventy feet higher than the surface of the river. These hills, from
three feet below the common vegetative surface, to the depth of twenty
or thirty feet, are entirely composed of fossil oyster-shells, which,
internally, are of the colour and consistency of white marble. The
shells are of immense magnitude; generally fifteen or twenty inches in
length, from six to eight wide, and from two to four inches in
thickness; and their hollows are sufficiently deep to receive a man's
foot.

From Augusta, Mr. Bartram proceeded to Fort James. For thirty miles the
road led him near the banks of the Savannah. The surface of the land was
uneven, in ridges or chains of swelling hills, and corresponding vales,
with level downs. The latter afforded grass and various herbage; and the
vales and hills produced forest-trees and shrubs of several kinds. In
the rich and humid lands, which bordered the creeks and bases of the
hills, Mr. Bartram discovered many species of plants which were entirely
new to him.

_Fort James_ enclosed about an acre of ground, and contained barracks
for soldiers, and a house for the governor or commandant. It was
situated at the extreme point of a promontory, formed by the junction of
the _Broad_ and _Savannah rivers_; and, at the distance of two miles,
there was a place laid out for the construction of a town, which was to
have the name of _Dartmouth_.

The surgeon of the garrison conducted Mr. Bartram, ab