It is
situated on a gently rising ground, environing a harbour, sufficiently
capacious to shelter all the navies of Europe. Several rivers fall into
this _harbour_; but none of them are navigable for ships of burden, to
any considerable distance. In Pensacola there are several hundred
habitations. The governor's palace is a large brick building, ornamented
with a tower. The town is defended by a fortress, within which is the
council-chamber, houses for the officers, and barracks for the soldiers
of the garrison. On the sand-hills, near this place, Mr. Bartram
discovered several species of plants, which at that time had not been
described.
Having again returned to Mobile, he left that place, in a trading-boat,
the property of a Frenchman, who was about to sail to his plantations,
on the banks of the Pearl river. Before Mr. Bartram set out on this
expedition, he had been attacked by a severe complaint in his eyes,
which occasioned extreme pain, and almost deprived him of sight: it did
not, however, deter him from proceeding. On his arrival at _Pearl
river_, he was, however, so ill, as to be laid up, for several weeks, at
the house of an English gentleman, who resided on an island in that
river. As soon as he was sufficiently recovered to prosecute his
journey, he proceeded, in a boat, to Manchac on the Mississippi.
Having sailed westward for some days, he entered the _river Amite_, and,
ascending it, arrived at a landing-place, from which he crossed, by
land, to _Manchac_, about nine miles distant. The road was straight,
spacious, and level, and extended beneath the shadow of a grand forest.
On arriving at the banks of the _Mississippi_, Mr. Bartram stood, for
some time, fascinated by the magnificence of this grand river. Its width
was nearly a mile, and its depth at least two hundred and forty feet.
But it is not merely the expansion of its surface which astonishes and
delights: its lofty banks, the steady course of its mighty flood, the
trees which overhang its waters, the magnificent forests by which it is
bounded; all combine in exhibiting prospects the most sublime that can
be imagined. At Manchac, the banks are at least fifty feet in
perpendicular height.
After having continued in this place a short time, Mr. Bartram made an
excursion several miles up the Mississippi. At his return, he once more
set sail for _Mobile_, where, not long afterwards, he safely arrived.
On the 27th of November, he sailed up the r
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