inscription, "HERE, ON THE 11TH February, 1732, George Washington WAS BORN,' " indicates the hallowed spot. Mount Vernon, higher up the river, was his residence in life and tomb in death. Here is the Mecca of America. The house in which he resided is a simple frame building, and his tomb a plain structure of red brick. Many a pilgrim has sought this sacred retreat, to pay a tribute of gratitude to the memory of the immortal Washington. The first European settlement made in the original United States was at Jamestown, in Virginia, in the year 1607. The country was granted by Queen Elizabeth to Sir Walter Raleigh, who named it Virginia, in honor of his virgin (?) sovereign. The grant was vacated by the execution and attainder of Raleigh under James I., and the territory was then granted to the London company. Jamestown was then settled, and the name given in honor of the reigning monarch. Virginia was conspicuous for her loyalty as a colony, and was among the last to acknowledge the commonwealth, and the first to proclaim Charles II. at the Restoration. The state has produced a number of eminent statesmen and warriors, among whom were Washington, Jefferson, Monroe, Madison, and Chief-Justice Marshall. The early history of this state is replete with numerous romantic and highly affecting incidents occasioned by dangers and calamities,-by sickness, want, and contests with the Indians. The government of the colony was originally administered by a council of seven persons, with a president chosen from among themselves, but afterwards it was administered by a Governor, appointed, except during the commonwealth, by the crown. The first President was E. M. Wingfield, and the first Governor, appointed 1610, was Lord De la War, from whom Delaware derives its name. Shortly after the war of the revolution broke out, a Provisional Government was established, and Peyton Randolph chosen President. A constitution was formed in 1776, which was the fundamental law of Virginia until 1830, when it was superseded by the present constitution. Patrick Henry was the first constitutional Governor. THE STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA. NORTH CAROLINA is situated between 33° 53′ and 36° 33′ N. latitude, and between 75° 45′ and 84° W. longitude. It is bounded north by Virginia; east by the Atlantic Ocean; south by South Carolina, and west by Tennessee. Length, 430 miles, breadth, 198; area, 43,800 square miles, or 28,032,000 acres. Along the whole coast of this state is a ridge of sand, separated from the main land in some places by narrow sounds, in others by broad bays. The passages and inlets through it are shallow and dangerous, and Ocracoke Inlet is the only one north of Cape Fear through which vessels can pass. In the counties on the sea-coast the land is low and covered with extensive marshes and swamps, and for 60 or 80 miles from the shore is a dead level. Beyond this the country swells into hills, and in the more western parts of the state rises into mountains. Mitchell's Peak is the highest culmination east of the Mississippi, being 6,720 feet above the level of the sea. In the low country the soil is generally sandy, and covered with immense forests of pitch pine; in the swamps, rice of a fine quality grows in abundance, and in the upper country wheat and other cereals, with hemp and flax. Cape Hatteras, Cape Lookout, and Cape Fear are the most celebrated in the state. All of them are dangerous to mariners, but particularly Cape Hatteras, where storms of unusual violence prevail. Numerous vessels are every year wrecked on this coast. The principal inlets are Currituck, Roanoke and Ocracoke. Albemarle Sound, in the north-east part of the state, is 86 miles long, and from 10 to 20 broad. The Great Dismal Swamp extends northward into Virginia. It is 30 miles long from north to south, and 10 miles broad, and embraces about 150,000 acres, generally covered with trees. In the centre is Drummond's Pond, 15 miles in circumference. The Little Dismal or Alligator Swamp lies between Albemarle and Prentice Sounds. The Chowan River rises in Virginia and falls into Albemarle Sound. The Roanoke, formed by the Staunton and Dan, both of which rise in Virginia, is navigable for 70 miles, to the falls, and by means of a canal around the falls, is further continued to Danville, in Virginia. The Pamlico rises in the northern part of the state. The Neuse rises also in the northern part of the state, and after a course of 500 miles, falls into Pamlico Sound, 70 miles below Newbern. It is navigable 12 miles above Newbern for sea vessels, and 200 miles further for boats. Cape Fear River has 18 feet of water on the bar: large vessels can ascend to Wilmington. The Yadkin is a tributary of the Great Pedee; it rises in the mountains in the west, and after pursuing a south-east course, enters South Carolina. In Montgomery county are the narrows, where the river descends 321 feet in 24 miles. The Catawba also rises in the west and passes into South Carolina, where it takes the name of Wataree. The climate of the coast section is subject to great and sudden changes, and is often unhealthy in the fall. The winters are mild but boisterous;the spring, however, soon appears, and vegetation much earlier than in the west on the same parallel. The summers are hot and sultry, but the autumns serene and beautiful. The exhalations from the swamps are very pernicious and destructive to life. The climate of the upper country is more steady, and generally colder. Among the mountains the summer is pleasant, but in winter a great degree of cold is experienced. At the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, the hottest day exhibited a temperature of 96°, and the coldest 10°, and the usual average was 59° 7. Peaches blossom in February, and the first frost occurs generally in October. Rainy days, 98; cloudy, 333; clear, 32. The total population of North Carolina, in 1850, was 868,072, averaging one person to every 32 acres, and its distribution to the several counties was in the following proportions : COUNTIES. Gates White Persons. ..4.158--- Colored Persons. Total COUNTIES. White Colored Persons. Slave. Total Populat'n. -11,330.... 481-5,244.17,255 Granville......10,296. -1,088.-9,865-21,249 Pasquotank...-4,611.1,234.3,105 9,950 3.259.... 116.-3.244.... 6,619 Perquimans....3,629... Guilford.----15,859........ 694-3,186....19,739 Gaston... -5,928---- 33...2.112.... 8,073 Green..... Halifax Haywood*.......5,931---- 15. 418. 6,364 Iredell Person.....5,593.... Pitt-----6,664-- 450.-3,252.... 7,331 2954,893....10,781 100....6,633....13,397 ..5,763...1,872.8,954.16,589 Randolph.....13,795 397.-1,640-15,832 Johnston 8.900... Jones Lenoir Lincoln Martin ...3,567 2,139. 5,661.. 4,615... Rutherford.....10,425... 163.4,663....13,726 Sampson 149.-1,793 9,106 16,171. --5,437. 325.3.367... 8,307 Tyrrell. 3.296.. 2071,262.... 6,246 Union.. ..8,018.... Wake 511,928---- 9,997 14,177.1,301-9,409-24,887 4,604 4418,867...13,912 .3,216.... 235.-2,215... 5,766 29... 129. 3,400 6645,020...13,486 211...1,142....12,109 50. 346... 8,205 Watauga ..... ...3,242. 157...5,473....13,914 *710 and 120 Indians reside in this county. Wilkes-10,746.. ---7,809....... Total....552,464---27,196.-288,412...868,072 .484,870. ....22,732. 245,817 1850........ .552,464. ..27,196. .288,412. Of the population in 1850 there were employed in agriculture 217,095 persons, in commerce 1,734, in trade and manufactures 14,322, in navigating the ocean 327, in sailing on canals, rivers, &c., 379, and 1086 in the learned professions. The increase of the population in this state has been greatly retarded during the last 50 years by the drain of emigration, first to Kentucky and Tennessee, and lately to the States of the south-west. The industry of North Carolina is chiefly agricultural, and the great staples of the South-cotton, tobacco, and rice, are cultivated extensively. Indian corn forms the largest cereal crop, next oats and wheat, but the crops of rye, buckwheat, and barley, are very small. The live stock numbers about 192,000 horses and mules, 850,000 neat cattle, 730,000 sheep, and 2,000,000 swine. The yield of wool is between eight and nine hundred thousand pounds, and the value of the dairy about $800,000. The state has valuable mines of iron and coal, and a considerable deposit of gold is found at the base of the Alleghanies; but mining is not prosecuted to any great extent. The gold mines of North Carolina are richer than those of the other Atlantic States, and the deposit seems to have here a wider range. The greater part of the gold is taken to the mint for coinage, but the quantity thus disposed of by no means indicates the quantity yielded. The gold is found chiefly in scales flattened and broken, but in several instances lumps (one weighing 281bs avoird.) have been exhumed. The usual currency in the gold region is "dust," contained in goose quills, and each man carries his scale and weights. Manufactures are in a more flourishing condition, and of late years have decidedly progressed. The manufacturing capital cannot now (1850) be less than $6,000,000, and a considerable portion of this has been invested in the manufacture of cotton goods. In 1850 there were 31 mills, and about 52,000 spindles; and the annual consumption is about 13,000 bales of 4000 lbs. each. The fisheries are of little consequence, although fish is plentiful in the rivers and bays. The direct foreign commerce of the state is small, but the coasting trade is considerable and prosperous. The latter is carried on chiefly with the northern ports. The value of exports to foreign countries, in 1849-50, was $416,501, and of imports $323,692, and in this business 28,300 tons of shipping were entered, and 42,232 tons were cleared. Three-fourths of this commerce is transacted at Wilmington. The shipping owned within the state, on the 30th June, 1850, amounted to 45,016 tons, of which 30,284 tons were employed in coasting. The steam marine was 3,232 tons, and there were built, during the year, 23 vessels, of an aggregate burden of 2,650 tons. In 1816 the exports were valued at $1,328,755, but since then the annual value has seldom exceeded that of 1849-50. The exports of the latter year, indeed, are much above the average. The state has completed some great works of improvement, and when the system of projected railroads is finished, few other districts will have better means of transport and transit. It is cut through by the great road, north and south, and the enterprise of the people is pressing towards the west towards Tennessee and the Mississippi River. At the present time (1851) 240 miles of railroad are in working order, and 385 miles in course of construction. There are 18 banks in the state, the capital stock of which amounts to $3,825,000, and the circulation, in April, 1850, was $3,542,448. The specie held by these institutions amounted to $1,682,410. North Carolina has made great improvement in its educational facilities of late years, but still the destitution of the state in this respect is lamentable. Of common schools there are about 1,200, and there are 180 or 200 academies in the state. The institutions of a higher grade are the University at Chapel Hill, Davidson College in Mecklenburg county, and Wake Forest College. In 1850 these had together 247 students. The Law School of the University had 10 students. The state provides institutions for the deaf and dumb, and also for the insane. Methodists and Baptists are the leading religious denominations. The number of Presbyterians, Anti-Mission Baptists, and Episcopalians is also respectable. The state is eminently Protestant, the whole Catholic diodiocese of Charleston, which includes both the Carolinas, not counting more than 5,000 Roman Catholics. The The The government is vested in a Governor, a Council of seven persons, a Senate and House of Commons. The Governor, Senators and Representatives are elected by the people, and hold their offices for two years. Council is chosen every two years by the General Assembly. General Assembly also appoints the judiciary. Every white male of 21 years of age, having resided in the county one year and paid taxes, is entitled to vote for Governor and members of the House of Commons. To vote for a Senator he must, in addition to these, own fifty acres of land. The public debt of this state is contingent, and arises from endorsements by the state, of bonds of railroad companies to the amount of $1,100,000, from which sum, however, must be deducted $13,000 for bonds not used, and $110,000 for bonds paid. This reduces the amount for which the state is liable, to $977,000. The income into the state treasury, in 1847, amounted to $251,717 00, and the expenditures to $175,402. There was a balance in the treasury of $76,315, on the 30th October, 1847. The chief sources of income are from taxes, profits on railroads, &c. The ordinary expenses of the government are about $55,000 annually. Very early after the discovery of North America several essays were made to settle on the coast of Carolina, but without success. A company of emigrants who fled from Virginia on account of religious persecution, founded the first permanent colony at a place called Albemarle, on the eastern branch of Chowan River. In 1663, Charles II. granted a charter for the Carolinas, to the Earl of Clarendon and others, who proceeded in an effort to settle there, first taking command of the colony at Albemarle. A colony was sent from Barbadoes and located near Cape Fear. William Sayle was appointed first Governor in 1669. In 1729, the crown purchased the whole of the Carolinas for $17,509, and they were divided into two provinces, called North and South Carolina. In 1769, the oppression of the British Minister caused a rebellion, which was successful at the time, but two years after, Governor Tryon, at the head of his troops, defeated the "Regulators," as the armed inhabitants called themselves, killing 300 in battle, and taking several prisoners, of whom twelve were condemned for high treason, and six executed. During the war of the revolution, the Carolinas took an active part, and as early as 1775, a declaration was put forth by a sort of congress at Mecklenburg, which breathed the true spirit of independence. In 1776, the constitution of North Carolina was adopted, and with some amendments made in 1835, has continued to the present time as the fundamental law of the land. RALEIGH, the capital, is situated in the centre of the state, near the river Neuse. It contains a beautiful granite state-house, and other public buildings, and had, in 1850, a population of 3,091. Lat. 35° 47′ N. and long. 78° 43′ W. NEWBERN, on the same river, is a place of considerable business, and has a good share of commerce. Population, in 1850, 4,722 WILMINGTON, the largest town in the state, contained, in 1850, a population of 6,218. It is situated on the east side of Cape Fear River, 35 miles from the Atlantic, and is very unhealthy. It enjoys considerable coasting business. More produce is exported from this place than any other in the state. FAYETTEVILLE, the next in population, is situated near the west branch of Cape Fear River. Population, in 1850, 4,285. It has some commerce, and perhaps is better situated and provided with better facilities for trade, than any other town in the state. |