suitable for boilers. Jacksonboro is a village on the railroad about 33 miles above the mouth of the river, to which point a draft of 7 feet can be taken at high water.

The entrance of the river is obstructed by a shifting bar which forms a part of the extensive shoal which makes offshore for a distance of about 6 miles from the entrance to St. Helena Sound. The depth over the bar into South Edisto River is 10 feet, through an unmarked channel. The river is entered by way of the inside route, and the entrance from sea is not used. Pilots for the bar and river may be obtained from Charleston or Beaufort, S. C. The mean rise and fall of tides is 6 feet.

ST. HELENA SOUND

is the broadest opening in the coast between Chesapeake entrance and the Gulf of Mexico. From Bay Point on the east to Hunting Island on the west the entrance is 61/2 miles wide. About 134 miles from the northern end of Hunting Island is Hunting Island lighthouse, the principal guide to the entrance. Shoals make off for a distance of 6 miles seaward from the entrance, through which there are several channels leading into the sound. The principal channel has a depth ranging from 16 to 18 feet, and is marked by buoys which are moved to indicate the best water. In 1921 there was a depth of about 16 feet, and vessels of 18 feet draft were taken out at high water with a smooth sea.

Hunting Island lighthouse is a conical tower, lower part white, upper part black. The light is flashing white (light 4.5 seconds, eclipse 25.5 seconds), 133 feet above the water, and visible 18 miles.

A number of navigable rivers empty into the sound, the most important of which are Coosaw, Ashepoo, Bull, Combahee, Morgan, and Harbor Rivers. Ashepoo and Coosaw Rivers and Brickyard Creek are a part of the principal inland passage from Charleston to Savannah.

Coosaw River empties into the head of the sound about 5 miles above its entrance. It is important only as a part of the inside passage. The channel in the river is irregular in depth, having been made so partly by the phosphate dredges. It is buoyed for a distance of about 10 miles to the mouth of Brickyard Creek, and a depth of 15 feet can be taken to this point at high water. Brickyard Creek connects Coosaw and Beaufort Rivers and has a least depth of 7 feet. Whale Branch connects Coosaw and Broad Rivers and has a least depth of about 5 feet. Two drawbridges cross the branch about 42 and 51/2 miles westward of the entrance to Brickyard Creek. Bull River empties into Coosaw from northward about 5 miles above its mouth. There is a large phosphate plant and wharf (not operating, 1921), with 21 feet at its end, on the west bank of the river about 2 miles above its mouth, and there is a least depth of about 17 feet in the river to it. Opposite the phosphate plant and just inside the mouth of a creek are the buildings of a closed National quarantine station. Chisolm is a small settlement on the west bank of the river about 311⁄2 miles above its mouth; some provisions, gasoline, and water can be obtained in case of necessity. Williman Creek has a depth of about 5 feet around the north side of Williman Island.

North Wimbe Creek, southward of Williman Island, is nearly dry in places at low water.

Combahee River empties into Coosaw River from northward about 2 miles above its mouth. The river is unobstructed for a distance of 52 miles above its mouth excepting by the S. A. L. Railway bridge 13 miles from the Coosaw River, to the A. C. L. Railroad bridge (closed), and is navigable for this distance by boats of about 5 feet draft; the tides have a range of about 6 feet at the mouth of the river and 2.5 feet at the bridge, and are felt for about 18 miles above the bridge.

Old Cheehaw Creek empties into Combahee River about 3 miles above its mouth; about 1 mile above the junction of Old and New Cheehaw Creeks is a large sawmill at the village of Wiggins. Wiggins has railroad and telephone communication, and some provisions can be obtained. The deepest draft loaded at the mill is about 15 feet. A towboat is stationed here.

New Cheehaw Creek empties into Combahee River at its mouth; it is unimportant and has no traffic.

Ashepoo River empties into St. Helena Sound from northward just inside the entrance; for a distance of 234 miles above the entrance to Fenwick Island Cut the river forms part of the inland passage between Charleston and Savannah. At high water a draft of about 6 feet can be taken approximately 39 miles above the entrance to the A. C. L. Railroad drawbridge, and boats have gone to within 8 miles of the town of Walterboro. The S. A. L. Railway crosses the river 261⁄2 miles above the entrance. There are no settlements of any importance on the river.

Morgan River empties into St. Helena Sound from westward. It is about 9 miles long and at its head connects with Chowan Creek, a tributary of Beaufort River; at the divide this passage is nearly dry at low water. The best entrance to Morgan River is through Parrott Creek, which has a depth of 13 to 14 feet and leads from Coosaw River nearly opposite the mouth of Bull River. There is also an entrance with a depth of 8 feet, through Lucy Point Creek, also known as Dales Creek. It is marked by a red and black beacon off Sams Point. There is a wharf and prominent white buildings just inside of the creek. Vessels going to the former phosphate plant on Lucy Point Creek, entered at high water from Coosaw River drawing 12 feet or less, and left by way of Morgan River and Parrott Creek drawing 15 feet.

Harbor River empties into St. Helena Sound from the southwestward. At its head the river connects with Story River and the latter with Station Creek, forming an inland waterway with a least depth of about 4 feet, from St. Helena Sound to Port Royal Sound; but this passage is rarely used. It is described in the Inside Route Pilot, New York to Key West.

Pilots for the sound can be had by writing or wiring to Beaufort, S. C.; Charleston pilots will sometimes take vessels into the sound. Pilotage is compulsory for certain vessels. For pilot rates see Appendix.

Towboats.-There is a towboat at Wiggins. Vessels sometimes tow to St. Helena Sound from Charleston and Savannah.

Tides.-The mean rise and fall of tides on the bar and entrance to St. Helena Sound is 6 feet.

DIRECTIONS.-From Charleston light vessel a 237° true (SW. by W. % mag.) course made good for 342 miles will lead in a least depth of about 4 fathoms to the Sea buoy off the entrance of St. Helena Sound. From Martins Industry gas and whistling buoy make good a 36° true (NE. 34 N. mag.) course for 1534 miles, and then steer 4° true (N. 12 E. mag.) for about 3 miles to the Sea buoy.

The channel between the shoals from the entrance of St. Helena Sound out to the bar has maintained about the same position since the first survey was made in 1857, the channel on the bar having moved southward nearly 1 mile since that date. The depths on the bar have been from 12 to 17 feet. With the aid of the chart vessels of about 12 feet draft, with a rising tide and a smooth sea, should have no difficulty in entering by following the buoys. The depths, especially on the crest of the bar, are subject to frequent change, and local knowledge is required to carry the best water. In 1921 surveys showed a least depth of 15 feet in the buoyed channel over the bar. Hunting Island lighthouse and the buoys are the only aids for the bar. The buoys are moved as necessary to mark the channel. The Sea buoy off the entrance is a perpendicularly striped whistling buoy, located in a depth of about 5 fathoms about 734 miles from Hunting Island lighthouse. A 278° true (W. 3⁄4 N. mag.) course for the lighthouse will lead sufficiently close to the Sea buoy to see it in clear weather; vessels should keep in a low water depth of over 5 fathoms until the Sea buoy is sighted.

Follow the buoyed channel across the bar until up with can buoy No. 3, with Hunting Island lighthouse bearing 225° true (SW. mag.). Pass 200 yards northeastward of this buoy and steer 309° true (NW. 12 W. mag.) heading for the next perpendicular-striped buoy lying 134 miles distant. Above this buoy anchorage can be selected in the channel of St. Helena Sound and Coosaw River.

From the perpendicularly striped buoy steer 296° true (NW. by W. 5% W. mag.), pass 1/4 mile southward of Combahee Bank gas buoy and nun buoy No. 4 at a distance of about 300 yards. When opposite can buoy 5 P B edge over to port some to avoid running too close to a 10-foot shoal at the edge of Combahee Bank. From the nun buoy steer 307° true (NW. 5% W. mag.), leave Marsh Island Spit light 400 yards on the port hand, and follow the north bank at a distance of 300 yards to the horizontally striped buoy at the entrance of Combahee River.

The passage to Wiggins leads up Combahee River nearly 4 miles above this buoy and then up Old Cheehaw Creek, but sailing vessels require a towboat for this part of the route and strangers should take it on a rising tide. There is scant room for anchorage in Combahee River, and none in Old Cheehaw Creek. Leave the horizontally striped buoy at the entrance of Combahee River on the port hand and follow the east bank at a distance of 300 to 400 yards to buoy No. 1. Leave this buoy on the port hand, and then follow the bight in the west bank at a distance of about 100 yards to buoy No. 3. Leave this buoy 75 yards on the port hand, steer 340° true (N. by W. 34 W. mag.) for 12 miles, and pass 100 yards off the point on the west bank. Then be guided by the buoys at the entrance of Old Cheehaw

Creek. Small steamers of less than 9 feet draft should have no difficulty in going up Old Cheehaw Creek to Wiggins on a rising tide; the channel follows the ebb-tide bends, favors the bight in the west bank in passing the mouth of New Cheehaw Creek, and then favors the south bank in passing the point of woods just above.

Bound to Bull River.-Pass 3 mile southward of the horizontally striped buoy at the entrance of Combahee River, steer 275° true (W.2 N. mag.) for the entrance of Bull River, with Bull Spit light (on red and black beacon) a little on the port bow, and pass 300 to 500 yards off the south bank (north end of Morgan Island). Leave the light about 150 yards on the port hand, favor the south bank at the entrance of the river, then follow the east bank at a distance of 200 yards for 1 mile until up with the point on the west bank 11⁄2 mile below the wharf at the phosphate plant, and then follow the west bank to the wharf.

COAST FROM ST. HELENA SOUND TO TYBEE ROADS.

The general trend of the part of the coast is southwesterly and its length 30 miles. It presents the same characteristic features when viewed from seaward as that to the eastward. It is broken by one opening of importance, Port Royal Sound, situated about midway between St. Helena and Tybee, and four shallow and unimportant inlets, Fripps, Skull, Pritchards, and Trenchards.

Fripps Inlet is obstructed by shoals at its mouth, over which but 3 or 4 feet can be taken in the smoothest weather. Harbor River, entering into the inlet at its head, connects with St. Helena Sound to the eastward, and Story River connects to the westward with Trenchards Inlet. Story River is a section of the inside route between St. Helena and Port Royal Sounds and is described in the Inside Route Pilot, New York to Key West.

Between Fripps Inlet and Trenchards Inlet, Fripps Island, Pritchard Island, and Capers Island form the seacoast. They appear to be densely wooded except the last mentioned, near Trenchards Inlet, where it is low and marshy, with a white sandy beach, with sand dunes 15 feet high. Skull Inlet, which separates Fripps Island from Pritchards Island, is a narrow passage, with very little water on the bar. Pritchards Inlet, separating the island with that name from Capers Island, is a stream of the same description.

Trenchards Inlet is of but little importance. Its bar extends about 3 miles from shore and had by the last survey (1921) a least depth of about 5 feet in a narrow unbuoyed channel. There is a swash channel close under the western point of Capers Island, which carries a depth about 6 feet into the inlet. There is also a shoal channel to Port Royal Sound, close under Philips Island to Bay Point. Station Creek connects this inlet with Port Royal Sound to the westward.

Philips Island forms the west bank of Trenchards Inlet and extends as far as Port Royal Sound. It is wooded in the vicinity of the former and also in the vicinity of Bay Point, its western extremity, but between these the land is low and marshy.

To the westward of Port Royal Sound is Hilton Head Island. It is over 10 miles in length and is nearly 5 miles in width on its northern face, tapering to a rounded point at its western end. It is heavily wooded over most of its surface, but there are some cleared and

cultivated farms in the vicinity of Skull Creek. The Hilton Head range is on its seaward side. Inside this island Skull Creek and Calibogue Sound form an inside route between Port Royal Sound and Tybee Roads.

PORT ROYAL SOUND

is the largest and best unimproved harbor on the coast of South Carolina; between Bay Point on the northeast and Hilton Head on the southwest the entrance is about 2 miles wide. Shoals extend 8 miles in a general south-southeast direction from the entrance, forming a bar at the outer part, through which there are two channels. Southeast Channel is the principal one, and is marked by Hilton Head range lights (white structures) and buoys, and by the last survey had a least depth of about 21 feet. South Channel is not marked and in 1921 was not used.

Martins Industry gas and whistling buoy is moored in a depth of 48 feet, on the Hilton Head range, about 131⁄2 miles 106° true (ESE. 12 É. mag.) of the front light. The buoy is black and white, and shows a flashing white light every 15 seconds, flash 5 seconds duration, 16 feet above water.

Beaufort River empties into the sound from the northward and just inside of Bay Point. It is the approach to Beaufort, Port Royal, and the United States Naval Station, and with Brickyard Creek forms a part of the principal inland passage. Beaufort is about 10 miles above the mouth of the river; it has a little trade and can be reached at high water by vessels of 18 feet draft; there are depths of 12 to 14 feet alongside the wharves. Station Creek empties into Beaufort River from eastward at its mouth; with Story and Harbor Rivers it forms an inland passage, with a least depth of about 4 feet, between Port Royal Sound and St. Helena Sound. There is a group of prominent palmettos on the north shore near the mouth of the creek. Chowan Creek (Johnsons River) empties into Beaufort River from eastward 5 miles above Bay Point, and at its head connects with Morgan River; at the divide this passage is nearly dry at low water, but at high water it can be used by light-draft boats in going to St. Helena Sound. Battery Creek empties into Beaufort River 7 miles above Bay Point; just inside its entrance is the town of Port Royal, a railroad terminus. There is a depth of 20 feet or more at one of the wharves. Archers Creek is a narrow passage leading westward from the mouth of Battery Creek to Broad River. The eastern entrance north of the small island is closed at low water. South of the island about 4 feet can be taken into the creek. The western entrance carries 9 feet and is marked by a lighted beacon to be left to southward when entering.

Broad River extends northwestward from the head of Port Royal Sound, and is about 16 miles long; with the aid of the chart it is not difficult to Whale Branch. The Seaboard Air Line Railway crosses Broad River 3 miles above Whale Branch. Pocotaligo, Tulifiny, and Coosawhatchie Rivers empty into the head of Broad River; these rivers are said to have a depth of about 12 feet at low water to the closed highway bridges which cross them below the A. C. L. Railroad. Chechessee River empties into the head of Port Royal Sound from westward; Colleton River, one of its tributaries, is of little importance, but has a good channel for a distance of 5 miles. A depth of