one of the boats, and carried it in triumph through Wilmington. The next day, Col. Ashe led a party to the governor's house, and threatened to set fire to it unless the stamp officer gave them an audience. The latter was induced to resign his office. In February a riot took place in Wilmington, and a duel, in which an officer was killed. The legislature had, before this time, addressed the king on the subject of taxation without representation, in the spirit of Massachusetts and other colonies, though in opposition to the repeated remonstrances of the governor. In 1770, the sheriffs were ordered to disperse every meeting of ten men, wherever assembled, and it was declared to be felony, without benefit of clergy, to disobey, or to undertake any unlawful acts. In 1767, the two houses of the legislature joined in an address tc the king, on the repeal of the stamp-act, after the lower house had resisted all the exertions of the governor to reconcile them to it. The document was written with ability, and disclaimed every disloyal intention. But the vanity of Governor Tryon led him this year to begin a project, which laid the foundation of serious difficulties to the colony. This was the erection of a palace for his residence, at the expense of the people. The houses were prevailed upon to appropriate £5,000, which he expended in purchasing ground at Newbern, and laying a foundation, the money having been wholly intrusted to him. He made himself ridiculous, also, by making an ostentatious military display, in leading a party westward, to settle the boundary with the Indians. The next year, £10,000 were added to the palace fund, and a mob was soon raised in the west, which set the government at defiance for several years, often overawing the officers and courts by a display of armed companies, sometimes to the number of 1,500 men; the people having bound themselves to pay no taxes, until they should have some security for the proper use of their money. They several times seemed satisfied, and made very humble acknowl-persons or towns who would not co-ope edgments, particularly to the king. The next year the public troubles came to a crisis. Governor Tryon, at the head of a few hundred militia, met a somewhat more numerous body of regulators at the great Almance river, and, after repeated attempts to bring them to an accommodation, had a sharp battle with them for an hour, which discipline and cannon decided in his favor. A few executions terminated the whole, and the governor soon sailed for New York. The governor's palace having been completed, in 1770 the legislature were received there, and the edifice is described as one of great magnificence, even for England. But the attempt to get an obnoxious friend of the governor into the lower house, again excited the mob (or regulators as they called themselves), who threatened to burn the town. A ditch was dug from river to river for defence, and the country militia were ordered to be in readiness to march in. In 1774, on the 25th of August, a meeting of delegates was held at Newbern, representing meetings of the people in all parts of the state, who had assembled to express their feelings on the condition of the country; and although the governor called the council, they refused to act, while the convention chose John Harvey, of Perquiman, for speaker, and adopted resolutions, expressive of unshaken loyalty, but firmly in favor of the country, and opposed to the northport act, the taxes on tea, &c. They applauded the measures of Massachusetts, and resolved not to import, purchase, nor export, until American griev ances were removed. They approved of the proposed congress at Philadelphia, resolved to hold no intercourse with rate with them, and agreed to contribute for the relief of Boston sufferers. They then appointed deputies to the congress, William Hooper, of Doange, Joseph Hewes, of Edenton, and Richard Caswell, of Dobbs county. The legislature met at Edenton, on the 4th of April, 1775, at the time when the delegates of the people assembled to appoint members of the congress, many of the delegates being also members of the legislature, and John Harvey being chairman of both bodies. ! 1 G Governor Martin, in a long speech, re- | lotte, and while in session, received news monstrated against the proceedings of of the battle of Lexington, when, after the people, and the deputies replied in hearing addresses from some of the memthe plainest and most decided tone. bers, they all cried out, "Let us be inThe council, at the proposal of the gov- dependent!" and Dr. Ephraim Brevard ernor, struck off the name of John Har- reported resolutions declaring themvey from the list of justices of his coun- selves "a free and independent people." ty; and he afterward collected cannon They were forwarded to the congress for the defence of his palace, endeav- at Philadelphia, but the president said ored to enlist the Highlanders and oth- it would be premature to present them. ers in the west to take part with him, and wrote a letter to General Gage, at Boston, for arms and ammunition, which was intercepted. But the committees of safety were active throughout the colony, and that of Newbern took away the governor's cannon, and drove him, in fear, to take refuge in Fort Johnson. A dangerous plot was discovered on the evening of July 7th, for a massacre of the people on Tar river, by their negroes, on the following day, and many of the latter were found armed. The people of Wilmington prepared to seize the arms, &c., at Fort Johnson, but found the governor had embarked with them on board the sloop-of-war Cruizer. They then burned the fort, headed by John Ashe, who had resigned his commission as militia colonel of New Hanover. The congress authorized the levy of 1,000 men, in North Carolina, if necessary, to be regarded as part of an American army; the 20th of July was kept as a day of fasting and prayer, and the provincial congress met August 20th, to the number of 184 members; while the governor issued a proclamation, offering pardons &c.; 1,000 troops were raised, and 400 placed in Wilmington, the first regiment under James Moore, and the other under Robert Rowe, and 150,000 dollars was emitted in bills of credit, to he redeemed by a poll-tax of nine years, to commence in 1777. A battalion of ten companies of fifty minute-men, was ordered to be raised in each district. The congress also adopted an address to the inhabitants of the British empire, drawn up, it is said, by William Hooper. Other arrangements were made for defence. On the 19th of April, 1775, a committee, appointed by the captains of militia of Mecklenburg county, met at Char Governor Martin now sent emissaries to the regulators and the Highlanders in the southern counties, and a General M'Donald, to induce them to adhere to the royal cause; to counteract which, clergymen were sent to defeat his efforts to deceive them. Lord Dunmore of Virginia at the same time marched for the northern counties, with 120 regular troops, and some tories and negroes. He intrenched himself at the great bridge, and invited slaves to join him; but he was attacked by Lieut. Colonel Scott, while Lieutenant Tibbs, with his boat-guard, six miles off, was attacked by royal troops, which he repulsed. General M'Donald, with 1,500 men, offered terms to Colonel Moore, encamped on Rocky river, and after some time passed him by a rapid march, but was defeated by Colonel Caswell near Wilmington, and made prisoner. In May, 1776, Sir Peter Parker's expedition of about 30 vessels reached Cape Fear river, and on the 12th, Generals Clinton and Cornwallis landed at General Howe's plantation in the county of Brunswick, with 900 men, but failed in their object, which was to surprise Major Davis at Ostin's mills, for a sentinel on the shore gave the alarm, they were fired upon while crossing the causeway, and accomplished nothing but the destruction of the mills, and the beating, stabbing, and shooting of three women who fell into their power. They returned on board, with the loss of several men. The expedition failed, in consequence of the universal patriotism of the people, the defeat of ·Donald, and the refusal of the regulators to cooperate. After waiting in vain for their friends on shore, until they were obliged to kill several horses for food, they sailed on the 29th of May for Charleston. The constitution of the state was adopted in December, 1776, and in 1835 was revised. There are 35 senators, and 120 members of the house of commons, who are elected once in two years, as is the governor. The houses elect an executive council of seven, for two years, and the judges of the supreme court, to act during good behavior. The attorney-general is appointed by the legislature for four years. All white males, 21 years of age, inhabitants of the state for 12 months, are allowed to vote, except for senators, for which a freehold of 50 acres of land is necessary. The legislature meets twice a year at Raleigh. Little as the lower parts of North Carolina afford of variety, either in surface, soil, or natural productions, there is a region in the west, which vies with the most picturesque portions of the Union in rudeness and sublimity. The mountain region comprehends some of the highest land this side of the Rocky mountains, and towers far above the common table-land of the western counties. The latter is about 1,800 feet above the ocean, while Grandfather mountain is 5,556 feet, Roan mountain 6,038, and Black mountain 6,476: a little more than the reported height of Mount Washington, the loftiest peak of the White hills of New Hampshire. The rivers, in the upper parts of their courses, wind through some pleasing and striking scenes; and in their lower parts, several are accessible to vessels, and now visited by steamboats. Near the middle of the state, passes the boundary between the high and the low lands; and this line, which extends through several other adjacent states, is connected with some peculiarities of great importance. East of it extends the broad and sandy level to the seacoast, through which the rivers flow with a slow and uniform course, whose head-waters come through the high, cool, and more healthful region west of it, with a descent which precludes navigation. The occupations of the people, and the state of society, differ considerably in those two parts of the state, as well as the native products of the soil, and the objects of culture and of export. Near that line, also, are the gold mines, which, a few years since, began to excite much attention, and which are still wrought with some success. The peculiar features of the coast of North Carolina, render it the scene of frequent shipwrecks, and of consequent sufferings to crews and passengers. The land is so level and low, as to render it difficult of discovery from a distance, except in clear weather; and the greatest desolation and solitude generally prevail there, which, with the difficulty of crossing the sounds that form so large a part of the eastern boundary of the state, often render the situation of unfortunate mariners almost desperate, even after they have escaped the perils of the sea, before they can obtain relief from the land. The temptation offered by the exposure of property thrown on shore by the waves, has too often led the solitary, ignorant, and indigent inhabitants, in some places, to theft and inhumanity: but such acts have been rare of late years, and instances of hospitality and kindness are much more common. In some of the poorest parts of the low country, a habit prevails to a considerable extent, which is at once unnatural and injurious: clay-eating. A species of fine clay is found, which many learn to eat while young; and the prac tice leads to the formation of an inveterate habit, which at length produces a peculiar diseased and almost idiotic appearance and dulness of mind, with serious injury to the health, often terminating in premature death. The Dismal swamp, lying partly in Virginia and partly in this state, renders a large tract in its northeastern corner uninhabitable, and almost entirely useless. It lies nearly on a level with the ocean, and presents only a dreary and repulsive wilderness of cypress, and other trees and plants able to live in water or marshy soil, with patches of some what drier land here and there, rising from the immense morasses, and a large pond in the middle called the Lake of the Dismal swamp. The whole tract is 22 miles in length, and it connects the waters of Albemarle sound with Chesapeake bay. There is no passage through it, except the canal which has been cut from Virginia, to bring the produce of that part of the state to Norfolk. It is a work of considerable importance and value: but a more unattractive region can hardly be imagined, than that through which it passes. The Gold Mines.-According to traditions in some parts of the gold regions (which may embrace a tract of a thousand square miles), that precious metal has been found from early times, and sometimes in large masses. It now occurs in small lumps and grains, down to minute points, invisible even to the microscope; for the auriferous quartz often yields a considerable quantity when submitted to the separating process, even when no indication of its presence can be detected by the highest magnifiers. The books of the U. S. mint first record the receiving of gold from North Carolina in the year 1814, when 11,000 dollars' worth was obtained. Between that time and 1824, an annual average of only $2,500 was received; in 1825, $17,000; 1826, $20,000; 1827, $21,000; 1828, nearly $46,000; and 1829, $128,000. The best gold-washings (as deposites in sand are called), are in the counties of Burke and Rutherford. The miners believe that streams of water formerly flowed where the gold is now found in this condition. The richest mines, properly so called, where the metal is found in rocks and stones, are in Mecklenburg, Rowan, Davidson, and Cabarras counties. There the particles are usually invisible to the naked eye, and are separated by the aid of quicksilver. The best veins have a dip of 45 degrees to the horizon, and are from a few inches in thickness to several feet. process of obtaining it pure is laborious, tedious, and expensive. In some places excavations have been made 120 feet deep. The The stones are beaten to fine dust, either by common hammers, or by sledges moved by steam, and the mass is then placed in wooden troughs, called rockers, with a quantity of quicksilver, and a small stream of water is made to flow in, while the troughs are kept in continual gentle motion. The quicksil ver readily combines or amalgamates with gold when brought into contact with it, and after this process has been kept up for a time, a lump of the united metals is taken out, and pressed in a deerskin bag, through the pores of which the quicksilver is forced in minute globules, while the gold is left behind in a state of purity. The separation is effected at some foreign gold mines by heat, which distils over the quicksilver. During the height of the gold speculations, 6,000 persons were employed by one company, and it was supposed that 20,000 were occupied in the business in all parts of the gold counties. The annual product of gold was once estimated as high as $100,000 a week, or at the rate of five millions annually. The chief part of the laborers were Germans, Swedes, and other foreigners, speaking not less than thirteen different languages, and most of the gold was exported to Europe. The village of Charlotte, in Mecklenburg county, which is near one of the largest mines, experienced a sudden growth and a great increase of business: but the influence of mining, as carried on in the state generally, has not been favorable to the moral interests of the people. In the course of the excavations, evidences have been found of former mining operations, on the same ground. Many pieces of machinery have been discovered, and crucibles, of considerable size, and, in the opinion of some of the miners, of superior qualities to the best Hessian crucibles of the present day. Internal Improvements.—Exertions have been made to improve the very defective channels of trade in this state, and to prevent the products from being carried to the ports of South Carolina and Virginia. In 1815, an extensive system of canals and roads was planned, and much expense has been incurred in connecting the principal rivers by canals, the draining of marshes, &c. Railroads have since been constructed, which add much to the prosperity of the state. Education.-The institutions for education have been much increased since the year 1804, when there were only two academies. They are now established in different parts of the state; and the university of North Carolina, at Chapel Hill, 28 miles from Raleigh, is a respectable and flourishing institution. Religious Denominations.-The baptists are most numerous, and the methodists the next. After these are the presbyterians, Lutherans, episcopalians, united brethren, and friends. The Manufacture of Tar and Turpentine. The following description of the process of making tar and turpentine, we copy from a letter from a traveller in the South, which appeared in a late news 66 Many speculators have latterly entered into this turpentine manufacture. One negro man will collect 200 barrels in a season, which will sell for about $800; about $100 will feed and clothe the negro; thus there is a pretty full margin of profit for the capital embarked in the land and negroes. It is better by far than cotton-raising-many cotton planters are going into it, and the expansion of manufactures and arts, at home and abroad, keeps pace with the increased number of those who are entering into this profitable business. "For the benefit of those who have never been in a turpentine country, I may describe the process of gathering and distilling this subtle spirit. The trees are cupped in the spring; about eighteen inches square of the bark is peeled of; the cupping is made by one or two cuts of an axe, of peculiar shape, near the root. In the summer and fall the turpentine oozes out through this vent. The negro comes round from tree to tree, and gathers this oozed matter into his bucket. The trees are continually exuding during the season. The ensuing year they are cut a little higher than before, when a new crop is ob tained. The process may be repeated for five or six years, cutting higher up the trunk each year; after which the trees are cut down and chopped into short logs, and piled together in peculiar heaps, called "kilns," when a slow fire is put under the heap, and thus pitch and tar are obtained from the heated pile. The fatty matter, or raw turpentine, is packed into barrels-brought to the distilleries, boiled and evaporated in the common way in which spirit is extracted in the alcohol distilleries, the steam passing through a large worm or refrigerator, which is set in an immense vat of cold water. The surface of the water, being the hottest, passes off, while the attendant keeps pumping cold water through a pipe that forces it to the bottom, causing the hot water, created on the surface, to pass off. The steam comes out in spirits of turpentine below, and is barrelled tightly and sent to all the markets of the world, and the residue is sin. "North Carolina sends out an immense quantity of Indian corn, staves, turpentine, pitch, tar, and rosin, besides which, she is beginning to manufacture cotton and woollens." RALEIGH, the seat of government, is situated nearly in the centre of the state, 6 miles distant from the river Neuse, 164 southwest from Richmond, and 288 southwest from Washington. It was named in honor of that conspicuous statesman of Queen Elizabeth, who makes so interesting a figure in the history of her reign, and displayed so much zeal in prosecuting discoveries, and planting protestant colonies in this part of America. Raleigh is a small town, containing only about 3,000 inhabitants, but it is pleasantly situated, and laid out with taste, having a square of ten acres in the centre, called Union square, from which the four principal streets, of a fine breadth, viz., 99 feet, diverge at right angles. Between these are four smaller squares of four acres each. There are two academies, and several other public buildings. The capitol, which was destroyed by fire several years ago, contained the finest and most |