The Charlotte Democrat., 1874-09-28
SKETCHEs OF NORTH CAROLINA,
BY HON. II. Il. VA nee.
From the Norfolk Landmark.
NUMBER III.

riu land of Caroline must have presented
to Sir Walter Itacigh's adventurous colon
lists when thty first approached It's shores
in 1884 On the 22d Of July, tins little
company, under the command OF fhiiIlp
Amidas and Arthur Barlow, entered Hat
tci4ts Inlet Their anchors were let down
into the white sand, they turned their ex-
pectant eyes westward, and 10! strange,
unknown world was before them! a long
sweep of coast describing endless lines OF
beauty, indented with gracefully rounded
bays and inlcts. On the level shores stood
the stately cedar, the widespreading live
oak, the vast gigantic cypress with Its
,frathery foliage, and that most graceful
and picturesque of all our Southern torres!
trees, the long leaf pine, fair rival OF the
Eastern palm From branch to branch
.hung luxuriant festoons Of vines, laden with
Eschol clusters of fruit. Sylvia was ar
rayed in the full leaf Of her royal Summer
glory. Rank, green grass covered the
gIades and savannahS, tlecked with the
gold and snow purple of IA thousand toWers
GAY crcepcrs aud brighthued parasites,
jcSsamincs, many -colorcd acacIas, ana
,buod-rcd trumpct-tiowcrs, spread torth
their georgc"us tintings by the side of the
more subdued marvels of the baytree and
,maenolia Bordering the bright, smooth
waters Of the Sound, languiShiny III the
beams of an unclouded mdsummers sun,
the tide presented picture of the sea OF
silver, enclosed in n ring of emerald. 10
,the aptured bchoders, from the open
fields and treelcss downs Of Eng land, 1t
must have seemed that these glowing
shores and forest shades contained Eden
bowers Of never-ending beauty and delight.
And TO add tn the deusion of the senses,
the morning breeze bore upon its wings
warm and grateful perfume from the thou
sand odorous trees and flowers of the shore.
,Landing upon the mainland and penetrating
the shades which they had bchcld at
distance, it would seem impossible to i'm
,ayine the conceptions Of their brains and
the rapture of their hearts. On every hand
were beauty and riches exceeding far the
widest dreams. As they walked beneath
the overshadowing and interlocked
sbranches, and among the tall, straight
pines, spots of sylvan beauty, beside silver
springs gurgling from the white sands, sug-
.gested homes of happiness and unearthiy
lovcliness. Others suggested vast fields OF
golden grain and vineyards laden with gen
erous intoxicating purple; whilst stli'
others, besides deep rivers and ocauteonS
bays, told of towns and cities yet TO be,
and thronging muItitudcs busy with com
merce and civilization. Falsely enough
IL no doubt seemed to these rude, unIcarnet
men that want and care could never intrude
npon such sciences of abundance and pence
tul beauty. The rivers aud sounds abound
cd with fish; through the forest roamrd
the red deer and the shaggy buffalo, whilst
4he black bear is lord Of the jungles. Wild
turkeys, with ccaseIcss gabb?es, sought
their food through the brakes; the part
ridges whirrcd in the long grass, anil the
,l,nn \a,l hi lrun fol
his mate from the fragrant cedar boughs.
To increase theimprcssion of these he"
.comers a charm Of mystery was there also
1t was oil new, strange, un known. w here
was the end of this broad and untrod domin
ion? Whence came these great rivers
hat manner OF country was 1t at thel
source What riches were there III the
hills out of whose bosom they must spring
What treasures of gold aud silver, of dla
monds and precious stones, and Of homely
honest iron, were concealed in the bowels
of this earth, whose surface was SO fair
With wonder and awe they stood upon TIN
edge of our Eastern forests and upon th
very threshold of the Eleu<inian my sterie
of nature, where undisturbcl by the han'
of civilized destruction, she had for thou>
andE and hundreds of thousands of year
been celebrating her marvels. For, new a
,tSc land seemed to them, they haH in realt,
,coDle upon the old world and left the new
world at home. The mountain peaks froI
whose sides these rivers spread, had rrare
!l.alf-naked heads above the waves of tn
.primitiye seas millions of wears before thei
taller and grander brethren, the Alps an
Andes, were born, or even the Eur"i'ca
hills were brought FORTH
No wonder ihat with all these heautic
seen, and all tarSe n,arv"lS ina tin"I, the
gave Good Queen Br<s such glowing AN
romantic accounts of her new found d'
minion of Carolina. No wonder they sa
not the malaria that lurked in the Jungle
fattering on the very cXuberanc" "i natur
NoW0nder they saw not the crafty an
cruel savage, hardening his wa:-cIub an
sharpening his Lomahawk, under which til
blood of women aud children was t" flow
the 3ight Of their burning cabins. No wo
der they saw not the starvation, the t.,
and suffering, through which lands, eve
tairesu and best, are brought under II
hand. of ivihzatlUn. They saw, before tho
:etHsned home, only the riches and cap
bilitics OF the country, and AS they behe
il aud determined to make it theirs, the
doubtless felt that keen, prophetic belief
their own mi ghty future which Mr. Motl'
Ssysis an insrinct with all great races
The whole bOunlleSs continent was thci
No other 1eet, or civilized man. pressed ~
part OF that widerxtrnlel shore. No, I
twenty y-four Years after did John Smitl
canoe search the banks of the James al
skim the noble cxrunse of the Chesapeak
and it Was fully thirtySix wears after tn
that the aytiower landed her passrng,
on Plymouth Rock With no one to- opp,
or deny rhcir right. they eHcd
mighty, unknown and uncxploreI viru
continent, and felt awed by its mystcrio
vHstness, even as Japhct dill when cnntc