At this period Carolina, in her natural and rural robes, to an ingenious stranger must have exhibited a noble and striking appearance, as all objects of nature do in their primeval state. Still we may fancy what new scenes would command his attention, and excite his admiration. A thunder-storm here is a grand phenomenon, especially in the night; it is said to be the voice of the supreme Author of nature, whose command all the various elements obey, and it speaks his majesty and glory in the loudest and most exalted strain. The frequent balls of fire bursting from cloud to cloud; the forked flashes darting from the clouds to the earth, and from the earth to the clouds alternately, illuminating the whole surrounding atmosphere, and men, like so many worms, crawling in the dust in the midst of flaming fire, form a magnificent and striking scene. The continual muttering noise of thunder at a distance the dreadful explosion on the right hand, the repercussive roar on the left, while the solid foundations of the earth shake, and the goodly frame of nature seems ready to dissolve, to the eyes of an intelligent stranger must have appeared awful and great. The beasts of the field retire from the thicket, and shew evident symptoms of silent awe and astonishment during the storm, and man's ultimate source of confidence is in the divine protection. In every quarter you meet with the blasted trees of the forest, which wither and decay at the lightning's stroke. No earthquakes, such as are commonly known in the West-India islands, have ever been felt here; but whirlwinds sometimes have made avenues through the thick forest, by levelling the loftiest trees, or sweeping them away before them like chaff. These terrible blasts are generally confined to a narrow tract, and run in an oblique and crooked direction. Hurricanes have also often visited the country and through such low and flat lands have spread their defolation far and wide. In travelling along the coast of Carolina, partly by water and partly by land, the stranger has an excellent view of the natural beauties, and rural inhabitants of the forest. At a distance the marshes and savannas appear like level meadows, with branches or creeks of the sea running through them. On one hand the evergreen pines appear, and engross almost the whole higher lands of the country; on the other the branching oaks and stately hickories stand covered with mossy robes: now he passes a grove covered with cypress; then the laurels, the bays, the palmetoes, the beech or mulberry-trees surround him, all growing as the hand of nature hath wildly scattered them. In the spring the dogwood, cherry-trees, and many others blossom, and, together with the jessamines, perfume the air; while the luxuriant vines climb over the loftiest trees, and bushes or shrubs of humbler growth fill up the thicket.