SOUTH CAROLINA, one of the original thirteen
States of the American Union, commonly known as the
Palmetto State, from the abundance of this kind of 'palm
on the coast, once formed a part of that vast territory of
the New World claimed by the Spaniards under the name
of Florida and by the French under that of New France; or, to be more concise, it comprised the southern or lower portion of what was formerly styled Carolina, and subsequently divided into North and South Carolina. It lies
between 32° 4' 30" and 35° 12' N. lat. and between 78° 25'
and 83° 49' W. long. In shape it is an irregular triangle, the vertex resting upon the Blue Ridge Mountains in the extreme north-west, while the Atlantic forms its base. It is bounded N. and N.E. by North Carolina, S.E. by the Atlantic, and S.W. by the Savannah river, which, with its tributaries the Tugaloo and Chatauga, separates it from Georgia. The state is 189 miles long and 160 broad, containing 30,961 square miles or 19,815,040 acres, and is divided into thirty-four counties (formerly districts). At the census of 1880 the population numbered 995,577, of whom 391,105 were white, the rest
coloured. Very few Indians are to be found. The surface
may be about equally divided into high, middling, and
low land, the last-named rising from the sea-coast, where
it is very flat and level, and gradually increasing in
elevation towards the interior, where it attains a mean of
250 feet, continuing to the north line, where, after varying
from 300 to 800 feet it reaches its highest elevation of
1000 feet. The land along and near the coast is low, marshy, and swampy, especially on the rivers' banks, rolling and diversified towards the centre, and undulating near the mountain slope, but in places abrupt, King's Mountain rising almost perpendicularly 500 feet. The chief elevations in this section are the Saluda Mountains, spurs of the Blue Ridge, King's Mountain (1692 feet), Paris Mountain (2054 feet), Table Rock (3000 feet), Cæsar's Head (3118 feet), and Mount Pinnacle (3436 feet). This region abounds in beautiful and picturesque scenery, rendering it attractive to tourists, and making it a great summer resort.
The land is irrigated and well-drained by numerous
rivers, the largest of which is the Santee, formed by the
Saluda, Congaree, Catawba, and Wateree, uniting at the
centre of the State. The other rivers of any size are the
Waccamaw, Lynch's, Great and Little Peedee, forming the
Peedee, Black, Wando, Ashley, Cooper, Edisto, Combahee, Ashepoo, Coosaw, Port Royal, and Broad (on the coast), this last being more of a bay. The sea-coast is fringed by numerous islands, and indented by bays and inlets,—Winyaw and Bull's Bays, Charleston Harbour, Stono Inlet, North and South Edisto Inlets, St Helena Sound, and Port Royal,—the last one of the finest harbours in the world, as its name, said to have been given on this account by the early discoverers and explorers, would imply. The entire coast south of Winyaw is composed of a network of creeks and sounds, so that, for small craft, navigation inland may be had from this point to the mouth of the Savannah on the extreme south-west. Most of the rivers rising in the mountains are navigable nearly to the foot-slope. Here numerous rapids and waterfalls afford excellent mill-power. Canals throughout the State are not numerous, the few formerly in use having been abandoned in favour of the railroads. The Santee Canal, connecting that river with the headwaters of the Cooper, 22 miles in length, has given place to the North-Eastern Railway.
The climate of South Carolina is mild and genial, snow
falling in the mountains but rarely in the middle sections, and seldom or never along the coast. The sea islands generally, as well as the pine barrens, are healthy, furnishing the planter with a summer home and safe retreat from the malaria of the rice lands. These regions were formerly innocuous to the whites, as they still are to the negroes, but subsequent clearance and cultivation have rendered them fatal in summer. The midlands are considered healthy in all parts except here and there along the creeks, while the mountain region is unexceptionable.
(W. SI.)