It’s too bad that most visitors to the vast American
continent are uneducated and uncultured. Merchants hire them to trade among the
Indians, and they may spend several years traveling, but yet when they return
they are incapable of giving any reasonable account of what they encountered in
those remote areas, even though the country abounds with curiosities worthy of
observation.
In this area, I think, the French outstrip us. First, they
have numerous clergy. Their missionaries are obedient to their superiors in the
highest degree. That obedience is one great article of their vows, and is
strictly observed among all their orders.
Second, the French always send abroad with those
missionaries some gentlemen who, upon their arrival, are sent out into the wilderness
to make discoveries and to acquaint themselves with the Savages of America.
These gentlemen are obliged to keep a strict journal of all their journeys in
order to share their experiences not only with their governors and fathers but
likewise their friends and relations in France. These accounts are
industriously spread about that kingdom, to their advantage.
The French Monarch is a very good judge of mens’ qualities,
and does not let incompetent men take jobs from competent men through
favoritism or bribery. This gives the French an incentive to
outdo one another, even in hardship and dangers. In this way they’ve gained a
good relationship with the Indians and learned their speech and customs, and so
made considerable discoveries in a short time – witness their journals from
Canada to the Mississippi and its several branches, where they have
accomplished great things in a short time.
I lived in Carolina for eight years,
and spent most of that time traveling. I not only surveyed the sea coast and those
parts already inhabited by Christians, but also a spacious tract of land lying
between the inhabitants and the ledges of mountains, whence our noblest rivers
originate, running toward the ocean, where they water as pleasant a country as
any in Europe. The discovery of this land has never before been made public, but
in the following pages I give a faithful account of it. I have laid down
everything with impartiality and truth, which is after all the duty of every
author, and preferable to a smooth style accompanied with falsehoods and
hyperboles.
The greater part of this pleasant and
healthful country is inhabited by none but savages, who desire a Christian
neighborhood. They want this for the advantages of trade and to enjoy all the
comforts of life free from care and want.
But I won’t bore my readers any more
with my encomium of Carolina! Instead, I refer them to my journal and to my
other descriptions of the country and its inhabitants. This will appear after
my description of the natural history, in which I have been very exact and, for
the sake of good organization, placed each species under its distinct and
proper heading.
