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CHARLESTON, the largest city in the state of South Carolina, is situated in the county of Charleston, upon a narrow tongue of land formed by the confluence of the rivers Ashley and Cooper, in 32° 47′ N. lat. and 79° 48′ W. long. The harbour, which is spacious and convenient, is formed by the estuary of the two rivers, and protected from the Atlantic by Sullivan's Island on the N. and Folly Island on the S. The entrance, which is between these islands, is obstructed by a range of sand-banks, which make three channels by which vessels of considerable burthen may enter the port, but the passage is rendered so difficult and uncertain by the tides and the shifting of the sands, that it is customary for all vessels, including even constant traders to the port, to be taken in by licensed pilots.

Charleston was founded in 1680, seventeen years after the granting of the colony by Charles II. to the Earl of Clarendon. For rather more than a century it was the capital of the province, Columbia, now the seat of government, not having been founded until 1787. The town is regularly laid out in parallel streets extending between the two rivers and crossed by other streets at right angles. The houses are for the most part spacious and lofty, and furnished with balconies and verandahs, in order to protect the interior from the sun. The streets are generally narrow and unpaved, and the soil being sandy, considerable annoyance is experienced in windy weather from dust and sand. To shelter the passengers from the sun, rows of a tree called the pride of India' are planted on each side of the streets; this tree does not grow to any considerable height, but its branches are spreading and its foliage thick, and it possesses the further advantage of not harbouring insects.

The town contains a city-hall, exchange, custom-house, guard-houses, theatre, orphan-house, hospital, alms-house, two arsenals, two markets, a college, and nineteen places of public worship. The yellow fever has made frequent ravages in Charleston, but its effects have been chiefly confined to strangers, and especially those from more northern climates. The place is not considered unhealthy by natives. The population of the city, in 1790, was 16,359, of whom 7684 were slaves. In the next forty years the number of inhabitants has nearly doubled, as appears from the following statement:

Bales. Bales. Tierces. Bales. Bales. Tierces. Bales. Bales. Tierces. 1829-30 11,538 149,250 89,356 6,651 119,209 76,503 6,784 32,473 11,280 1830-31 11,420 118,054 81,333 9,042 89,415 63,509 7,082 30,843 13,888 1831-32 14,922 139,020 98,383 11,548 115,3-9 82,805 4,277 31,279 11,759 1832-33 17,914 133,327 99,689 16, 280 119,430 85,102 2,124 16,424 12,940 1833-34 12,500 138,382 88,605 8,639 121,314 75,422 4,329 20,964 11,776 1834-35 11,373 135, 482 89,328 7,925 121,899 32,571 4,663 16,174 5,400 1835-36 10,958 163,639 94,000 8,144 156,837 83,013 3,098 11,284 9,003

The exports of the two shipping seasons ending April 1, 1835, and 1836, were distributed as follows:

Free Whites. Free Persons Males. Females, of Colour. Slaves.

7,912 10,052

80911,139 3,944 2,084

9,703

7,346 2,739

8,322

7,327 16,653 4,400

3 13,924

1830. 6326. 6502. 2107. 15,354 30,289 These numbers do not include the population of the suburbs, which in 1830 amounted to 10,054.

Charleston is a place of very considerable trade. A great part of the cotton and nearly all the rice exported from the state are shipped from this port. The amount of registered and licensed tonnage belonging to the port in 1835 was 13,759 tons, of which 7559 tons were employed in the coasting trade. The tonnage of steam-vessels in the same year

Total Foreign Forts Ports in the United States