Leaving  my  invalid,  and  just  recovering  myself


LET.  vii.]       Columbia. — Salubrious  Frosts.  63

from  an  attack  of  typhus,  I  crossed  the  Wateree,
here  a  quarter  of  a  mile  wide,  and  after  traversing
the  same  description  of  country  for  thirty-six  miles,
reached  Columbia,  the  seat  of  legislature  ;  a  situa-
tion far  more  agreeable  and  healthy  than  Camden.
This  city  is  well  laid  out  on  an  extensive  sandy
plain,  at  an  elevation  of  about  one  hundred  feet
above  the  bed  of  the  Congaree,  a  river  about  the
the  same  width  with  the  Wateree,  its  union  with
which,  forms  the  Santee,  the  Congaree,  itself
being  a  junction  of  the  Enoree,  Saluda,  Broad,
and  Tiger  rivers.  It  is  here  broken  by  ledges  of
rock,  causing  in  the  numerous  cascades,  a  lively
contrast  to  the  darkening  foliage  that  hangs  from
the  cliffs  above,  and  presenting  on  the  whole  a
picturesque  scenery  far  different  to  what  I  have  for
some  time  seen  familiar  with.
Columbia  has  been  selected  on  account  of  its
central,  as  well  as  its  salubrious  situation.  The
present  state-house  is  a  mean  building,  but  another
more  suitable  is  in  contemplation.  Its  chief  orna-
ment, and  from  which  it  is  beginning  to  acquire
some  notoriety,  is  the  college,  an  extensive  build-
ing east  of  the  town,  of  which  it  commands  a  com-
plete view.
The  violence  of  the  fever  has  much  abated  under
the  influence  of  the  frost,  whose  return  has  been
hailed  as  the  harbinger  of  the  greatest  blessings.
