At least the peer of the journals kept by Lewis & Clark, John Lawsons's AD 1700 journey from New York to Charleston, South Carolina and then up into North Carolina is likely the most poignant and detailed accounting of the natural history and Indigenous tribes of the region...............Lawson was an explorer, surveyor, and naturalist, who hailed from the Yorkshire region of England............. He arrived in the Carolina's in 1700 and soon after began the first of a series of travels in the region............ Eventually, he took up residence in present-day Bath, North Carolina, and in 1708 became the official surveyor for the Lords Proprietors of Carolina................ In the late summer of 1711, on another trip to explore the interior of the region, Lawson was captured and put to death by Tuscarora Indians.....................Today, I provde you with his accounting of "THE BEASTS OF CAROLINA(the trophic carnivores)................Note that by 1700, Europeans already had impacted the ecology of the region in a myriad of ways,...........It is estimated that some 90% of the indigenous people who occupied Eastern North America from the Mississippi River to the Atlantic and from Florida on up into Eastern Canada were dead from European caused Smallpox, Influenza, Measels, Whooping Cough, Mumps, Venereal Disease and a score of other afflictions, previously unknown in North America,,,,,,,,,,,,,,Many Ecological Historians are of the opinion that as Europeans peopled the initial 13 colonies, the wildlife populations might have been at a historical zenith as so many native peoples had perished, therefore enabling wildlife to flourish...............91 Years(first years of the 17th century)) after the founding of New Ampsterdam(NYC) by the Dutch, the intense settling of the Eastern Colonies via deforestation and creation of farms once again had animals from Wolves, Pumas, Deer, Beaver et.al beginning a rapid downward spiral that would see extirpation of most by the late 1800's..............Fascinating to note that Lawson's interaction with the Indian tribes of North Carolina's and his own first hand accounting had Jaguars, Pumas, Wolves, Gray Foxes, Bobcats, Bison, White Tail Deer, Black Bears, Elk and Moose all still "making a living" in the mountains, forests, glades and wetlands of the region at the beginning of the 18th century

THE BEASTS OF CAROLINA---BY JOHN LAWSON(IN HIS OWN WORDS)


"THE WOLF OF CAROLINA IS THE DOG OF THE WOODS"............."THEY ARE NEITHER SO LARGE, NOR FIERCE, AS THE EUROPEAN WOLF(LIKELY RED WOLF RATHER THAN THE LARGER GRAY WOLF OF THE WEST)"............"THEY ARE NOT MAN-SLAYERS; NEITHER IS ANY CREATURE IN CAROLINA, UNLESS WOUNDED"............THEY GO IN GREAT DROVES IN THE NIGHT TO HUNT DEER"..............WHEN THEY HUNT IN THE NIGHT THEY MAKE THE MOST HIDEOUS AND FRIGHTFUL NOISE THAT WAS EVER HEARD"...............


"TIGERS(JAGUARS) ARE NEVER MET WITHAL IN THE SETTLEMENT: BUT ARE MORE TO THE WESTWARD, AND ARE NOT NUMEROUS ON THIS SIDE OF THE MOUNTAINS(EAST SIDE OF THE APPALACHIAN CHAIN)".....I ONCE SAW ONE, THAT WAS LARGER THAN A PANTHER(PUMA/MOUNTAIN LION, AND SEEMED TO BE A VERY BOLD CREATURE"......THE INDIANS THAT HUNT IN THOSE QUARTERS SAY THEY ARE SELDOM MET WITHAL"........"IT SEEMS TO DIFFER FROM THE TIGER OF ASIA AND AFRICA"

"THE BUFFALO(BISON) IS A WILD BEAST OF AMERICA"....HE SELDOM APPEARS AMONGST THE ENGLISH INHABITANTS, HIS CHIEF HAUNT BEING IN THE LAND OF THE MISSISSIPPI; YET I HAVE KNOWN SOME KILLED ON THE HILLY PART OF CAPT-FAIR-RIVER, THEY PASSING THE LEDGES OF VAST MOUNTAINS FROM THE SAID MISSISSIPPI, BEFORE THEY CAN COME NEAR US"............"TWO KILLED ONE YEAR IN ONE YEAR IN VIRGINIA AT APPAMATICKS"

"THE PANTHER(MOUNTAIN LION/PUMA) IS OF THE CAT'S KIND; ABOUT THE HEIGHT OF A VERY LARGE GREYHOUND OF A REDDISH COLOR, THE SAME AS A LION".........HE CLIMBS TREES WITH THE GREATEST AGILITY IMAGINABLE, IS VERY STRONG LIMBED, CATCHING A PIECE OF MEAT FROM ANY CREATURE HE STRIKES AT"....HIS TAIL IS EXCEEDING LONG".."HIS PREY IS SWINES-FLESH DEER, OR ANYTHING HE CAN TAKE"........"WHEN HE HAS GOT HIS PREY, HE FILLS HIS BELLY WITH THE SLAUGHTER AND CAREFULLY LAYS UP THE REMAINDER, COVERING IT VERY NEATLY WITH LEAVES, WHICH IF ANYTHING TOUCHES IT, HE NEVER EATS ANY MORE IF IT"............HE PURRS AS CATS DO; HE HOLLOWS LIKE A MAN IN THE WOODS WHEN KILLED, WHICH IS BY MAKING HIM TAKE A TREE, AS THE LEAST CUR(DOG) PRESENTLY DO"; THEN THE HUNTSMAN SHOOT HIM; IF THEY DO NOT KILL HIM OUTRIGHT, HE IS A DANGEROUS ENEMY WHEN WOUNDED, ESPECIALLY TO THE DOGS THAT APPROACH HIM"

"THE BEARS HERE ARE VERY COMMON, THOUGH NOT SO LARGE AS IN GREENLAND AND THE MORE NORTHERN COUNTRIES OF RUSSIA"......THE CREATURE FEEDS UPON ALL SORTS OF WILD FRUITS".....THEY ARE GREAT DEVOURERS OF ACORNS AND OFTENTIMES MEET THE SWINE(PIGS) IN THE WOODS, WHICH THEY KILL AND EAT, ESPECIALLY WHEN THEY ARE HUNGRY, AND CAN FIND NO OTHER FOOD"........THEY ARE SEEMINGLY A VERY CLUMSY CREATURE, YET ARE VERY NIMBLE IN RUNNING UP TREES, AND TRAVERSING EVERY LIMB THEREOF"........WHEN THEY COME DOWN, THEY RUN TAIL FOREMOST..........AT CATCHING HERRINGS, THEY ARE MOST EXPERT FISHERS".......THEY SIT BY THE CREEKSIDES WHERE THE FISH RUN IN AND THERE THEY TAKE THEM UP AS FAST AS IT'S POSSIBLE"......DIPPING THEIR PAWS INTO THE WATER""...........SOME YEARS AGO, THERE WERE KILLED 500 BEARS IN TWO COUNTIES OF VIRGINIA IN ONE WINTER"


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359 pp., 6.125 x 9.25

Paper

ISBN  978-0-8078-4126-6

Published: September 1984

A New Voyage to Carolina

By John Lawson

Edited by Hugh Talmage Lefler

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John Lawson's amazingly detailed yet lively book is easily one of the most valuable of the early histories of the Carolinas, and it is certainly one of the best travel accounts of the early eighteenth-century colonies

. An inclusive account of the manners and customs of the Indian tribes of that day, it is also a minute report of the soil, climate, trees, plants, animals, and fish in the Carolinas.

Lawson's observation is keen and thorough; his style direct and vivid. He misses nothing and recounts all -- from the storms at sea to his impressions of New York in 1700, the trip down the coast to Charleston, and his travels from there into North Carolina with his Indian guides.






The first edition of this work was published in London in 1709. While various editions followed in the eighteenth century -- including two in German -- this edition is a true copy of the original and is the first to include a comprehensive index. It also contains "The Second Charter," "An Abstract of the Constitution of Carolina," Lawson's will, and several previously unpublished letters written by Lawson. A number of DeBry woodcuts of John White's drawings of Indian life, sketches of the beasts of Carolina which appeared in the original 1709 edition, and Lawson's map contribute additional interest to this volume.

About the Author

John Lawson, explorer, surveyor, and naturalist, was from the Yorkshire region of England. He arrived in the Carolinas in 1700 and soon after began the first of a series of travels in the region. Eventually, he took up residence in present-day Bath, North Carolina, and in 1708 became the official surveyor for the Lords Proprietors of Carolina. In the late summer of 1711, on another trip to explore the interior of the region, Lawson was captured and put to death by Tuscarora Indians.
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MAJOR EUROPEAN EXPORTATION DATES OF NORTH AMERICA

1000.	Leif Ericson discovers Vinland (New England).
1492.	October 12. Columbus discovers the New World.
1497.	The Cabots discover the continent of North America.
1498.	Columbus on third voyage discovers South America.
1506.	Columbus dies at Valladolid.
1507.	New World named after Americus Vespucius.
1513.	Balboa discovers the Pacific Ocean and Ponce  de Leon discovers Florida.
1519-1521.	Cortez conquers Mexico. Magellan sails round  the world.
1524.	Verrazano and Gomez explore New England coast.
1528.	Cabeza do Vaca explores southern United States.
1533.	Pizarro conquers Peru.
1534.	Cartier sails to the Gulf of St. Lawrence.
1541.	Do Soto discovers the Mississippi River.
1565.	Founding of St. Augustine.
1576.	Frobisher discovers northwest passage,  Frobisher Strait.
1579.	Drake explores coast of California.
1584.	Raleigh sends first expedition to America.
1588.	Defeat of the Spanish Armada.
1604.	Acadia settled by the French.
1607.	May 12. Founding of Jamestown, Virginia.
1608.	Founding of Quebec by Champlain.
1609.	Hudson discovers the Hudson River.
1619.	First assembly meets at Jamestown.  Slaves first sold in Virginia.
1620.	Coming of the Pilgrims in the Mayflower.
1623.	Settlements at New Amsterdam. First  settlements in New Hampshire.
1630.	The great emigration to Massachusetts.  The founding of Boston.
1634.	Maryland first settled by Calvert.
1635.	Connecticut settled by emigrants from  Massachusetts.
1636.	Founding of Providence by Roger Williams.  Harvard College founded.
1637.	War with Pequot Indians. First negro  slaves in New England.
1638.	Swedes first settle in Delaware.
1639.	First constitution in America adopted  by Connecticut.
1643.	May 30. New England Confederation  formed.
1649.	Toleration Act in Maryland.
1655.	Stuyvesant conquers the Swedes in  Delaware.
1656.	Quakers expelled from Massachusetts.
1662.	Connecticut charter granted.
1663.	Charter granted to Rhode Island. Charter for the Carolinas granted.
1664.	September 8. The English conquer  New Amsterdam. New Jerseygiven  by King Charles II to his brother, the  Duke of York.
1667.	Fundamental Constitutions drawn up  for the Carolinas.
1673.	Marquette explores the Mississippi.
1676.	Bacon's Rebellion in Virginia. King  Philip's War in New England.
1681.	Penn receives charter for Pennsylvania.
1682.	Penn founds Philadelphia and makes  treaty with the Indians. La Salle explores  Louisiana and takes possession for France.
1686.	Edmund Andros made governor of all  New England.
1689.	Rebellion against Andros; his fall and arrest.
1692.	Salem witchcraft delusion.
1700.	Iberville plants colony in Louisiana.
1713.	Treaty of Utrecht, ending Queen Anne's War,  which began in 1702.
1733.	Georgia settled by Oglethorpe.
1748.	Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle, ending King  George's War, which began in 1744.
1754.	Colonial Congress at Albany; Franklin's plan of union.
1755.	Braddock's defeat.
1756.	French and Indian War formally begun.
1759.	Wolfe captures Quebec.
	1763Treaty of Paris; end of the war.  Conspiracy of Pontiac. ------------------------------------------------------------ https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwiC46LBxNDLAhVK7iYKHcqFB0AQFggfMAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.pbs.org%2Fgunsgermssteel%2Fvariables%2Fsmallpox.html&usg=AFQjCNFIDHm76364BwZDMlwcHq8-emaGFw The Story Of... Smallpox – and other  Deadly Eurasian Germs When the Europeans arrived, carrying germs  which thrived in dense, semi-urban  populations,  the indigenous people of the Americas were  effectively doomed. They had never  experienced  smallpox, measles or flu before, and the viruses  tore through the continent, killing  an estimated  90% of Native Americans. Smallpox is believed to have arrived in the  Americas in 1520 on a Spanish ship  sailing from Cuba,  carried by an infected African slave. As soon  as the party landed in Mexico, the  infection began its  deadly voyage through the continent.  Even before the arrival of Pizarro, smallpox  had already  devastated the Inca Empire, killing the  Emperor Huayna Capac and  unleashing a bitter civil war  that distracted and weakened his  successor, Atahuallpa. In the era of global conquest which  followed, European colonizers  were assisted around the world by  the germs which they carried.  A 1713 smallpox epidemic in the Cape  of Good Hope decimated  the South African Khoi San people,  rendering them incapable of  resisting the process of colonization.  European germs also wreaked  devastation on the aboriginal  communities of Australia and New  Zealand. More victims of colonization were  killed by Eurasian germs, than by either  the gun or the sword, making germs  the deadliest agent of conquest.