Rhode Island, in Narraganset Bay, is fifteen miles long from north-east to south-west, and averages two and a half in width. In its most flourishing state it was called by travellers the Eden of America. It has a good soil well cultivated, and an agreeably varied surface, but it is destitute of trees, the whole island having been laid waste by the British in the revolutionary war. A mine of anthracite coal has been wrought to some extent in the north part of the island, but is not now much esteemed. The town of Newport, in the south-west part, is a fashionable summer resort.
Conanicut is an island lying on the west side of Rhode Island; it is eight miles long and about one in breadth. This is also a beautiful island, and has a fertile soil. At the southern extremity is a lighthouse. In the same part may be seen the ruins of an ancient circular fortification, which once defended the passage of the bay.
Prudence Island, farther up Narraganset Bay, is six miles in length. Block Island lies ten miles out at sea, and is eight miles long and from twoto four broad; it has an uneven surface, but produces maize and other grain. A lighthouse stands upon it. Among the other islands in Narraganset Bay are Patience, Hope, Dyers’ and Hog Island.
Long Island extends along the coast of Connecticut, but belongs wholly to New-York. It is one hundred and forty miles long from east to west, and its average breadth is about ten miles. It is of alluvial formation, but there is a rocky ridge or spine, extending lengthwise through it, which presents summits of considerable elevation. On the south side of the island is Hempstead Plain, an extensive tract of wild savanna, fifteen miles in length and four in breadth. In favorable years, the best parts of the island have yielded thirty or forty bushels of wheat to the acre. In the western parts are many fine orchards. Deer are found in great numbers in the centre of the island; the shores abound with the finest oysters.
Shelter Island lies off the east end of Long Island. It contains about eight thousand acres of varied surface, with a soil generally light and sandy, but in some parts rich, level, and well cultivated. Fisher’s Island lies near the east extremity of Long Island; it is twelve miles long and one wide; the surface is broken, but it affords a good farm, and its dairies are very fine. Gardiner’s Island is on the north side of Long Island, and contains about three thousand acres of valuable land.
Staten Island lies at the mouth of New-York harbor; it is about eighteen miles long, and eight wide. The surface is generally rough and hilly, but on the south is a level tract of good land.This island forms the county of Richmond.[25]
Manhattan Island, the seat of the city of New York, is fifteen miles long, and one and a half in its average breadth. It is washed on the western side by the Hudson, and separated from the continent and Long Island on the east by narrow channels. It is generally level in the lower part, and the soil here rests upon a granite rock. At the northern extremity, the granite is succeeded by limestone, which affords excellent marble, and extends for some distance into the country. In the northern part, the shores are rocky, and the face of the island strongly marked by abrupt crags and ravines, hills and valleys, insulated rocks and marshy inlets. The gneiss rock, which is much used for side-walk pavements and the foundations of buildings, is found in abundance here. Small quantities of porcelain clay have also been found upon the island.
The Bay of Chesapeak contains many islands within the limits of Maryland. Kent Island, on the east side of the bay, opposite Annapolis, is twelve miles long. The Tangier Islands lie farther down the bay. On the seacoast is the island of Assatiegue, twenty miles long and two broad.
The coast of North Carolina is skirted by a range of low, sandy islands, thrown up by the sea. They are long and narrow, and inclose several bays or sounds. They are generally barren. The southern part of South Carolina exhibits a similar range, separated from the main land by narrow channels, which afford a steam-boat navigation. These islands, like the neighboring continent, are low and flat, but are covered with forests of live oak, pine, and palmetto. Before the cultivation of cotton, many of them were the haunts of alligators, and their thick woods and rank weeds rendered them impenetrable to man. At present, they are under cultivation and well inhabited; and as the voyager glides along their shores in a steam-boat, he is enchanted with the prospect of their lively verdure, interspersed with thick clumps of palmettoes, live oak, and laurel, and flowering groves of orange trees. The long sandy beaches which border these islands towards the sea, are covered with thousands of water-fowl. Georgia is also bordered with a range of small islands and marshy tracts, intersected by channels and rivulets which are navigable for small vessels. These islands consist of a rich gray soil called hammoc land. In theirnatural state, they are covered with forests of live oak, pine, and hickory, but under cultivation they produce the best cotton in the world, called Sea-Island cotton. There are many small islands scattered along the coast of Florida; and off the southern extremity, at some distance from the land, lies a cluster, on one of which, Key West, the United States have established a naval station.
The Chandeleur Islands lie on the eastern coast of Louisiana; they are little more than heaps of sand, covered with pine forests. West of the Mississippi are many others scattered along the coast. Here is the island of Barataria, formerly noted as a nest of pirates. It lies in a bay which receives the waters of a lake of the same name. The soil of these islands is generally rich; most of them are low and level.There are some very fertile islands in the Mississippi,[26] and in the Great Lakes.