- Title
- North Carolina historical review [1930 : October]
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-
- Date
- October 1930
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-
- Place
- ["North Carolina, United States"]
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North Carolina historical review [1930 : October]
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The North Carolina
Historical Review
Volume VII October, 1930 Number 4
THE SEACOAST IN NORTH CAROLINA
HISTORY, 1763-1789
By Charles Christopher Crittenden
An inhabitant of the coastal plain of Maryland or Virginia, who
in the latter part of the eighteenth century had chanced to go to
eastern North Carolina, would have been struck bv the apparent
similarity of the waterways to those he had known at home. In the
northeastern section lie would have seen Albemarle and Currituck
sounds; in the central east, Pamlico, Pogue, and Core sounds; and
in the southeast, the Cape Fear River. In each of these sections,
but especially in the first two, be would have been impressed by the
great network of sizable rivers and creeks which flowed into the
larger bodies of water. Here, he would have thought, was a region
ideal for the navigation of vessels large and small.
Great would have been bis astonishment when told that these broad
rivers and sounds were, in reality, not only shallow, but also cut off
from the ocean by an almost continuous stretch of sand-reefs across
which the inlets, although fairly numerous, were shoal and danger¬
ous; that, except the Cape Fear, not a single large river emptied
directly into the ocean within North Carolina’s boundaries; and
that even the Capo Fear was rendered hazardous by the shoals which
obstructed its mouth. Moreover, as if these handicaps to navigation
were not sufficient, there were added for good measure three prom¬
ontories which were among the most treacherous in the world —
Cape Hatteras, Cape Lookout, and Cape Fear. It is not difficult to
understand why, with such obstacles in the way, North Carolina lias
never been able to develop a great overseas commerce.
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