IV.
SUNBURY.
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GEORGIA. Parish of St. John.
Plan of the Town of Sunbury containing 3430 feet in Length from North to South, & 2230 in Breadth on the South Side, & 1880 in Breadth on the North.
J. Bien, Photo. Lith. N. Y.
On the 23rd of January, 1734, Mr. Oglethorpe, accompanied by Captain Ferguson and sixteen attendants,—including two Indians,—set out from Savannah in an open row-boat, followed by a yawl carrying provisions and ammunition, upon an exploratory expedition to the Southern frontiers of Georgia.[167] His course lay through the inner passages, and was pursued as far as St. Simons island. For the protection of the Colony it was then determined to form a military station and settlement near the mouth of the Alatamaha; and,—as an outpost and barrier against Spanish invasion,—to erect a strong fort on the high bluff on the western side of St. Simons island. These sites were shortly afterwards occupied and fortified, and were respectively named New Inverness and Frederica. It was during this reconnoissance that the eyes of the Founder of Georgia first rested upon that bold and beautiful bluff which, overlooking the placid waters of Midway river and the intervening low-lying salt marshes, descries in the distance the green woods of Bermuda island, the dim outline of the southern point of Ossabaw, and, across the sound, the white shores of St. Catherine. Although formal session had been made by the Lower Creeks of all lands along the sea-coast from the Savannah to the Alatamaha river, extending westward as high as the tide flowed, and including all islands except a few which the Indians specially reserved for the purposes of hunting, fishing, and bathing, no English settlements had, at that early day, been formed south of the Great Ogeechee river. Fort Argyle,—garrisoned by Captain McPherson and his troop of Rangers, and commanding the passes by which the Indians during the late wars were accustomed to invade Carolina,—was then the only military post of any consequence in the direction of the Spaniards. From this nameless bluff the Aborigines had not then removed, and their canoes might be seen passing and repassing to and from Hussoope, [Ossabaw], and Cowleggee, [St. Catharine], islands and the main. To the quiet woods and waters of this semi-tropical region the English were strangers. The Bermuda grass which, at a later period, so completely covered Sunbury bluff, did not then appear, but magnificent live oaks, in full grown stature and solemn mien, crowned the high-ground even to the very verge where the tide kissed the shore. Cedars, festooned with vines, over-hung the waters. The magnolia grandiflora,—queen of the forest,—excited on every hand the admiration of the early visitor. The sweet-scented myrtle, the tall pine, the odoriferous bay, and other indigenous trees lent their charms to a spot whose primal beauty had encountered no change at the hand of man. The woods were resonant with the songs of birds, whose bright plumage vied in coloring with the native flowers which gladdened the eye and gave gentle odors to the ambient air. Fishes abounded in the waters, and game on the land. Cool sea-breezes tempered the heat of summer, and the rigor of cold was unknown in the depth of winter. It was a gentle, attractive place,—this bold bluff,—as it came from the hand of Nature. Some scene like this did the Poet Waller have in view as he sang:
“Heav’n sure has kept this spot at earth uncurst,
To show how all things were created first.”