[179] When visited by an English traveller in 1743, this island was inhabited by eight or ten families of _Indians_, who had considerable tracts of open land, and were largely engaged in the cultivation of corn. It abounded with game, “on which,” says the writer, “the good Indians regaled us, and for Greens boiled us the Tops of China Briars, which eat almost as well as Asparagus.” London Magazine for 1745, pp. 551, 552. [180] McCall’s History of Georgia, vol. I, pp. 214, 215. Savannah, 1811. [181] See Stevens’ History of Georgia, vol. I, pp. 453, 454. [182] See Sanderson’s Biography of the Signers, vol. III, p. 120. Philadelphia, 1823. [183] McCall’s History of Georgia, vol. I, pp. 255, 256. Savannah, 1811. [184] See Collections of the Georgia Historical Society, vol. III, p. 161, et seq. Savannah, 1873. [185] Travels Through North and South Carolina, Georgia, &c., p. 5. London, 1792. [186] His Observations were published in 1792. [187] Idem, pp. 9, 10. [188] See Watkins’ Digest, p. 144. [189] See Stevens’ History of Georgia, vol. II, p. 92. Philadelphia, 1859. [190] See Sanderson’s Biography of the Signers, vol. III, p. 55. Philadelphia, 1823. McCall’s Georgia, vol. II, p. 41. Savannah, 1816. [191] Sir Thomas Browne’s Hydriotaphia. [192] See Letter of the 9th of February, 1775, signed by Lyman Hall, Chairman. White’s Historical Collections of Georgia, pp. 520, 521. New York, 1855. Sanderson’s Biography of the Signers, vol. III, p. 54. Philadelphia, 1823. [193] The apparent tardiness and hesitancy on the part of the Colony of Georgia in casting her lot with her Sister Colonies at the inception of those movements which culminated in a declaration of independence, may be excused or accounted for when we remember that she was the youngest and the least prepared of all the Colonies, and recall the fact that Schovilites, leagued with Indians, were scourging her borders and awakening in the breasts even of the most patriotic and daring, gravest apprehensions for the safety of their wives and children. “The charge of inactivity vanishes,” says Captain McCall, “when the sword and hatchet are held over the heads of the actors to compel them to lie still.” During the progress of the Revolution the term Schovilite which, at first, was used to designate not only the bandit follower of Schovil, but also every adherent of the Crown in the Southern provinces, was dropped, and that of Loyalist and Tory substituted. The Revolutionists were known as Whigs, Rebels, and Patriots. Many Loyalists who had fled from the Carolinas and Georgia secured a retreat in East Florida whence, having associated with themselves parties of Indians, under the name of Florida Rangers, they indulged in predatory incursions into Georgia to the great loss and disquietude of the southern portions of the Province. History of Georgia, vol. II, p. 4. Savannah, 1816. [194] See White’s Historical Collections of Georgia, pp. 517, 518. New York, 1855.