To the Honorable Thomas Spalding[67] are we indebted for the following description of this important avenue of communication: “This road after passing out of the town of Frederica in a south-east direction, entered a beautiful prairie of a mile over, when it penetrated a dense, close oak wood; keeping the same course for two miles, it passed to the eastern marsh that bounded St. Simon’s seaward. Along this marsh, being dry and hard, no road was necessary, and none was made. This natural highway was bounded on the east by rivers and creeks and impracticable marshes; it was bounded on the west, (the island side) by a thick wood covered with palmetto and vines of every character so as to be impracticable for any body of men, and could only be traveled singly and alone. This winding way along the marsh was continued for two miles, when it again passed up to the high land which had become open and clear, and from thence it proceeded in a direct line to the fort, at the sea entrance, around which, for two hundred acres, five acre allotments of land for the soldiers had been laid out, cleared, and improved. I have again been thus particular in my description, because it was to the manner in which this road was laid out and executed, that General Oglethorpe owed the preservation of the fort and town of Frederica.... His fort and batteries at Frederica were so situated as to water approaches, and so covered by a wood, that no number of ships could injure them. And he now planned his land route in such a manner, that again the dense wood of our eastern islands became a rampart mighty to save. And fifty Highlanders and four Indians occupying these woods did save.” We learn from that admirable “History of the Rise, Progress, and Present State of the Colony of Georgia,” contained in Dr. Harris’ Complete Collections of Voyages and Travels,[68] that “on the arrival of the Regiment of which Mr. _Oglethorpe_ was appointed Colonel, he distributed them in the properest manner for the Service of the Colony; but notwithstanding this was of great Ease to the Trustees, and a vast Security to the Inhabitants, yet Colonel Oglethorpe still kept up the same Discipline, and took as much Care to form and regulate the Inhabitants with respect to military Affairs as ever. He provided likewise different Corps for different Services; some for ranging the Woods; others, light armed, for sudden Expeditions; and he likewise provided Vessels for scouring the Sea Coasts, and for gaining Intelligence. In all which Services he gave at the same time his Orders and his Example; there being nothing he did not which he directed others to do; so that if he was the first Man in the Colony, his Pre-eminence was founded upon old _Homer’s_ Maxims: He was the most fatigued, and the first in Danger, distinguished by his Cares and his Labours, not by any exterior Marks of Grandeur, more easily dispensed with, since they were certainly needless.”