not sufficient to maintain my orders with the proper authority, therefore I fear to issue orders not to compromise the dignity of this Government. My only resource and hope is that your Majesty will place me in a position where, when occasion demands, I can act with the proper spirit and decorum. God preserve you for many years. St. Augustine, November 12th, 1784. COPY OF LETTER OF COMMANDANT OF DETACHED BODY OF TROOPS ON THE ST. MARY’S RIVER TO THE GOVERNOR OF FLORIDA. _My Dear Sir_: Acting upon the order imposed upon me by His Majesty, when I presented myself for resignation of the commission under my charge on the river St. Mary’s. I enclose adjusted a report stating as far as my ability allows all that I have observed and consider worthy of your notice. God preserve you many years. NICOLAS GRENIER. STATEMENT. The Bar of St. Mary’s, so called, although its true name is Bar of Amelia, is considered one of the best and least dangerous of the America Septentrional. Vessels of 500 tons can enter. On either side are Islands. The one on the right is called Cumberland, belonging to the Americans; it is sparsely inhabited, exceedingly fertile in timber, as American vessels come to cut it. The one on the left is called Amelia, its land is considered very fertile, producing pine, cedar and oak in abundance. Its inhabitants number some twenty families; these people belong as much to one Island as the other, being variable and erratic in their habits. The distance between Amelia and Cumberland, which forms the channel where all vessels going up the St. Mary’s are obliged to pass, is more or less--miles. For this reason a Fort or Castle at the northern extremity of Amelia would be of the greatest advantage. The channel formed by these Islands is at the mouth of the river. In front of these Islands is a third one called Tiger, entirely depopulated, as it is sterile, full of swamps and lakes so that no advantage can be derived from it. From the anchoring grounds of Amelia to the entrance of St. Mary’s river is a distance of one and a half miles and the River is navigable for forty miles. At the mouth of said River there is a place called by the English New Town or Princetown which was selected for building a City, but the work was never carried out. The number of outlaws between the towns of St. John’s and St. Mary’s is about sixty families. Among them some might be useful to our Nation, but the others the sooner we drive them out of the Province the better, as they are men who have neither God nor law, and men who are capable of the greatest atrocities. There is another River further in where vessels can navigate for several miles, but it requires an experienced pilot, on account of the numerous sand banks and small streams and the most experienced are frequently deceived. There are four or five other small Islands. The Talbot, St. George, Doctor and the Pierce, all these Islands, although