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GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS 75
sent over four sawyers. Governor Johnson made the colony a present
of seven horses; while Colonel Bull and Mr. Bryan together furnished
Oglethorpe twenty servants to he employed in whatever way the foun
der might deem most advantageous. Mr. Hammerton donated a drum.
To the first child born on Georgia soil, Mr. Hume offered a silver boat
and spoon, the recipient of which was an infant born to Mrs. Chase.*
On March 22, 1733, a South Carolina gentleman who had lately vis
ited the new province published a letter in the South Carolina Gazette,
in which the following pen picture is drawn of the founder at work:
'' Mr. Oglethorpe is indefatigable, takes a vast deal of Pains; his fare is
but indifferent, having little else at present but salt Provisions: He is
extremely well beloved by all his People; the general Title they give him
is Father. If any of them is sick he immediately visits them and takes
a great deal of care of them. If any difference arises, he is the person
that decides it. Two happened while I was there, and in my Presence;
and all the Parties went away, to outward Appearance, satisfied .and con
tented with his Determination. He keeps a strict discipline; I never
saw one of his People drunk or heard one swear all the Time I was there;
He does not allow them Rum, but in lieu gives them English Beer.''
Savannah grew rapidly. The tents disappeared one by one as the
new houses were' finished. On the outskirts of the town a public garden
was laid out, to cultivate which a servant was detailed at the expense of
the trust. It was planned to make this garden a nursery from which
fruit trees, vines, plants, and vegetables might be obtained for private
gardens owned by the inhabitants. It was also to be devoted largely to
the propagation of white mulberries, from the cultivation of which as
food for silk-worms, great profits were expected. Baron Von Reck, who
came to Georgia in 1734, to establish a colony of Salzburgers in the
province, has given us the following sketch of the Town of Savannah: f
"I went to view this rising Town, Savannah, seated upon the Banks
of a River of the same Name. The Town is regularly laid out, divided
into four Wards, in each of which is left a. spacious Square for holding
of Markets and other public Uses. The Streets are all straight, and the
Houses are all of the 'same Model and Dimensions, and well contrived for
•Conveniency. For the Time it has been built it is very populous, and its
Inhabitants are all "White People. And indeed the Blessing of God seems
to have gone along with this Undertaking; for here we see Industry
honored and Justice strictle executed, and Luxury and Idleness ban
ished from this happy Place where Plenty and Brotherly Love seem to
make their Abode, and where the good Order of a Nightly "Watch re
strains the Disorderly and makes the Inhabitants sleep secure in the
midst of a Wilderness. There is laid out near the Town, by Order of the
Trustees, a Garden for making Experiments for the Improving Botany
and Agriculture; it contains 10 Acres and lies upon the River; and it is
cleared and brought into such Order that there is already a fine Nursery
of Oranges, Olives, white Mulberries, Figs, Peaches, and many curious
Herbs: besides which there are Cabbages, Peas and other European
* William B. Stevens in "History of Georgia," Vol. I, p. 92.
t An Extract of the Journals of Mr. Commissary Von Keck and of the Eev. Mr.
Bolzius, pp. 12-15, London, 1734.