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106 GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS
There was no attempt made to overpaint the charms or conceal the
hazards of life in Georgia. The situation of affairs was well understood.
But the rugged mountaineers were inured to hardships; and to men who
touched elbows with peril every day of the world and who took little
counsel of fear there was an element of zest added to the prospect of
adventure in an unknown world. John Mohr Mclntosh, a chief of one
of the most powerful clans of Scotland, whose support of the Pretender
cost him the forfeiture of his estates, was one of the first to enlist; and
he induced many of his kindred to accompany him. Not less than 130
Highlanders, with 50 women and children, were enrolled at Inverness;
and these, together with some who held special grants and who went
without expense to the trustees, sailed from Inverness, October 18, 1735,
on board the Prince of Wales, commanded by Capt. George Dunhar.
Three months were consumed by the voyage. They carried a clergy
man, the Rev. John McLeod, a native of the Isle of Skye, to minister
to them in sacred things, and he became the pioneer evangel of Presby-
terianism in Georgia. Most of the emigrants were soldiers; but -some
of them, like the Cuthberts, the Bailies, the Mackays, and the Dunbars,
went in the capacity of freeholders. They were accompanied by servants
and were possessed of titles to large tracts of land.
In due season, the vessel entered the mouth of the Savannah River;
and the new arrivals, after a period of rest spent in the village to which
they were given a cordial welcome by the inhabitants, were transported
in rude canoes through the various inlets and up the Altamaha River,
to the appointed place of settlement selected by Oglethorpe. The allu
vial bottoms of the low-lying region which they reached at length bore
little resemblance to the hills of heather which they left behind^ them; and
the homesick Highlanders must have experienced a chill of disappoint
ment Avhen they disembarked upon the monotonous stretch of level
ground on which they were henceforth to dwell.
But they wasted no time in vain regrets. At a point which was best
adapted to defensive purposes, they at once erected a fort, mounted four
pieces of cannon, built a guard-house, a store, and a chapel, and con
structed huts for temporary accommodation, preparatory to erecting
more substantial structures. Dressed in plaids and equipped with
broad-swords, targets, and firearms, the Scotch soldiers presented quite
a unique and novel appearance on this remote belt of the savage wilder
ness, separated by 3,000 miles of water from the familiar highlands
which now smiled upon them only in the sad retrospect of the past.
In honor of the town from which they sailed they gave to the young
settlement the name of New Inverness, while to the military post and
to the outlying district they gave the name of Darien.
To the colony of Oglethorpe, the arrival of these sturdy Highlanders
proved an important acquisition. They were more than mere sinews of
war. They were representatives of the thriftiest and best elements of
the Scotch population. They brought with them the highest ideals of
citizenship and the profoundest reverence for divine truth. Says Doctor
Stevens -. * " They were not reckless adventurers or reduced emigrants,
* '' History of Georgia,'' by William Bacon Stevens, Vol. I, pp. 126-127, New
York, 1847.