Show poll v v sd y a native transportation on the sea islands island prepared liy by national society washington D C C service r VIE HE rolling waves do tot not break against the mainland J of georgia A startling state statement that yet tet it Is true for the surf shatters on the smooth sandy beaches of the islands that stretch like a protecting hand band oil off the coast these are the famed sea islands of georja georgia a the golden isles of guale duale as they were known to sixteenth century spanish map makers the lowling low li ling ing lumps of land spawned by the tides and winds off the mile are arc of the georgia coast were once friendly hunting bunting grounds where indians stalked deer wild turkeys raccoons opossums sums and waterfowl today as sub trople playgrounds and winter retreats of happy isolation they have again become hunting preserves and game sanctuaries what history has marched across the savannas and hammocks and beneath the moss arms of the mighty live oaks of these islands in the nearly four century span since white men entered this new world theater here in the late sixties of the sixteenth century came spanish grandees grandeas gran dees and black frocked friars from their florida headquarters at st Augu augustine sUne to plant sword and cross among the indians to the glory of the king here too came adventurous french voyagers to trade and to make colonial claims bold pirates and buccaneers bucca such as Ar gamont the notorious abraham and blackboard blackbeard after plundering along the spanish maln main brought into the hidden anchorages of these secluded waterways their treasure galleons gal leons and under cover of the island oaks found respite from their high adventures here in the 17 came gen james edward oglethorpe and ills his followers who within a few years struck blows that helped preserve for the anglo saxon race a large portion of the continent refugee santo domingo planters escaped french royalists human cargoes from african slavers clavers sl avers wealthy antebellum aristocrats of the old south masters of extensive island plantations then ruin and finally delasey rehabilitation mark the succeeding chapters of the sea islands history five flags have waved over this offshore cluster of lands where some of the earliest seeds of american trade were sown lesson in coastal geography Ilo wever the unfolding panorama gained from the vantage point of an airplane cockpit is essentially a leabon f on in coastal geography goo graphy not history even though isolated bits of old spanish ruins Ogle fort frederica and remnants from prosperous colonial days can still be distinguished through the foliage between the leeward side of the islands and the mainland lie expansive reaches of salt calt marshes ranging roughly from two to eight miles in width generally wide at the northern end toward savannah they narrow at the lower portion of cumberland the southernmost member of the golden isles As you fly along the chain of islands you can trace a continuous serpentine passage in the network of sounds bounds delta divided river mouths and meandering creeks it Is 11 the inside or florida passage a portion of that inside water route which extends all the way from new kew york to the I 1 florida keys As you swing to a course over the ocean side bide of the islands an interesting feature of their formation Is revealed to advantage heavily wooded areas appear in long bands stretching in a north and south souta direction and are separated by slender marshes and ponds in some cases even expanding into narrow lakes through the passing centuries the tides and winds have piled the sand and river debouched debauched sediment into a series of parallel dunes interspersed with the swamps hammocks and sloughs they are termed in georgian parlance enormous live oaks pines cedars and other trees luxuriate here on sapelo island alone remain the wide open fields where colonial plantations flourished here and there are tiny islands with little more than a fringe of sandy beach to a small area of marshland where de aviles landed one cannot visit isit st catherines without recalling that april jay day in 1500 1560 when de adlle Av lle one of Sn ains ni ablest Dion cers and his of 50 men dropped anchor and came ashore on this island lie ile had established st SL augustine in florida only the year before and was already out to destroy the remaining remaIn Inz traces of any settlements the french may have founded one writer pointed out that nowhere else hit had lie seen such a delightful setting for it great house as aa that on sapelo island in the midst of a cathedral like bower of live oaks with hoary beards of 0 spanish moss depending from their outstretched limbs stands a colonial home projecting from the coed entrance la Is a cruciform formal pool which catches and tosses back the reflection of mossy oaks and vast white walls since its reconstruction two presidential ident ial lal parties have been guests at tho the mansion one day while one of first ladles was admiring the tha nearby rock garden her cicerone was heard to remark they even used imported stone for this rock garden the big house of the south end plantation was first built by thomas spalding in 1800 1802 after he had returned from england to take up plantation farming on sapelo As noted a farmer as he was a builder spalding cleared more than a thousand acres on his island kingdom and raised indigo sea island cotton sugar cane and staple foodstuffs lie ile it was in fact who introduced cane cultivation and sugar manufacturing into georgia the live oaks oaka which he cut while clearing the forests to make bigger fields serve to fill large timber contracts for the budding united states navy lie ile also supplied the navy and merchant marine with beet beef and hogs As a slave owner however I 1 ang ng came ultimately to suffer buffer even though lie treated his helpers with such kindness that the planters in the south dubbed sapelo heaven then came the confederacy against every protest of this aged man sher MR anns ns march to the sea laid waste the big house and the plantation developments fortunately spalding did not live to see that day of ruin vines and bramble claimed the fire smoked tabby walls of the mansion until tile the present owner cleared them and rebuilt again in 1025 modern improvements today too the old canals have been re dredged and now new ones have been cut in many places to supplement tho the drainage of the island an adequate supply of fresh water Is provided by ac 36 gushing artesian wells more than a thousand beet beef cattle now graze on the luxuriant carpet grass Ja japanese pariese clover and bermuda grass that have been sown in the onetime one time cotton and indigo fields delightful trails and motor roads road lace the island retreat in many places they wind beneath bewhiskered old oaks elsewhere they skirt the broad savannas and cross between marshy ponds that teem with ducks teal and other waterfowl on tho the west shore commanding the approach to the florida passage stand the tabby ruins of the octagonal fort built by the spaniards in within its concentric walls troops were stationed to protect tile the friars of the mission of san jose de zapala thomas spalding built a sugar mill on the mission foundations and within recent years the long tabby has been converted into a guesthouse a portion of which Is now used as a schoolroom tor for the nine white children on the island A short ride farther north brings bring one to the ruins of 0 le chatelet this old site recalls the colonial efforts effort of five frenchmen who bought the island and settled at several places in their little haven the agreement which they made in st SL malo france before the beginning of their venture Is one ot of the treasures of the sapelo library soon to disagree four of them moved to bekyl island later le chatelet passed into the hands of marquis de montalee Mont alet a french nobleman who had tied fled from santo domingo where hla his whole family had been massacred in a slave uprising many of the descendants of ings slaves still live on tiny farms on uie the island of the three settlements raccoon bluff ilog hog hammock and shell hammock the former Is the largest at II ampton point and retreat on st simon island the first sea l island cotton was as grown from seeds introduced from the island of anguilla llla in vie the west indies this remarkable long ig fiber cotton created much comment among cotton buyers when the first crop shipped from hampton point ri accod |