threatened to compel the governor to abandon the province and return with them to England. This peculiar and unfortunate juncture of affairs, was the one chosen by the Spaniards of Florida for invading the province. Learning from the slaves who fled to St. Augustine, the wretched and deplorable situation of the colony, they determined to seize the favorable moment, and advanced as far as the Island of St. Helena, with a sufficient force to destroy the Carolina settlement. Having been informed of their warlike intentions, Gov. Yeamans despatched a corps of fifty volunteers, under Col. Godfrey, to meet the invaders; but the Spaniards, having received intelligence of the approach of Godfrey, hastily evacuated the island, and retreated again to their stronghold at St. Augustine.

Not long after this occurrence, the colonists became involved in a war with the Stono Indians. The savages came down in small parties along the settlements, and robbed the plantations of the ripening grain; and, being accustomed to kill all kinds of game which came in their way, they considered the planters' hogs, turkeys and geese, as the legitimate fruits of the chase, and, accordingly, destroyed them upon all occasions without the slightest hesitation. The planters as freely made use of their arms in defence of their property, and several Indians were killed during these depreda

tions.

This aroused the fury of the tribe, and a war was kindled which raged for a considerable length of time with the greatest violence. The Stonos, as usual, wreaking their vengeance upon the innocent as well as the guilty, while the emigrants avenged themselves by enslaving the Indians whom they captured, and selling them in the slave markets of the West Indies. Whether the course which the settlers adopted to rid themselves of their troublesome neighbors, can be justified or not, we do not pretend to determine, but it was certainly adopted with the most favorable results. The Stonos, after a long and bloody contest, were entirely defeated. Their once powerful tribe have become entirely extinct,not a vestige remains of their former habitations,-not a single warrior is left to peal forth the war-cry of his nation, or boast of the achievements of his sires.

Scarcely had this tribe been subdued, when the Southern frontiers of the colony were again invaded by the Spaniards of Florida. Always exceedingly jealous of the encroach

ments of the English upon what they considered their rightful possessions, they had watched, with feelings of ill concealed animosity, the rapid increase of the Carolina colony; and, upon the settlement of a party of emigrants under Lord Cardros, a Scotch nobleman, at Port Royal, their hatred and hostility burst forth again with renewed vigor, and, with a large force, they suddenly attacked and expelled the Scotch from Port Royal, ravaged the frontier, and then precipitately retreated, before a sufficient force could be raised to resist their aggressions or punish their presumption. The martial spirit of the Carolinians was thoroughly aroused by this wanton attack upon their colony, and, with one accord, they determined to carry the war into the Spanish dominions. Preparations were immediately commenced for the purpose of invading the territory of Florida; but the proprietors, having become alarmed at the prospect of another war, positively forbid the undertaking, and, by the interposition of their authority, succeeded in quieting the vindictive spirit of the people, and put off the day of retributive justice yet a little longer. But the bitter feelings and burning animosity which this occasion called into being, were never entirely forgotten, but burst forth again upon a subsequent occasion, when the colonists prepared, under a warlike leader, to take ample vengeance for the wrongs which they had so long patiently suffered, and to cancel, to their satisfaction, the long standing debt of enmity which existed between themselves and their hereditary foes. That much-desired event was not far distant. In the year 1700, Gov. Moore, a man of great ambition, and possessing great military ardor and enthusiasm, having been appointed by the proprietors to the chief executive office in the province, laid before the assembly the plan of an expedition against the Spaniards of Florida. The project succeeded admirably with the mass of the people, and they called louder on their representatives for the adoption of the measure. A difficulty having occurred about the same time, in the old world, between England and Spain, the governor's enterprise was considered perfectly justifiable by the laws of nations, and was decidedly popular among the majority of the colonists. But, not having received any definite tidings from Europe concerning the declaration of war, many men of cool reflection and sober judgment condemned the measure as a fool-hardy project, and expressed their aversion to it, but the voice of the few

was lost in the loud clamors of the multitude. The great body of the people, deceived by the glowing descriptions and exaggerated statements of the governor, who represented Florida as a land abounding with treasures of gold and silver, which, he affirmed, after an easy conquest, would become the rich rewards of the victors, declared almost unanimously for war.

Accordingly, the provincial assembly voted two thousand pounds for the service of the war, and preparations began in earnest. Six hundred Indians were engaged as allies, who, glorying in warlike achievements, gladly received the arms and ammunition, which were offered as a compensation for their services. Six hundred provincial militia were enlisted, and a suitable number of merchant vessels impressed as transports for the forces. Port Royal was appointed the place of general rendezvous; and from that point the governor embarked, in September, 1702, at the head of this formidable armament, determined to carry the war into the enemy's territory, and win his laurels upon hostile ground.

But, while the warlike preparations were progressing in Carolina, the Spaniards, well aware of the governor's intention, were straining every nerve to make ready for defence. Governor Moore had dispatched Colonel Daniel, a Carolinian officer of well-known valor, with a party of militia and Indians, by an inland passage, to make a descent upon the town of St. Augustine by land, while the governor himself should proceed with the main body by sea, and block up the harbor. Daniel proceeded immediately to perform, with great dispatch, the duty assigned to him. He advanced against the town, and entered and plundered it, before the governor arrived to render him any assistance; but the Spaniards, being well provided for a siege, retreated to their castle, and were safely esconced within its strong walls, when the governor arrived upon the scene of action. Immediately upon his arrival, the place was regularly invested by a force against which the garrison was too feeble to contend. The governor, finding himself unprovided with guns of sufficient metal to affect the massive walls of the Spanish fortress, and discovering that all his attempts upon the fort failed, on account of not having the heavy artillery which was necessary to carry on the siege, dispatched Col. Daniel, in a small sloop, to procure them in the island of Jamaica. The colonel embarked with alacrity, but, during his absence, VOL. VI.-NO. 11.

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two Spanish ships of war appearing off the mouth of the harbor, the governor was seized with so sudden a panic, that he immediately raised the siege, abandoned his ships and ammunition, and retreated precipitately, by land, to Caroli na. Upon his return, Col. Daniel, who had succeeded in procuring the necessary articles, sailed boldly into the harbor, and discovered, to his surprise and mortification, the siege raised, the enemy in possession of the spoils, and the governor and his troops no where to be found. As soon as he observed the true state of affairs, and saw the enemy's ships bearing down upon him, he made all sail for Charlestown, and narrowly escaped being captured.

What may have been the true causes which influenced the mind of the governor, and induced him to adopt the singular course which he took upon this occasion, we are not able to determine. Perhaps his men, like all militia, becoming unruly at the prospect of a long siege, when they were led to expect a speedy victory, had refused to acknowledge his authority. The scarcity of provisions may have had some weight, and the want of the ammunition which Col. Daniel would be prevented from supplying by the presence of a superior naval force. Perhaps each and all of these causes combined, together with the sudden appearance of an unexpected enemy, may have prompted him to relinquish the undertaking, and retreat so hastily to his own province. Notwithstanding the unfortunate termination of his first military expedition, the governor, still fond of warlike exploits, a short time after this event, nobly redeemed his tarnished fame by his eminently successful expedition against the Apalachian Indians. These Indians, being under the Spanish influence, had, by their frequent depredations, become exceedingly troublesome to the colony. Moore determined to chastise them for their insolence, and, having collected a sufficient force for the purpose, marched into the heart of the Apalachian settlements. So sudden and unlooked for was his appearance, that the Indians were unprepared to oppose his progress. By rapid and forced marches he rushed from town to town, ravaging the fields, burning the villages, destroying the provisions, taking away the lives of those who resisted his arms, and the liberties of those who yielded to his mercy, until, by superior force, he had beat down all opposition, and laid waste the whole country with fire and sword. At the head of his little army, he swept,

like a tornado, through the fertile vallies of Apalachia, and succeeded in striking a wholesome, terror into the hearts of the savages. Every village, from the Altamaha to the Savannah, was laid in ashes, and, after having slain eight hundred warriors, taken a large number of prisoners, and effectually humbled the insolent pride of the Apalachians, the governor returned to the colony, having taught the savages a fearful and salutary lesson, which he left seared upon their memories in characters of blood.

A short time after this event, Moore was succeeded in the government by Sir Nathaniel Johnson, who was an accomplished gentleman and a soldier by profession. The first part of Governor Johnson's administration was rendered gloomy by domestic troubles, and the continual disputes which raged between the people and the proprietors; but the latter part was distinguished by his successful and gallant defence of the colony against her foreign foes. The war which still raged between England, France and Spain, was the cause of a new danger to the province. An armament was fitted out at Havana by the French, with the assistance of the Governor of Cuba, for the avowed purpose of invading the province of Carolina; and Governor Johnson, having received intelligence of the hostile intentions of the confederates, hastened to place the colony in a suitable posture of defence. The governor was well qualified for the task assigned him, and he was nobly sustained by the colonists, whom "continued wars had made a martial people." Fortifications were hastily thrown up on the most favorable positions, and provisions and ammunition provided in sufficient quantities to meet any emergency. Fort Johnson was erected upon James Island, trenches cast up at White Point, redoubts thrown up on every other spot thought necessary for the defence of the town, and a guard stationed on Sullivan's Island, with directions to kindle a number of fires opposite the town, equal to the number of vessels which might appear upon the coast.

To be brief, every preparation was made for a vigorous defence, and the people, after completing their fortifications, quietly awaited the approach of the foe. But a few months passed away, before the wisdom and prudence of these precautions were very obvious. The province of Carolina was at this time the Southern frontier of the British settlements in North-America. From its feeble state and exposed