THOMAS] Georgia's policy toward the indiaxs 637 



is entirely settled iii peace. It is impossible to describe the joy Ibey exjiressed at 

 my arrival they met me forty miles in the woods and layd Provisious on tlie mads in 

 the woods.' 



In 1757, or early in 1758, the followiuj;' act was passed "to prevent 

 ])rivate persons from purchasing- lands from the Indians, and for i)re- 

 ventiiig persons trading with them without licence:" 



Whereas the safety, welfare, and preservation of this province of Georgia doth, 

 in great measure depend on the maintaining a good correspondence between his 

 majesty's snbjects and the several nations of Indians in amity with the said prov- 

 ince: And whereas muuy inconveniences have arisen, from private persons claiming 

 lands, included in the charter granted to the late honorable trustees for establishing 

 the colony of Georgia by his present majesty, and since reinvested in the crown 

 under pretense of certain purchases made of them from the Indians, which have 

 given occasion for disputes with tho.se people; for remedy whereof, and for prevent- 

 ing any differences or disputes with the Indians for the future, and also for prevent- 

 ing persons trading with them without licence, Le it enacted, That from and after 

 the fifteenth day of February, one thousand seven hundred and fifty-eight, if any 

 person or persons whatsoever shall attempt to purcha.se or contract for, or cause to 

 bo purchased or contracted for, or shall take or accept of a grant or conveyance of 

 any lands, or tracts of laud, from any Indian, or body of Indians, upon any pretense 

 whatsoever, (exeei)t for the use of the crown, and that by permission for this pur- 

 pose first had and obtained from his majesty, his heirs or successors, or his or their 

 governor or comuuiuder in chief of the said province for the time being), every such 

 purchase, contract, grant, and conveyance, shall be, and is and are hereby declared 

 to be unll and void, to all intents and purposes whatsoe%'er; and all and every per- 

 son and persons so offending shall, for every such oft'ence, forfeit the sum of one 

 thousand pounds sterling money of Great Britain, the one half thereof to his maj- 

 esty, his heirs and successors, for the use of the province, and the other half to him 

 or them who .shall sue for the same, by action of debt or information, in the general 

 court of this province, in which no assoign, ijrotection, privilege, or wager of law, or 

 more than oue imparlance shall be allowed. - 



In 1763, by a treaty held at Augusta, the boundary line between the 

 settlements and tlie lands of the natives was fixed and afterward actu- 

 ally surveyed by De Brahm. The line as determined by this surveyor, 

 whose field notes have been preserved,' as shown on the following page; 

 as but few copies of these notes exist, they are given in full. It would 

 ai)pear from Governor "Wright's "Eeport on the condition of tlie Prov- 

 ince of Georgia," made to the Earl of Dartmouth in 1773, that the 

 amount of land he obtained at this treaty was estimated at 2,110,298 

 acres, as he makes therein this statement: 



Answer to the third Qnere. 



The extent of the Province along the Front or Sea Coast from Savannah River to 

 St. JIary's River is compnted to be about one hundred Miles as the coast lyes, but 

 less in a direct line from Tybee Inlet. The distance back up Savannah Kiver and 

 from the head of St. Mary's River is as far as His Majesty's Territories extend which 

 it is impossible for me to determine, but the size and extent within the Boundary 

 Lines settled with the Indians is as above and has been computed by His Majesty's 

 Surveyor General to contain about 6,695,429 Acres as follows Vizr: Amount of Lands 

 ceded in the time of the Trustees to General Oglethorpe 1,152,000 Acres. 



' Georgia Historical Society Collectionji. vol. ni, p. 81 . 

 ^Digest of tlie Laws of tUe State of Georgia from 1755 to 1799 (18(i0), p. 51. 



'In "nistory of the Province Georgia," by John Gerar William de Brahm. Copied November 10, 

 1894. V. H. I'a Arits. 



