Governor Wright wanted to preserve harmony in his colony and to meet the demands from local merchants and their associates in London, and he finally thought he saw a way to negotiate an acceptable agreement. He called a meeting in Augusta in the summer of 1773, attended by royal officials and leaders of the Creeks and Cherokees. After several days of negotiation, the Indian chiefs were amply rewarded with gifts and honors, traders received assurances that their debts would be paid, and the British promised the Indians that they would prevent all illegal settlements on their remaining land. About 1,600,000 acres were ceded north and west of the 1763 lands between the Savannah and the Oconee rivers and northward from the headwaters of Briar Creek. This would be enough for about four thousand land grants, and all proceeds from selling the land, at a price ranging from two to five shillings an acre, would be applied to the Indians’ debt of about £40,000.

CHAPTER 13

William Bartram Visits Georgia

MAY 1773

Seventeen seventy-three was a special year because of the new treaty between the British and the Indians, and for the Morrises it was a time of great anticipation and pleasure. They had a letter from William Bartram saying that he would be visiting Georgia the first week in June, and requesting that Kindred meet him in Augusta. Mavis and Kindred brought their notebooks and sketches up-to-date, packed them in saddlebags, and rode the forty miles at the appointed time. Bartram had arrived in Augusta shortly after the treaty was signed and made arrangements to join the British surveying team in Wrightsborough as they traveled north to mark the new territorial boundaries. He was delighted to see the Morrises, since he had known Mavis when she lived in his father’s home, and Kindred had been one of the best students who attended lectures there. They spent several hours sharing information about their mutual discoveries in the field of botany, and were particularly intrigued by the customs of the natives. William reported that his father, John, was now seventy-four years old but in good health and still conducting lectures in Philadelphia.

Kindred and Mavis were amazed at the preparations that Bartram had begun in Savannah and completed after almost a week in Augusta. Using funds provided by an eminent botanist in England, he was beginning an excursion of four years in the southeast, with an entourage of about twenty men, mostly mounted on horseback, plus ten pack animals. His basic task would be to observe the flora and fauna of the area and to send to London written descriptions, sketches, and actual specimens. In addition, he would keep a journal during his travels, emphasizing his observations of the lifestyle of the inhabitants, both natives and the few whites who had decided to live among them.