tree three thousand oranges have been gathered. The forest
trees are live-oak, cedar and a few pines. A most interesting fact in
the history of the island is found in its chronicles, for here were
obtained the timbers for the Constitution (Old Ironsides), that noble
frigate so well known to every American. Some of the stumps of the
indestructible live-oak from which the timber was cut for her ribs may
yet be seen. Deer, raccoons, bear and 'possum are abundant in the thick
forest. The climate is temperate and healthy: many of the former slaves
live to a great age. The island has never been afflicted by fever: while
the town of Brunswick, to the north, and Fernandina, just across the
channel to the south, have been scourged by Yellow Jack, Cumberland has
ever remained untouched. St. Mary's, across the marshes on the main
land, also boasts this immunity.

The creeks of the marshes swarm with fish of every sort, and there are
oyster-beds containing large and toothsome bivalves. With 'possums and
'coons, fish and oysters, is it strange that Cuffie clung to his old
home long after his master had left it? is it a matter of wonder that
there yet remains a remnant of the old slave population, houseless and
poverty-stricken, clinging to the island that once gave them so
delightful a home? At the close of the war, it is related, Mr. Stafford,
proprietor of the central portion of the island, burned his negro houses
to the ground, telling his people to go, as he had no more use for them
nor they for him. Cumberland to-day is nearly depopulated, the fertile
cotton-and corn-fields run to waste, and wild hogs and half-wild horses
roam over the pasture and scrub that cover once-cultivated fields.

The history of this island commences with that of Georgia. We read that
in 1742 the Spaniards invaded Georgia and landed on the island. With a
fleet of thirty-six sail and with more than three thousand troops from
Havana and St. Augustine, they entered the harbor of St. Simons, north
of Cumberland, and erected a battery of twenty guns. General Oglethorpe,
with eight hundred men, exclusive of Indians, was then on the island. He
withdrew to his fort at Frederica, and anxiously awaited reinforcements
from Carolina. By turning to account the desertion of a French soldier
he precipitated the attack of the Spaniards, and on their march to
Frederica they fell into an ambuscade. Great slaughter ensued, and they
retreated precipitately. The place of co