Well content, therefore, with their new acquisition, the Moravians returned
to Fort Argyle, whence Johnson rode back to Savannah, leaving them to follow
with the boat. At the mouth of the Ogeechee they encountered a severe storm,
against which they could make little headway, try as they would.
Their anchor was too light to hold against the current,
and there was a marsh on one bank and rocks on the other,
but at last, after night-fall, in the face of a terrific thunder storm,
they forced their way to a place where they could land,
and where they passed the rest of the night, enduring as best they could
the heavy rain, and the attack of insects, against neither of which
they were able to protect themselves. "This place takes its name,
-- `Rotten-possum', -- from an animal frequently found here,
which they call a Possum. I am told that it has a double belly,
and that if pursued it puts its young into one belly,
runs up a tree until it reaches a limb, springs out on that
until it is among the leaves, and then lays itself across the branch
with one belly on each side, and so hides itself, and saves its life!"
The rest of the journey was uneventful, and on Friday morning, September 2nd,
they reached Savannah, having been absent ten days.
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