Friday Fact: The Story of Ebo's Landing

Ebo's Landing- Dee Williams

They arrived in Savannah, Georgia from south Nigeria, located in west Africa. Slaves, purchased sometime in the early 1800's, to help with the plantations of southern Georgia. They were part of the Igbo (pronounced with a silent 'G') tribe. Two families from St. Simons bought a boat load of the slaves and had them shipped down the coast on a ship named Morovia. The Ebo people never had a boat, never needed to know how to swim. On the way into the island, the ship captain's slave was the first to go. Not allowing his life to succumb to that of slavery, he jumped into the Dunbar River, meeting his fate at the bottom of the silt-covered tributary.

Then came the chanting. Emitting from the single voice of the Ebo chief, their new profession of faith, "The sea brought me, the sea will bring me home." One by one the tribe chimed in until the chorus could be heard throughout the landing. "The sea brought me, the sea will bring me home."

The slaves were chained to each other, wrist to wrist, ankle to ankle. Single file they were lead off the boat and when on shore, turned following their chief, and marched into the dark waters of the Dunbar. Dragging each other, one by one, down into the water. Following the same fate as Odysseus's mother in Homer's The Odyssey, the sea brought them home.

Some say at night, if you listen carefully, you can still here the rattling of the chains set to the melodic chant of, "The sea brought me, the sea will bring me home."