Illasti^ated liantet^n VyiLLJAM H. RAU / PHILADELPHIA •^€90 A DESCRIPTIVE READING ON St. Augustine ILLUSTRATED BY TWELVE LANTERN SLIDES ^ > ^ — <3> — ^ WILLIAM H. RAU PHILADELPHIA 1890 <. Coi)y right, i8go, by William h. Ran, ILLUSTRATIONS. 1. Old City Gates. 2. Old Spanish Cathedral. 3. The Slave Market. 4. A Street View. 5. The Oldest House. 6. The Harbor from San Marco. 7. Hotel Ponce de Leon. 8. Parlor, Hotel Ponce de Leon. 9. Panorama from Hotel Ponce de Leon. 10. Hotel Casa Monica. 11. The Fountains, Hotel Casa Monica. 12. Hotel Alcazar and Grounds. ST. AUGUSTINB. The visitor to St. Augustine may enjoy the con- sciousness that the spot on which he stands has be- hind it a longer stretch of authentic history than any other within the Hmits of the United States. It is indeed the oldest European settlement in America, having been founded by the famous Spanish com- mander, Don Pedro Menendez, in 1565 ; forty-two years prior to the settlement of Jamestown, and fifty- five years before the landing of the Pilgrims on Ply- mouth Rock. Its history has been checkered and romantic in the highest degree ; it was from the very first a place of considerable note, and the theatre of interesting events ; and it still possesses a curious aspect and flavor of antiquity. Coming to it from bustling, active towns, one is conscious of a complete and sudden change of time and place — as if the brief ride on steamer and railway had produced magic results, and landed him in some quaint, old, dead- and-alive Spanish town of the Middle Ages. The large influx of wealthy settlers from the north has greatly altered the character of the city within the last few years ; but the smart modern villas still have the air of foreign intruders, and the quaint, romantic old city retains at once its individuality and its un- likeness to anything else in America. 1. Old City G-ates. — All that remains of the an- cient defences of St. Augustine stands at the head of (821) 82 2 ST. AUGUSTINE. St. George Street. Here is the famous City Gate, once a part of the old Spanish wall that extended across the peninsula from shore to shore, and pro- tected the city on the north. The gate is in a fair state of preservation, and with its lofty ornamented towers and loop holed sentry boxe$, is a picturesque and imposing structure. The ditch befDre the old wall is clearly marked, and even yet partially filled at high tide. According to tradition a guard-house once stood just within, and a draw^bridge crossed the moat. Only a few yards of wall now remain flanking the gates, and it is not known how far, in its best estate, the wall extended. The most formidable of the fortifications defended the land approach, and substantial earthworks once reached from river to river, the exterior slope of the parapet being covered with a dense growth of Spanish bayonet, through which it is well-nigh impossible to force a passage. Old engravings of the city show it as a completely walled town, and w^e may find on some of the ancient tombstones in the cemetery Latin inscriptions con- taining the w^ord oppidinn, which w^as often used to distinguish a walled town from one without such defences. The coquina dwellings of the present town are largely composed of material plundered from still older structures, and there is no way of determ- ining how many roods of the ancient city wall were taken by builders who cared nothing for Spanish relics. The present gateway was the principal entrance, was strongly guarded, and repeatedly saved the town from the sudden onslaught of savage or civil- ized foes. ST. AUGUSTINE. 823 2. Old Spauish Cathedral. ^Near the centre of the city is the Plaza de la Constitution, comprising about, an acre of ground inclosed with a substantial fence. This public square was established when the town was originally laid out ; it is a pretty stretch of green sward and shade trees. Its dimensions are very modest, through the narrowness of the adjacent streets, lend it by contrast, some apparent extent. In the centre of the plaza stands a white coquina mon- ument surmounted by a cannon ball, erected in 1812 to commemorate the adoption by the Spanish Cortez of a new constitution, whence the plaza takes its official name. The plaza and its surroundings form the nucleus of the city. Facing it are several noteworthy buildings, among them on the north side being the old Spanish Cathedral, finished in 1701. Most quaint does it appear with its Moorish belfry and chime of bells, one of which bears the date of 1682. Most beau- tiful is the legend of this bell : " Long years ago, so runs the ancient stor^'^ Two bells were sent from Spain to that far clime, New found, beyond the sea, that to God's glory And in his house together they might chime. ^' And to this day one bell is safely swinging Within its sheltering tower, where, clear and free, It hallows each day with its mellow ringing, — The other bell, the mate, was lost at sea. " And when, in gentle chimes the bell is pealing. The people listen ; for they say they hear An echo from the distant ocean stealing, — It is the lost one's answer, faint yet clear." Silvery and melodious would be their music if they were properly played as in the olden days, but they 824 ST. AUGUSTINE. now send forth the frequent call to prayer by being- rattled with a stick. Through one of the openings in the tower we can see the rail of the balcony on which the ringer stands. Below the upper central window the sun-dials till marks the hours as cor- rectly as when the old Spanish monks held complete sway over the entire city. The Spanish cavalier is of the past, so also are the duenna, and the senorita whom she so carefully guarded, but in fancy we can see them enter the ancient edifice, and cross them- selves devoutly as the mass is chanted by the holy fathers. 3. The Slave Market. — At the foot of the plaza fronting the bay is the "Old Slave Market," popular- ly so-called, though in realty the original structure was a provision market, built in 1840, and used as such until the city outgrew its accommodations. It is entirely different from market-places seen else- where ; it is neat, airy and attractive. It consists of a roof supported by brick pillars, six on each side, with a floor of the same material. It is altogether unique in appearance. At present it is a most agree- able lounging-place. The plaza affords a pleasant retreat from the sand which everywhere else covers the place. Here are shade trees, and the firm green turf, where one may idle away the hours. In the even- ings this structure serves as the pavilion for the mili- tary band. The cheery music breaking the stillness has a most exhilarating effect. The inhabitants hear the enlivening strains and sally forth ; young men and maidens, old men and children, and all the negroes who can muster. ST. AUGUSTINE. 825 The plaza has always been, and is still, the scene of public meetings. Here the men-at-arms gathered when the alarm gun was fired in the old days of the French, English and American Wars. Here in 1776 the royalists burned Adams and Hancock in effigy, when the news, a fortnight or more old, came from distant Philadelphia that the Declaration of Inde- pendence had been signed. Here the Florida volun- teers fell in on a January morning of 1861 and marched to take possession of Fort Marion, and thence subsequently marched away to four }'ears of fratricidal war and final defeat. And here too, after peace had been restored, the Declaration of Indepen- dence was read before a mass meeting of approving citizens. 4. A Street View. — The appearance of St Au- gustine is as quaint and peculiar as its history is bloody and remarkable. Nothing like it is seen else- where in this co-untry ; and having been built by a people so entirely different in manners and customs from our own, it has been surrounded with an interest not shared by any other city in the land. The very streets are romantic and'characteristic ; being crooked and narrow, seldom more than ten to twenty feet in width, and without sidewalks. An advantage of the narrow streets in this warm climate is that they give shade and increase the draught of air through them as in a flue. Indeed some of the streets seem almost like a flue, rather than an open way, for many of the houses have hanging balconies along their second story which seem almost to touch each other over the narrow thorouc^hfare. The street names, Cuna, St. 826 ST. AUGUSTINE. Hypolita, Tolomato, St. George's and the like have an ancient and foreign sound, while the family names mark the city as anything but American in its origin. It is blessed with that dear and useful friend of the inhabitants of warm countries, the faithful and pic- turesque donkey. There is not a step nor a turn in this grand old town of other days that is not interesting. The very ocean seems to roll in an antique way ; and the trade winds that sway through the palms, magnolias, and ole- anders seem to be whispering in Spanish or howling in the Cautus vernacular spoken four centuries ago. 5. The Oldest House. — Though St. Augustine is still unlike any other city on this continent, yet it must be acknowledged that many American ideas are being introduced and that the innovations are gradually effacing the Spanish peculiarities. But there are still monuments of its founders which have withstood time, and whose solidity of construction have not been affected by the elements. Before us stands the oldest house in St. Augustine, which still looks as though able to weather the storm of centuries. Like most of the old houses and many of the new ones, this is built of a unique conglomerate of fine shells and sand, known as coquina rock, found in large quantities on Anastasia Island in the harbor. It is easily cut in blocks to be laid in courses, and is frequently covered over with stucco. The street wall of the house was originally extended in front of the side garden, but the upper portion has of late been cut away, and lattice work substituted. The street is well paved with shell concrete, and in the olden days was kept so carefully swept, that the ST. AUGUSTINE. 827 dark-eyed maidens of old Castile, who lived in this ancient dwelling, and led society in the quaint old city, could pass and repass without soiling their satin slippers. No rumbling wheels were permitted to crush the firm road-bed, or to whirl the dust into the airy verandas, where in undisturbed repose, sat the indolent Spanish dons and dames. 6, Tlie Harbor from San Marco. — Perhaps the most interesting features of old St. Augustine are the sea wall and Fort San Marco. The construction of the fort occupied a hundred and sixty-four years, having been commenced in 1592 and completed in 1756. The labor of building it was performed almost entirely by negro slaves, Indians, and prisoners of war, and every stone of it was cemented with the sweat of toiling sufferers. While in possession of the British it was said to be the most picturesque fort in the king's dominions ; and with its esplanade, moats, drawbridges, massive arched entrance, dark passages, frowning bastions, and mysterious dungeons, it is a singularly fascinating spot. Standing on its tower we obtain a fine view of the city, and its surroundings. The site of St. Augustine is a flat, sandy, narrow peninsula, formed by the Matanzas River on the east and the St. Sebastian on the south and west. Looking to the east, across the Matanzas River, we see Anastasia Island, with its light-house, and it growth of scrub palmetto. To the left the land drops awav to a beach where Sir Francis Drake posted a gun one evening in 1586 and as the sun went down, pounded away at the grim old fortress on which we are standing. 828 ST. AUGUSTINE. Boating on the bay is a favorite amusement on moonlight nights, and during the day boating excur- sions to gather shells on the Anastasia beach, and collect sea mosses and lichens, prove pleasant diver- sions. The coast is monotonous, but the sea is ever beautiful in color, and there are always objects of interest for the lover of nature. Off shore the water deepens quickly, and mariners, w^ien once they have cleared the shoals at the inlet, may confidently run down the beach within half a mile of the breakers. 7. Hotel Ponce