Class _^ 
 
 Rook ."Pc 3p£ 
 
W. S. WARNER & CO., 
 
 PALMA SOLA, FLORIDA, 
 
 Yellow Pined Cypress Lumber Manufacturers 
 
 DEALERS IN 
 
 Doors, Sash, Blinds and ail Building Materials 
 
 WHOLESALE DEALERS IN 
 
 ICE, HAY, GRAIN, FLOUR, BULK MEATS, 
 
 (Jeqeflsl IVfercgandi^e, 
 
 General Commission Merchants in Florida Produce. 
 
 Local Agents Florida Land & Improvement Co. 
 
 Offering in our Agency 80,000 acres selected lands. 
 
 Local Land Agents Florida Southern R. R, Co. 
 
 400,000 acres of the best pine lands. 
 
 Local Agents PALMA SOLA LAND CO. 
 
 13,000 acres of the choicest selections of fruit lands 
 in the most tropical part of Florida. 
 
 Special terms to settlers in this tract given on ap- 
 plication. 
 
 Local Agents South Florida R. R. Co. 
 
 The De Soto Route to the Gulf Coast. 
 
 Local Agents of " The Bonanza Tract." 
 
 13,000 acres of choice hammock and sugar cane 
 lands, suited to the production of early vegetables. 
 
 CORRESPONDENCE SOLICITED. 
 
I 
 
 
PALMA SOLA. 
 
 THE 
 
 YOUNGEST AND LARGEST TOWN 
 
 IN 
 
 Floeida. 
 
 NEW YOKE: 
 
 BBOUN & GllEEN, STATIONERS. 
 
 40 JB e a v !•: e Stbei t. 
 
fall 
 
 ~TF* 3 
 
 m 
 
 
PALMA SOLA, AUGUST 1, 1884. 
 
 ) *w<*vkj± ^ 
 
 The Youngest and L/rgest Town in Florida. 
 
 ITS LOCATION AND ADVANTAGES OF CLIMATE, GEOGRAPHICAL POSITION 
 SOCIETY AND MANUFACTURING INTERESTS, AS ATTRACTIONS FOR THE 
 TOURIST, LAND HUNTER, FLORIDA SETTLER, SPECULATOR, AND 
 FOR THOSE RESIDENTS GENERALLY OF THE FRIGID ZONE NORTH 
 OF FLORIDA WHO FOR THE ATTAINMENT OF GREATER HAPPINESS 
 REALLY SHOULD LIVE HERE. 
 
 By a Resident whose Experience Dates from August 16, 1868, to 
 the Present Time. 
 The traveler by water, coming south in one of the vessels of the 
 Tampa Steamship Company from Cedar Keys, as he enters the fine 
 harbor of Tampa Bay, passing Egmont Lighthouse, sees ahead across 
 nine miles of blue water a cluster of white houses, apparently upon 
 the southeast shore of Tampa Bay, and is told by the ever-present 
 tourist, who has been there before and is pining to give information, 
 that that is Palma Sola, the City of the "Lone Balm." From 
 Egmont Lighthouse it appears to be upon the shore of the bay, but as 
 the steamer plows her way through the clear water a large harbor or 
 estuary opens out before him, and it becomes apparent that this 
 city by the Gulf is located upon a body of water, that for beauty of 
 shore line and perfection as a harbor has no equal in Florida. 
 Two miles from the wharves and warehouses now in plain sight the 
 steamer passes the bar buoy, when again our well informed tourist 
 says, "Uncle Sam has just expended $12,000 in dredging this bar, 
 
PALMA SOLA. 
 
 and this steamer has 12^ feet of water under her at low tide, where 
 formerly there was but nine, making this the deepest harbor 
 channel on the Gulf coast between Pensacola and Key West.' 
 Right again, Mr. Tourist, and as our vessel progresses up the 
 Manatee River, or, more properly, Bay, and the eve takes in its mile 
 and more of width and four miles of length, and is told of its 
 uniform depth of three fathoms, the same idea strikes the observer 
 that is striking the projectors of all the railroads to the Gulf Coast, 
 namely, that it is fhe harbor for terminal facilities for their roads- 
 An idea that ere another summer's showers shall have passed over 
 its sparkling waters will result in the building of wharves and ware- 
 houses on its shores for the business of the road, that from here 
 sends its passengers by steamers to Key West and Havana. 
 
 "Through from New York to Cuba in four and one-half days." 
 Manatee Bay, it should properly be called, for from its mouth as 
 defined by the west end of Snead's Island on the north and Shaw's 
 Point on its south shore to a point seven miles east, the harbor 
 maintains a uniform width of about a mile and a quarter, widening 
 out to a mile and one-half in front of Palma Sola. The tides 
 ebb r.nd flow, the water being pure salt Gulf water, with no fresh 
 water currents or influences at any season of the year. Above and 
 east of this point, seven miles from the mouth, this bay begins to 
 assume some of the characteristics of a fresh water river, rush grass 
 islands, mangrove bushes, etc. Scattered along at about even 
 intervals on the shore are, first, Palma Sola, next Braidentown, then 
 Manatee and Palmetto, all having suitable steamboat landings — 
 Fogartysville and Ellentown, two smaller towns, not being so dis- 
 tinguished as yet. Like the others, however, "great in the future," 
 their inhabitants dream of a business that shall build wharves and 
 draw the commercial navies of the world to their doors. "Palma 
 Sola passengers claim their baggage." The steamer is fast to a long 
 wharf covered by a one-story warehouse and store, entering which 
 we find the most varied assortment of merchandise conceivable. 
 Ship stores, dry goods, furniture, drugs, household utensils, hats 
 and clothing, groceries, jewelry — an imitation in a moderate way of 
 Macy's big Sixth Avenue store. Here the dwellers in Palma Sola 
 and the surrounding country supply their wants, it being a frequently 
 repeated assertion of the proprietors, who also own the saw and 
 
PALM A. SOLA. 
 
 planing mills adjacent, that they build houses and furnish them 
 complete, to the cradle that rocks the baby and the condensed milk 
 that nourishes it, for be it known that in this country with its 
 thousands of cattle ranging the woods at large, milk, the genuine 
 fresh article, is not to be had to drink. A few hundred feet from 
 the wharf and warehouses on a high bluff overlooking Manatee Bay 
 to the east, and across Tampa Bay and the blue waters of the Gulf 
 of Mexico to the west, stands a comfortable but comparatively small 
 hotel, with breezy porches and an air of home comfort about its 
 exterior that is fully realized by the traveler when his room is 
 assigned him, and the neat new furniture and perfect spring beds 
 have for a day or a night been his. Clustered about the hotel are a 
 number of cottages, varying in size to suit the wants of their occu- 
 pants, most of whom are employees of the mills and other enter- 
 prises of the present owners of Palma Sola. So much for a general 
 description of the present appearance of the town that is called on 
 the title page the youngest and largest town in the State. Youngest 
 at this date, being chartered as a town August ist, 1884, and largest 
 as it contains within its corporate limits over twenty square miles, 
 or a little over 1 3,000 acres, embracing within its limits Palma Sola 
 Bay and Pereco Islands, and having a shore line on Manatee, Palma 
 Sola and Sarasota Bays over twenty-two miles long. 
 
 Its northern boundary, the south bank of Manatee Bay, is in 
 latitude 27 31' north and longitude 82 p 37' west. 
 
 Referring to the map which accompanies this pamphlet it will 
 be seen that the Palma Sola Company owns the entire peninsula 
 between Sarasota Bay and the Manatee River, of which peninsula it 
 can be safely said that no portion of the State of Florida can be 
 found north of Charlotte Harbor, which is so entirely exempt from 
 the destructive action of frost as this. Looking at the general map 
 of the State, it will be seen that it projects well out from the other- 
 wise straight shore line into the Gulf, and its perfect surrounding of 
 deep salt water bays, whose temperature is always high, gives it a 
 protection from cold winds that is unequaled. Referring to Lieut. 
 Maury's charts of ocean currents, it will be seen that the great Yuca- 
 tan current, which pours its flood of hot equatorial waters into the 
 Gulf Stream, circles and bends close into the shore at Tampa Bay, 
 diffusing its warm vapors over this favored section. Across, from bay 
 
b PATjMA sola. 
 
 to bay, upon the east boundary of the corporation, the company has 
 built an impregnable barbed wire fence, which is proof against 
 hogs and cattle, and by an action at the first meeting of its Town 
 Council it is made a misdemeanor and cause of action for damages 
 for a resident of the town to allow stock of any kind to run at large 
 within its limits. 
 
 Thus the town fences out cattle, and each settler is saved the 
 very great and unsatisfactory expense of barricading his individual 
 grounds. The wisdom and value of this general fence is very 
 strikingly endorsed by the statistics of the last census, which shows 
 that the value offences in our entire State are eight times the value 
 of the stock, and that the cost of maintaining them is something 
 more than double the value of the stock yearly. 
 
 Here a little over five and one-half miles offence extended into 
 deep water in both bays protects with the aid of the ordinance over 
 twenty square miles of land, the subdivisions of which have been 
 carefully and accurately marked by the company with permanent 
 stones at the corners, precluding the possibility of future disputes as 
 to boundaries. 
 
 The patents for these lands, having come direct from the State 
 and United States Governments to the present owners by direct cash 
 purchase will be sufficient evidence to the careful buyer that his title 
 will be good. In this part of Florida none of the Spanish grants, 
 which are a fruitful source of litigation on the Eastern Coast, were 
 ever made. 
 
 Before buying land and building ahome, the settler asks, What 
 can I do to make a living? and, looking around,, he finds a large 
 number of people employed in milling with room for many more 
 at fair compensation, opportunities for carrying on merchandise 
 business, good openings for every trade and profession, and, if his 
 tastes are for a "Life on the Ocean Wave,'' employment is offered 
 in all its occupations. Within the past year a new enterprise has had 
 birth here that now promises to grow to giant proportions. With 
 the establishment of an ice-house it became possible to save and 
 send the fish, with which the waters are literally alive, to the great 
 cities of the South and North. The business was at once opened, 
 and at the close of the first season the ice-packers had profitably 
 shipped many tons of mullet, redfish, sheepshead and pompano. 
 
PALMA SOLA. 7 
 
 At this date large packing-houses are in course of construction for 
 the accommodation of a business that, during the coming season, 
 will figure up towards $100,000. 
 
 Within forty miles of Palma Sola are the great sponge banks of 
 Florida, from which hundreds of thousands of dollars' worth are 
 annually taken and shipped to New York. The rapid development 
 of the resources of all new countries calls for an unusual amount of 
 hard labor, and it is so particularly the case here that no assurance 
 need be given to any that want work that they can find plenty to do, 
 Up to this date the great difficulty has been with every business 
 enterprise to find labor enough to carry it on. 
 
 In answer to the natural question of the intending settler: 
 " What will it cost to get there, and how shall I go ?" the following 
 rate sheets are given from New York, and are the same for the Mal- 
 lory Line, via Fernandina, and the Ocean Steamship Company, via 
 Savannah. By the latter company the traveler will be ticketed via 
 Jacksonville and the St. John's River to Sanford, thence by Tampa 
 and boat to Palma Sola. 
 
 PASSENGER RATES BETWEEN NEW YORK AND POINTS ON GULF COAST. 
 
 To or From 
 
 Straight. 
 
 Excursion. 
 
 Cabin. | St'age. 
 
 Cabin. 
 
 
 31 00 
 31 50 
 33 60 
 
 36 50 
 
 40 50 
 36 50 
 
 l'J 25 
 19 75 
 21 25 
 
 23 25 
 
 24 25 
 23 25 
 
 51 mi 
 
 
 52 00 
 
 
 54 00 
 
 
 
 
 61 00 
 
 
 
 
 65 00 
 
 
 61 0! 
 
 
 
 
 
 Children between 4 and 12 years of age half fare. 150 lbs. baggage free to each 
 adult passenger. Extra baggage 75 cents per 100 lbs. between Fernandina and New York. 
 Usual rates on railroads. 
 
8 
 
 PALMA SOLA. 
 
 On his household goods and gods the following rate will 
 apply by either line. 
 
 THE MALLORY 
 
 LINES or 
 OCEAN S. S. CO. 
 
 and 
 SAVANNAH, F. 
 
 and 
 WESTERN R.R. 
 
 Rates from New 
 York to 
 
 PalmaSola 153 131 1 18 
 
 RATES PER ONE HUNDRED POUNDS. 
 
 G 
 
 60 50*75 
 
 a H a , 
 
 r^ 2 ■' 
 
 a-^ ° 
 III 
 
 2 * 
 
 3 W 
 
 «a 53 
 » a = 
 
 flap, 
 
 PER BBL. 
 
 n_5 w^j 
 
 '"S a a -3 
 
 ° 5 5 
 
 PS o 
 
 * P 1° 
 
 G Veg 
 90 1 35' 90 
 
 The following rate sheet gives the cost of getting productions 
 back to the great Northern markets, and will be considered low 
 enough surely: 
 
 Through Rates on Vegetables, via the Atlantic Coast Line, in 
 Effect March 25th, 1884. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 ni 
 
 o 
 
 3 
 
 
 
 0> 
 
 <9 J* *■ 
 
 
 
 a 
 
 ac 
 
 •j 
 
 § 
 
 
 § 
 
 a 5 S 
 o S 9 
 
 FROM 
 
 O 
 H 
 
 a 
 
 a) 
 
 2 
 
 4) 
 
 o 
 
 T3 
 p 
 
 ichm 
 eters 
 ortsn 
 
 
 
 m 
 
 Per 
 
 
 a 
 
 ta 
 
 pa 
 
 Ph 
 
 M (^ a 
 
 
 Per 
 
 Per 
 
 Per 
 
 Per : Per 
 
 Per 
 
 Per 
 
 Per 
 
 Per 
 
 
 
 Box 
 
 60 
 
 Bbl. 
 1 10 
 
 Box 
 
 60 
 
 Bbl. 
 1 10 
 
 Box 
 60 
 
 Bbl. 
 
 1 10 
 
 Box 
 
 65 
 
 Bbl. 
 1 25 
 
 Box 
 
 Bbl. 
 
 Tampa and Palina Sola. 
 
 60 
 
 1 10 
 
 So much for the expense of reaching Palma Sola. The land 
 for an orange grove can be bought at from $5.00 per acre to $25.00, 
 according to location, the value being varied more by position with 
 regard to the business centre than by the varied qualities of the soil. 
 The rich hammock lands, suitable for the production of early vege- 
 tables for the Northern markets, range much higher in values, $20 
 per acre being about the lowest price at which any could now be 
 bought, and $50 has been paid. These prices may sound high for 
 
TROPICAL PRODUCTIONS OF FLORIDA. 9 
 
 wild lands, upon which an expenditure of from $30 to $50 more 
 per acre must be made before they can be cultivated, but a compar- 
 ison of their net yield with that of the lands of the Northern wheat 
 or corn grower shows that here $200 is taken from an acre where 
 there the average yield may be safely placed at $14. These fig- 
 ures leave nothing more to be said. 
 
 The cost of living may be put down at the same figure as in 
 any of the medium sized cities, /ess the expense of rents, fuel, fine 
 clothing and amusements ; however large or small a part of the in- 
 come these items may appropriate can be readily saved at Palma 
 Sola. 
 
 The mild climate makes an expensive house unnecessaiy, fuel 
 is to be had for the expense only of gathering it, and thus far the 
 necessity has not arisen for expenditures that in the city resident's 
 expense account book should properly appear as " paid for keep- 
 ing up appearances." 
 
 Looking the whole field over it will be found that living ex- 
 penses may be kept very low, while income from the various occu- 
 pations that may be engaged in can be made large. (That depend- 
 ing here, as elsewhere, upon the individual). No more favorable 
 conditions for success can be found anywhere. The Palma Sola 
 Land Company, owning the entire peninsula, as described on the 
 fifth page, is advertising its lands extensively and offering every 
 possible inducement to intending settlers to locate here. To this 
 end acres of its lands have not been advanced to keep pace with 
 the prices of other adjacent lands that are being sold much higher. 
 
 It is the plan of the Company to reinvest the proceeds of all 
 sales of land for some years in the improvement of avenues and 
 streets, planting strawberries, making orange groves, etc. 
 
 The Company will also contract with non-residents for the 
 clearing of lands, planting orange groves, and the care of them so 
 long as is necessary. A strong colony from Taunton, Mass., is 
 now improving a large tract in this way under the Company's care, 
 and investors in orange groves, who from any cause cannot give 
 their personal attention to the business, will find this a reliable 
 means of establishing it. 
 
 As a possible aid to the selection of an occupation here the fol- 
 lowing article on Tropical Fruits may prove of interest. 
 
TROPICAL FRUITS IN FLORIDA. 
 
 This excellent and reliable little treatise on this subject was 
 prepared by the Florida Land and Improvement Co , and an- 
 swers so many of the questions put by correspondents that it 
 has been included in this pamphlet. All of the fruits named 
 in it find a place adapted to their growth in Palma Sola, un- 
 troubled by the light frosts that sometimes injure them in local- 
 ities only a little further north. The infinite value of such a 
 location over another where the same conditions do not exist, 
 and where the fruit grower sees the result of his labor of years 
 destroyed in a night, cannot be over-estimated, the relation of 
 the figures being as nought (or worse) to one. This matter of 
 location cannot be too carefully considered by the Florida 
 settler, for on it depends entirely his success or failure. Money 
 spent in carefully and intelligently looking the State over is 
 well expended and results most frequently in the conviction 
 that the Gulf Coast is superior in climate, character of lands, 
 coast harbors and future prospects. This conclusion being 
 reached, the choice of location is narrowed down from the great 
 area of a great state to the narrow limits of the Coast line, 
 Following that line down to Tampa Bay, and particularly to the 
 Manatee River, more conditions are found favorable to certain 
 success in fruit growing and the production of early vegetables 
 than are to be found elsewhere. The facts and figures as given 
 by Dr. Levis in this book are conclusive affirmative evidence 
 for this statement. 
 
 ORANGE -CULTURE. 
 
 The subject of orange-growing in Florida is one on which 
 we often have inquiries addressed to us, and we therefore give 
 additional facts on the much-debated question of the cost and 
 
TROPICAL PRODUCTIONS OF FLORID A. 11 
 
 profit of orange-growing, for which the United States Depart- 
 ment of Agriculture is authority. From barely nothing, in a 
 commercial sense, at the close of the war, the business has grown 
 to be worth over $1,000,000. Measured by the progress of the 
 past, it is destined to become, in a short time, one of the leading 
 industries of the State. Last year there were exported at least 
 45,000,000 oranges. The business so far has been very success- 
 ful, and is daily inviting more capital and enterprise. There 
 are already $10,000,000 invested in orange groves in the State, 
 with a field open for the profitable employment of $50,000,000 
 more. Lands suitable for growing oranges are in abundance at 
 low prices. Orange groves can be found in almost every part 
 of the State, and on all varieties of soil well drained, the groves 
 numbering each from 10 to 10,000 trees. Hardly a family, out- 
 side of the cities, but cultivates a greater or less number of 
 orange trees, and many residing in the cities do the same. 
 Some of the largest groves in the State are owned by persons 
 living in the towns, or non-residents. In some of the counties 
 there were raised as high as from 4,000,000 to 6,000,000 of or- 
 anges last year; and narrow-gauge r railroads are rapidly being 
 built to afford the middle counties facilities for shipping their 
 enormous crops to market. Three such roads have been com- 
 pleted within the. past few months, and others are projected, 
 while more are under contemplation. Oranges are shipped by 
 these roads to New York in eight}' and ninety hours' time. 
 Within the past few years orange-culture in Florida, has attained 
 great perfection. It has reached that position where it is 
 possible to analyze the cost of production. Abundant evidence 
 exists that can be brought forward to show the value and profit 
 in it. For the investment of capital, results have shown that 
 there is not at present any pursuit, where the tilling of the 
 ground is involved, that will yield larger returns with less 
 fluctuation. It is always pleasant to be able to confirm such 
 statements with facts. An extensive orange-grower in Putnam 
 county has kept, from the beginning of his grove, an accurate 
 account of the expenditures and receipts to the close of the 
 thirteenth year, ending in 1879. The number of trees was 
 three hundred. The} r yielded 442, 000 oranges selling for 
 
12 TROPICAL PRODUCTIONS OF FLORIDA. 
 
 $7,590, against an expenditure, omitting cost of land, first cost 
 of trees, and'interest on the money, of $1,950. This gives re- 
 ceipts over expenditures, $5,640. This is only one instance, but 
 it is as good as many, because it is only one in a very large 
 number. It conclusively demonstrates that orange-culture is 
 not at all transitory, nearly all the obstacles in the path of 
 orange-culture having been removed. The future of the busi- 
 ness is still more promising. Florida oranges are conceded to 
 be superior to all others. In point of numbers, compared to 
 the great quantities consumed, they are few, yet by their greater 
 merit they have come to occupy the foremost place in the 
 market. The genial and peculiar soil of Florida, together with 
 the sufficiently warm sun to mature and concentrate the juices 
 without destroying the lively aromatic flavor of the fruit, im- 
 part this quality-value nowhere else attainable to such an extent. 
 The field they are yet to occupy is practically illimitable. They 
 are yet to possess our own market, the best in the world. This 
 will be the labor of years, and after a great portion of our 
 orange lands have been brought under cultivation. In 1879 there 
 were 257,009,000 oranges entered at the port of New York from 
 foreign countries. Double the number, at least, were entered 
 at all the other ports, making a grand total of 771,000,000 con- 
 sumed in and lost on the voyage to this country, in addition 
 to our Florida crop. We cannot predict when the domestic 
 will take the place of the foreign product, but it is inevitable 
 in the course of time. Our inability to supply the demand is 
 the main obstacle. That this will be the ultimate result is clear 
 from another cause, independent, or nearly so, of merit. The 
 liability of loss and damage resulting from uncertainties of a 
 sea voyage, form an important factor in the conduct of the 
 foreign fruit trade, serving to make it extremely hazardous, 
 a circumstance against which dealers do not have to 
 contend in the shipment of Florida oranges. We have rail- 
 roads leading to all the great markets of America, and 
 when the fruit is transported by water, all facilities are 
 afforded by perfect and commodious steamers. Orange-culture, 
 therefore, may go on indefinitely in Florida, without fear of 
 reaching a general redundance of product. When our own 
 
TROPICAL PRODUCTIONS OF FLORIDA. 18 
 
 market is occupied, those of Europe and elsewhere will be open 
 to us. The growing desire everywhere for semi-tropical fruits, 
 which the efforts of producers are trying to satisfy, is unlimited, 
 and therefore efforts in orange-culture can continue to be put 
 forth until this unlimited and independent desire is met — a 
 goal which, perhaps, never can be reached. 
 
 To persons of foresight and capital, who are looking to the 
 future rather than the present for remunerative returns, Florida 
 presents, in her orange pursuits, the most extended as well as 
 the most inviting field. But aside from the question of profit, 
 the culture of oranges presents other practical advantages. It 
 is not only a pleasing but an independent occupation. Its pur- 
 suit is no dead-level or monotonous exertion, but one that affords 
 scope for the development of an ingenious mind. As to profit, 
 the orange-grower is working under conditions of constantly in- 
 creasing advantages. Young men, sometimes w-ith little or no 
 capital, are starting every year in the business, often away from 
 communities of old and experienced growers, and have suc- 
 ceeded by dint of tact and industry. In point of regular 
 profits ; in point of an industrious, frugal and cheerful occupa- 
 tion ; in point of a very general desire to become independent ; 
 in point of repressive and adverse inliuences- in other pursuits, 
 they have found orange -culture, in its practical working, the 
 most pleasing occupation. Persons who own orange groves in 
 Florida are entirely well satisfied, as a rule, with their invest- 
 ments. A bearing grove is worth a great deal of money, and to 
 purchase one would require a large cash outlay. In ten years' 
 time groves are usually in full bearing — often in less time — and 
 the inducement to plant one is very great. 
 
 LEMONS. 
 
 The lemon grows well on our sandy soils, and ranks next 
 to the orange in profit. It has the advantage over the orange 
 of coming into bearing sooner. The orange bears in eight to 
 ten years from the seed, while the lemon has fruit in four years, 
 The few fruit-growers who have been far-sighted enough to 
 plant lemon groves, are now reaping the benefit of their fore- 
 sight. The fruit is quoted, and actually sells for as much as the 
 
14 TEOPTCAIj PRODUCTIONS OF FJiOKTDA. 
 
 orange, and after beginning to bear requires far less care and 
 attention. It is capable of standing- nearly as much cold as the 
 orange, but fruits best where the climate is mild. Experiments 
 have demonstrated that the lemon will not produce its like from 
 the seed, while the orange in most instances will. The lemon 
 should be budded. One of the largest fruit -dealers in New 
 York, writing on the lemon, says: " The best lemons we get here 
 are those from Florida, because, in the first place, they are nat- 
 urally splendid lemons, and in the second place, the distance 
 they have to come is so short that they arrive in perfect condi- 
 tion. I paid two years ago as high as $12.00 a box for Florida 
 lemons. They were of extra fine quality, of course, for there 
 were other Florida lemons sold at the same time for $3.00 and 
 $4.00 per box, but the fact that they could command such a 
 price is an indication of the possibilities before the lemon- 
 growers of Florida. They can practically run out Italy in 
 time if they will only take care in growing, sorting and pack- 
 ing, and send to New York the best lemons. The Florida 
 lemons are packed in boxes holding from 250 to 350 each. 
 They are shipped about November. " 
 
 One jDrominent fruit-grower of Orange county, about three 
 years ago, budded" from a fine variety of Sicily lemon. This 
 winter he shipped 1,000,000 lemons; next year he will market 
 3,000,000, with an annual increase thereafter. His lemons 
 are picked and shipped after they mature, and command one 
 dollar a box in advance of the hnest imported lemons on the 
 market. 
 
 LIMES 
 
 There is not a more useful and acceptable fruit grown in 
 the State than the lime. It is produced very successfully on 
 our shell hammock and pine land in the southern counties 
 flourishing best where cold weather never visits. It comes to 
 maturity and bears even sooner than the lemon, having fruit in 
 three years from planting the seed. Limes are attracting con- 
 siderable attention in the Northern market, where they are es- 
 teemed superior to the lemon, containing more acid, and being 
 
TROPICAL PRODUCTIONS OP FLORIDA. 15 
 
 better shippers. Some shipments have proved very remunera- 
 tive, the fruit selling for 30 cents per dozen in quantity. 
 
 The " piclded lime " is regarded as one of the best appeti- 
 zers and anti-bilious tonics known. It is prepared as follows : 
 The lime is plucked, when just ripe, a barrel is filled with them 
 and closed up. Through the bung as much ordinary sea-water 
 is poured upon them as the barrel will hold, and allowed to re- 
 main for twenty-four hours, the water is then poured off and 
 replaced by a fresh supply of sea-Avater, which is allowed to 
 remain another twenty-four hours and then poured of. Fill 
 the barrel a third time in this way with sea-water, close the 
 bung and the limes are then ready for use and shipment as 
 " pickled limes." The lime requires very little cultivation, and 
 is almost entirely exempt from the diseases to which the other 
 members of the citrus family are liable. 
 
 CANE. 
 
 The soil best adapted to the cultivation of cane is a moist 
 black loam underlaid with clay or marl, large areas of which 
 are found among the prairies owned by this Company in the 
 Kissimmee and Caloosahatchie Valleys, which are pronounced 
 by experienced sugar raisers from Louisiana and Cuba to be 
 unsurpassed in the world. They have an average depth of 
 three feet of rich vegetable mold, with a subsoil of white clay. 
 The cane is planted continuously in drills six feet apart, and 
 yields its largest crop the subsequent years, but requires re- 
 planting every seven years for best results. It lives the year 
 round in this section, and "goes to tassel," as the saying is, 
 every year, reaching a length of seventeen feet in a season. 
 
 To those who have watched the development of the re- 
 sources of Florida, it is apparent that sugar is the " king" field 
 product of the State, and with the developments now making it 
 will be but a comparatively short period until a large percentage 
 of the sugar and molasses consumed in the United States will 
 be drawn from the rich soils of the Peninsular State. Of all the 
 districts in the Union adapted to the cultivation of sugar-cane, 
 no region is so favored in soil and climate as Florida — the soil 
 
16 TROPICAL PRODUCTIONS OF FLORIDA. 
 
 of the rich bottom lands being admirably fitted to the maturing 
 of cane crops. It is no extravagant statement to say that many 
 hundreds of thousands of acres are here awaiting development. 
 Sugar-cane is grown on the pine-lands with good results, where 
 a little attention is given to cow-penning or fertilizing. The 
 climatic conditions are most favorable in South Florida for the 
 production of the crop ; no danger is to be apprehended from 
 frost, which in these latitudes has never been known to injure 
 the cane crop. Here the cane matures and perfects its seed, 
 even when grown for years on the same land without manure. 
 It is customary to replant sugar-cane every two or three 
 years in the more northern sugar-belts of the country. Sugar- 
 cane readily responds to frequent cultivation and fertilization, 
 however, in the southern portion of this State. It is no un- 
 common circumstance to see good stands of cane that have rat- 
 tooned from six to ten years. On the chores of Lake Worth 
 cane was recently seen growing that had not been replanted 
 since the Seminole wars. 
 
 The cost of fencing, plowing and planting the first cane 
 crop upon these prairie lands averages about fifty dollars per 
 acre. The soil is inexhaustible, and needs no fertilizer. The 
 net profits the second year easily amount to eighty dollars per 
 acre, and many growers realize much higher profits. 
 
 COCOANUTS. 
 
 The entire coast line of Monroe county will in a few years 
 become a vast cocoanut grove, both climate and soil being spe- 
 cially adapted to their growth. The prevailing type of country 
 is a low sandy plain or prairie, where the cocoanut is found to 
 grow and thrive luxuriantly, little or no care being required be- 
 yond the original planting. Single, scattered trees are to be 
 found all along the coast, where they appear to have sprung 
 spontaneously from seed-nuts which have been washed ashore. 
 Trees are found on the Keys, at Cape Sable and among the 
 islands in Charlotte Harbor; in fact all along the coast range for 
 three hundred miles. 
 
 Bearing groves are found throughout the county. Groves 
 
TROPICAL PRODUCTIONS OF FLORIDA. 17 
 
 are now bearing upon or near Key West island, at Plantation 
 Key in the reef range, and at Charlotte Harbor. Major Evans 
 has a grove in his garden at Myers, upon the Caloosahatchie, 
 which produces 300 or more nuts per tree annually. He gathers 
 bundles of twenty, twenty -five and even thirty-four nuts each, 
 and trees are blooming and bearing all the year round, and 
 this seems to be the average production of fully developed trees 
 in South Florida. 
 
 It is but recently that this industry has received much at- 
 tention. The cultivation of cocoanuts, like that of pine-apples, 
 is still in its infancy here, but astonishing figures can be shown, 
 cousidering the brief time which has elapsed since its com- 
 mencement. Captain Henry Geiger was the pioneer, and his 
 grove at Boca Chica, near Key West, is now bearing — the inter- 
 est of farmers and enterprising capitalists was soon attracted to 
 this industry, and during the past few years all the available 
 lands in this immediate vicinity have been secured and planted, 
 and the work is still progressing and extending to the mainland 
 with marvelous rapidity. Three hundred and twenty-five thou- 
 sand trees are now planted and growing within the limits of 
 Monroe county, of which fifty thousand were set out last j^ear. 
 These are mostly upon the line of keys from Cape Florida to 
 Key West. Cocoanut planting became a " boom " and soon 
 reached the Gulf coast, where extensive groves have been 
 planted at Horseman's Key, Caximbas, Horr's Island, Marco, 
 Myers and CLarlotte Harbor, and are all doing well, exceeding 
 even the sanguine hopes of their proprietors. 
 
 To show the general feeling and future prospect, one gentle- 
 man has purchased a tract of land at Caximbas, and contracted 
 for 30,000 seed-nuts ; and at the present moment a vessel has 
 just arrived in Key West harbor, with a cargo of 120,000 
 nuts, to be planted at Biscayne by a colony recently started. 
 I his is but an installment, as they are even now negotiating for 
 30,000 more nuts, and will in all probability not stop short of 
 200,000 trees. Others are planting largely along the lower 
 Caloosahatchie Valley with a view to equally large transactions, 
 and it is a question of but a very short time when the desolate 
 monotony of these silent and hitherto practically unknown shores 
 
18 TROPICAL, PRODUCTIONS OF FLORIDA. 
 
 will be supplanted by the tropical beauty and magnificence of 
 an almost continuous cocoanut grove. Nature lias done her part 
 and is quietly waiting, and human energy and capital is alone 
 needed for a long time wilderness to spring into active and 
 profitable life. The annual profit on a cocoanut grove may be 
 safely reckoned at $3 per tree, and one hundred trees to the acre. 
 The trees come into bearing at from six to eight years of age. 
 
 It is admitted by all experienced growers that the cocoanut 
 does best on a moist, sandy soil near salt water, but they can be 
 raised on land removed from the coast, if salt is applied to the 
 ground around the trees after they become three years old. 
 
 They should be planted as follows : Place tho ripe nuts 
 about four inches under the soil, and about twenty feet apart. 
 Care should be taken to plant the nut with the end that is at- 
 tached to the stem downward, as the milk inside of the nut will 
 then cover the eye and germinate the young sprout that pro- 
 duces the tree. 
 
 The tree should make its appearance above ground in from 
 six months to one year after planting the seed. 
 
 THE BANANA. 
 
 The banana is not property a tree, but a plant of leafy 
 succulent growth, of the genus Mum. The stalk is formed of the 
 stems of the leaves in concentric layers, reaching with its leaves, 
 a height of fifteen or twenty feet, and eight to ten inches in 
 thickness, and contains no woody fibre. From the center comes 
 the first bearing stem, which turns and grows downward. The 
 end has the appearance of an ear of corn with purple shuck. This 
 unfolds one leaf at a time, displaying two rows — eight to twelve 
 each — of tiny, little fruit, with their delicate blossoms, until it 
 attains a length of two or three feet, covered with fruit. The 
 leaves are a marvel for size and appearance, sometimes reaching 
 a length of six feet, and eighteen inches in width, of a glossy 
 pea green. The root is perennial. It is large and fleshy, some- 
 times of the size of a half bushel measure, from which jyut forth 
 numerous rootlets, half an inch in diameter. From the main 
 root are constantly springing numerous suckers, which go to 
 
TROPICAL PRODUCTIONS OF FLORIDA. 19 
 
 form new plants. This being its mode of propagation, these 
 suckers can be taken off to form a new plantation, or remain, as 
 may be wanted. 
 
 There are several varieties of banana, among which is the 
 dwarf. This plant rarely attains a height of more than seven 
 feet, is readily cultivated in the southern portion of the State 
 but is too delicate to be safely propagated in the upper tier of 
 counties. The fruit is noted for its large size and delicate flavor 
 and is in demand. At Lake Worth a plantation of bananas has 
 been successfully cultivated for years. 
 
 In a suitable soil, which should be rich and moist, and in 
 a tropical climate, it requires about one year to mature fruit, 
 * from the first appearance of the plant. Each stock bears but 
 one bunch of fruit. When it is gathered, the stock is cut down. 
 Ten feet apart is a good distance to plant them. This gives 
 over 400 per acre, and the second year there will be six or 
 eight plants to each hill, and soon occupy most of the ground. 
 After the first year they require but little cultivation, the old 
 stalk and leaves acting as mulch and manure. Under favorable 
 conditions there is no cessation of growth. New plants and 
 ripe fruit are found at all times, and a plantation once started 
 lasts for years. 
 
 It is probable that no fruit was ever cultivated that will 
 yield more fruit per acre, or result in greater profit to the 
 owner, where there is a market for it. It is easily and cheaply 
 gathered, requiring no packages, and bears handling and trans- 
 portation well. Three bunches a year per hill is a fair estimate 
 for the yield of a good plantation. This would give over 1,200 
 bunches per acre. Many of these will contain over 100 bananas 
 each. It is a favorite food in tropical countries, and always in 
 demand at the seaport towns for shipment. There are some 
 people, no doubt, who live onbanauas.alone; but it is not prob- 
 able that any amount of work can be got out of a dozen of that 
 fruit a day. Southern Florida and some of the islands on its 
 coast have proved to be suitable and profitable for the culture of 
 the banana, and instances are mentioned where the receipts 
 have been over $3,000 per year from a single acre, including 
 plants sold. 
 
20 TROPICAL PRODUCTIONS OP FLORIDA. 
 
 PINE-APPLE. 
 
 The cultivation of this most delicious fruit is becoming one 
 of the leading industries of South Florida. 
 
 Fully 300 acres are now under cultivation in Monroe 
 county, and the area is being constantly increased as fast as the 
 land can be cleared and the slips can be procured from which 
 they are propagated. The area devoted to this business in 
 Monroe is confined principally to Key Largo and the adjacent 
 keys, where the enterprise was originally started, but the farm- 
 ers in Manatee and the mainland of Monroe are now turning 
 their attention to this industry, and large fields have been 
 planted in several of the southern counties. Those already * 
 started are reported in excellent condition, and the outlook for 
 rapid increase is exceedingly promising. We cite a few figures 
 which have been obtained from accurate information about Key 
 Largo and vicinity. The shipments of pine-apples to Northern 
 markets have been about as follows: In 1881, 30,000 dozen; in 
 1882, 75,000 dozen, and last year, 150,000 dozen. An acre of 
 land set out in pine slips will produce 8,000 pine-apples, the 
 average price of which, when ready for shipping, is $1.00 per 
 dozen. The Largo pines are already well known, and those 
 which have been produced upon the mainland demonstrates 
 fully that the pine lands of South Florida are well adapted to 
 the production of strong, healthy plants, and a sweet, fine qual- 
 ity of fruit. 
 
 The pine-apple is propagated from slips and suckers; the 
 former are taken from the base of the matured pine-apple — each 
 pine producing from five to seven slips. The suckers grow up 
 from the root of the plant, and after being removed and dried 
 stand shipment very well. An excess of moisture in slips and 
 suckers when shipped in quantity is detrimental: in this condi- 
 tion they are liable to deteriorate. After planting, the slips will 
 produce fruit in from eighteen months to two years. The suck- 
 ers fruit in one year under favorable conditions. Pine-apples 
 require but little attention; their luxuriant growth soon shades 
 the ground, preventing the growth of weeds and rapid evapora- 
 tion of moisture. 
 
TROPICAL PRODUCTIONS OP FLORIDA. 21 
 
 Experienced growers express themselves fully satisfied 
 with their present success, and are going into the business 
 largely. 
 
 EICE. 
 
 Both the lowland and upland varieties of this most useful 
 grain are grown successfully and profitably in Florida. On the 
 rich hammock lands of the interior of the State, and the stiff 
 pine lands of the South, upland rice of the best quality is raised 
 by small planters, while the rich valleys of the Kissimmee and 
 Caloosahatchie will produce wonderful yields of the lowland, 
 and this, too, without the irrigation which is regarded so essen- 
 tial to its production in Georgia and South Carolina. It re- 
 quires a moist soil, is sown in drills, and when kept clear of 
 weeds will produce 30 to 100 bushels of rough rice to the 
 acre. Rice is a standard article of food and is used in many 
 manufacturing processes, and there is certainly no reason why 
 its culture should not become at an early day one of the leading 
 industries of this our " State of marvelous resources." 
 
 GUAVAS. 
 
 Guavas are grown all over South Florida with little culti- 
 vation, and are the peaches of that section. For jellies, jams, 
 pies, and to serve with cream they are the most delicious fruit 
 that grows. When cooked or prepared in any of the ways in ' 
 which we serve peaches at table one soon grows fond of them, 
 and many people relish them eaten from the bush. In addition 
 to its delicious flavor, the guava is a very healthy fruit. 
 
 Little attention is given to the manufacture of " guava 
 jelly," though it is confidently believed that it could be made 
 immensely profitable in the southern counties, as the jelly is 
 highly esteemed the world over. When cold-storage ware- 
 houses and refrigerator-cars Lave been introduced, so that the 
 guava can be sent to Northern markets, the demand will be very 
 great. 
 
22 TROPICAL PRODUCTIONS OF FLORIDA. 
 
 SUG AK- APPLE. 
 
 This fruit grows on a shrub similar to the guava, and is 
 also very tender and needs some protection from cold. The 
 fruit is a rich yellowish green, and rough on the outside, but it 
 is very rich and sweet, and while it is sui generis, it may be 
 compared to a date in taste. This fruit does well south of 
 latitude 28 degrees. 
 
 THE MANGO 
 
 is a rich and deliciously flavored fruit, larger than an egg, and 
 nearly the same shape. It is a greenish yellow on the outside, 
 and a bright yellow on the inside ; the pulp being somewhat 
 fibrous or stringy ; it is best to pare and eat with a very sharp 
 knife. It has a large, oblong, single seed, that is quite a curi- 
 osity itself. There are several varieties, some of which are 
 hardier than others and more prolific. It is said that the 
 Persian, or East India variety, is most desirable for this State* 
 They are at home on the sandy soils of South Florida, where 
 they come into bearing in five years from planting the seed. 
 The trees resemble the orange-tree in size and shape. They 
 produce about 2,000 mangoes each, which are principally sold 
 in Southern markets, and bring from $1.00 to $3.00 per 
 hundred. 
 
 THE AVOCADO PEAR, 
 
 usually called " alligator pear," is a peculiar fruit, native to the 
 West Indies. The fruit is very large, pear-shaped, and has a 
 large, round kernel, or seed, in the center. The fruit, even 
 when mature, is a dark green, sometimes shaded yellow, and 
 the flesh is of the same color. The taste is peculiarly oily and 
 pasty, and one must be educated to a relish for it. It is gen- 
 erally eaten with salt, vinegar and pepper; as a salad, it is 
 highly esteemed. The tree is a model of beauty, and grows to 
 a large size on the shell hammocks and sandy soils of South 
 Florida. It commences bearing five years from the seed. Will 
 produce from 200 to 300 pears when eight years old, which are 
 
TROPICAL PRODUCTIONS OF FLORIDA. 23 
 
 readily sold in Key West market at prices ranging from GO 
 cents to $1.20 per dozen. 
 
 The mango and alligator pear are growing and maturing 
 their fruit at Point Pinellas, a peculiarly favored spot just 
 west of Tampa Bay. This point, due to the water protection 
 afforded by the waters of the Gulf, Hillsboro Bay and Tampa 
 Bay, is as tropical in its conditions as points on the mainland 
 one hundred and thirty miles further south, and presents un- 
 usual attractions to those desiring an equable climate or a point 
 for tropical fruits and early vegetable cultivation. Shaddocks, 
 grape-fruit, sapadillos, sour-sops, Jamaica apples, pawpaws and 
 dates are all grown to some extent in the southern counties, 
 but there are not enough raised to create a demand in the 
 market. 
 
 VEGETABLE GROWING 
 
 for Northern markets is destined to become a very important 
 branch of business in the southern counties, on account of cli- 
 mate and soil and nearness to market. We may say, without 
 tedious detail, that any vegetable grown North as a summer 
 vegetable can be produced and shipped from South Florida in 
 any of the winter months. This industry was started in Monroe 
 county in 1877, by a shipment of 16,000 crates of tomatoes to 
 New York through the port of Key West. In 1878 there were 
 25, 000 crates shipped through the same port. The first ship- 
 ment of vegetables this season was made in December, and 
 consisted of tomatoes and egg-plants in quantity. The tomatoes 
 brought 60 cents a quart, and egg-plants $4.00 per dozen in 
 New York. 
 
 In the southern portion of the State, tomatoes, green peas, 
 cucumbers, egg-plant, new potatoes, strawberries, watermelons, 
 etc., may be seen growing side by side and in the same field in 
 the month of December. The completion of new lines of railroad 
 now building, in connection with water transportation, will afford 
 facilities for placing these desirable garden products on the 
 Northern table at a season when there will be no competition, 
 and prices obtained will return a large profit. 
 
24 TEOPICAL PKODTTCTIONS OP FLORIDA. 
 
 CASAVA AND COMPTIE. 
 
 Starch and glucose can be more easily and profitably made 
 from the casava and comptie than from any other plants known. 
 But as the comptie could not be so easily, abundantly and profit- 
 ably raised as the 
 
 CASAVA, 
 
 the latter would be the general crop. It produces more in 
 weight and bulk to a given area than any other of the root 
 family, often reaching, as we are reliably informed, forty tons to 
 the acre; and this in turn yields a larger percentage of mer- 
 chantable product than any of the bulbous plants, about 30 
 per cent, of glucose or syrup, 40 per cent, of starch, and 10 per 
 cent, of the residium tapioca, there being no waste but the thin 
 rind. 
 
 As a stock for the manufacture of starch, casava, in cheap- 
 ness of production and yield per acre, is superior to any other 
 field crop, with the added advantage that the tubers may remain 
 in the ground after maturing and increase in weight very rapidly. 
 About three thousand plants are set to the acre, and it is no un- 
 usual circumstance to find roots of thirty to sixty pounds each. 
 The crop may be gathered eight months after planting. There 
 are several million of acres of land strictly adapted to this crop 
 under our control. A company is now planting on the Gulf 
 coast for the purpose of manufacture of glucose. 
 
 STOCK RAISING. 
 
 It is quite difficult, in the limits of a publication of this 
 character, to discuss the best methods of stock raising. 
 
 In all the southern counties are to be found large and small 
 herds of cattle. These run at large through the pine woods, 
 swamps and vast prairies of the Kissimmee and Caloosahatchie 
 valleys, and thrive on the coarse pasturage in a manner quite 
 remarkable aiid satisfactory to their owners, who " round-up " 
 once a year, mark and brand the young calves, and give little 
 other attention to them. 
 
TEOriCAIi PRODUCTIONS OF FLORIDA. 25 
 
 So little expense attends this sort of stock raising that, not- 
 withstanding the small size of the cattle produced, they prove 
 most profitable for shipment to the Cuban markets. Indeed, the 
 hide and tallow of a five-year-old steer would return a good 
 profit on the cost of his keeping. The cattle are not so large as 
 those grown in Texas, because less attention has been given here 
 to improving the native breeds of stock. The cattle raised in 
 Florida are small, with thick heavy necks and fore parts and 
 narrow loins; but when fat a four -year-old when dressed will 
 weigh from 400 to 500 pounds. 
 
 The buyers in the Cuban markets (to which shipments are 
 made to the extent of 50,000 head per year), prefer Florida to 
 Texas beef. The grasses in the southern counties are more nutri- 
 tious, and seem to impart a more agreeable llavor to the flesh than 
 in the northern part of Florida. That this business pays well has 
 this practical proof : More money has been made in stock 
 raising in South Florida than any other enterprise in the State 
 until quite recently, and a number have thus grown wealthy 
 from their herds. The improving of our breeds of cattle and 
 proper experiments with the grasses which may be grown suc- 
 cessfully here, will make stock raising in Florida as general as 
 it is profitable, and will give a value to a vast area in the State 
 now practically a wilderness. 
 
 To enumerate in detail the varied crops and products of 
 this country would be beyond the province of this paper. Crops 
 indigenous to all parts of America may be safely- grown (except- 
 ing in the case of a few of the cereals) with less care and labor 
 in their cultivation and production ; besides, in many cases the 
 soil can be replanted the same year. The region represented by 
 our companies presents the advantage of a tropical and semi- 
 tropical climate. It is the region where many of the products 
 of both the temperate and tropical climes maybe found growing- 
 side by side — where the orange, lemon, lime, guava, fig, etc., and 
 all the garden vegetables may be grown for profit in the open 
 air the year round. It is where cotton, sugar-cane, rice, tobacco 
 and all Southern field crops pay best. 
 
 Large orange groves are being set out yearly, and the pro- 
 duction from those in bearing returns handsome incomes to their 
 
26 TKOPICAIi PRODUCTIONS OF FLORIDA. 
 
 owners. In tins region frost rarely comes, and every fruit, flower, 
 hrub, plant or product that grows in any semi-tropical or trop- 
 ical region of the world matures or can be produced. Here one 
 may behold trees in rapid and perennial growth, forests and 
 fields spread with a rich vegetation, and roses in full bloom at a 
 period when the Northern States are wrapped in snow. 
 
 This is the region in which to seek the benefits of a summer 
 climate during the winter months. Although the winters are so 
 mild, the summers do not bring the tropical heat which might 
 be expected, and parties now permanently residing here, after 
 several years' experience, assert that they do not suffer more in 
 summer than they did in their old homes in the North. Any 
 person accustomed to exposure, North or South, can do ordinary 
 farm work during the summer without fear of ill-effect from the 
 heat. The thermometer rarely rises above ninety degrees. 
 
 Official records show the average temperature of Florida 
 to be — summer, seventy-eight; winter, sixty degrees. 
 
 The daily ocean breezes in summer modify the heat. The 
 Gulf breeze coming in with the setting sun cools the air at night. 
 
 Official sanitary reports, both of scientific bodies and the 
 army, show that Florida stands first in health, although in the 
 reports are included a transient population, many of whom take 
 refuge here as invalids in the lowest stage of disease. 
 
 The flow of immigration already so great to the " Far West " 
 is settling in upon these lands, so much more advantageously 
 located for marketing products, and possessing superior adapta- 
 bility to the profitable pursuit of a pleasing agriculture. 
 
 The influx of population will rapidly advance the price of 
 these lands in the hands of the husbandman, and the great va- 
 riety of adaptation and products, with a ready access to the best 
 markets of the world, will certainly work a large and more cer- 
 tain return for labor and capital than in the frigid regions of the 
 more Northern States. 
 
 To complete this pamphlet on Trojfical Fruits, the follow- 
 ing report of Inspector Bosfwick, of the New York Custom 
 House, is appended. The utter fallacy of the idea, which is some- 
 times expressed, that Florida will overstock the market for 
 oranges, is made very apparent in ihis article. 
 
FOREIGN GREEN FRUIT. 
 
 REVIEW OF THE TRADE DURING THE YEAR 1882. 
 
 VARIETIES IMPORTED AND THE AMOUNT OF EACH VARIETY, TOGETHER 
 
 WITH THE VALUE AND THE DUTY THEREON INSPECTOR 
 
 bostwick's STATISTICS. 
 
 In offering to the public the statistical review of the fruit 
 trade at the port of New York for the year 1882, the fourteenth 
 the writer has presented in as many consecutive years, it must 
 be confessed at once that there will not be found therein any- 
 thing of an unusual character, or anything calculated to spe- 
 cially interest the general reader further than the knowledge of 
 the gradually increasing importance of the trade may do. The 
 traffic is one that possesses its full share of the uncertainties of 
 commercial transactions. The perishable character of the fruit, 
 and the chances of the sea voyage from the tropics are quite 
 enough to account for this uncertainty. It should be stated, 
 however, that the gradually increasing use of steamers in the 
 place of sailing vessels is tending to reduce the chances for loss 
 from the voyage. The trade in Mediterranean fruits for the 
 last year shows a large increase over the trade of the year 1881, 
 and from the detailed exhibit of the trade in green fruits gen- 
 erally, as given herein, we learn that the most of the several 
 kinds of fruit imported have also increased in number in the 
 same time. The importation of bananas has doubled, but 
 a striking offset is offered to this increase in the very notable 
 decrease in the importation of oranges, probably the most com- 
 monly used of all the imported fruits. Any deficiency in the 
 
28 TKOPICAX, PRODUCTIONS OF FLORIDA. 
 
 receipt of this fruit seems, however, to have been partially made 
 good from the orange growers of Florida, and perhaps the 
 large supply from this source forms one of the most interesting 
 facts stated in this paper, both on account of its present im- 
 portance and its suggestions as to the future of the orange trade. 
 
 MEDITERRANEAN FRUIT. 
 
 The importation of Mediterranean fruit at the port of New 
 York during the year 1882 consists of 120 cargoes by English 
 steamers and 12 cargoes by Italian and Norwegian sailing ves- 
 sels, and comprised 953,837 boxes and cases of oranges and 
 1,052,871 boxes of lemons. On comparison of the above with 
 the imports of 1881, the result shows an increase of 3 cargoes 
 by steamers and a decrease of 3 cargoes by sailing vessels. The 
 increase in the number of cargoes is represented by an increase 
 of 134,614 boxes and cases of oranges and 192,633 boxes of 
 lemons, and an increase of 18,049,570 oranges and of 63,568,890 
 lemons in number. The total number of oranges imported in 
 1882 was 244,270,290, of which 80,609,195 perished on the voy- 
 age, equal to a loss of 33 per cent., and the total number of 
 lemons imported in 1882 was 347,448,420, of which 69,489,684 
 perished on the voyage, a loss of 20 per cent. 
 
 GRAPES. 
 
 The importation of grapes comprised 108, 797 barrels and 
 10,667 half barrels, on which there was a loss of 25 per 
 cent. Compared with the imports of 1881, there was an in- 
 crease of 61,797 barrels and of 667 half barrels. 
 
 ORANGES FROM THE WEST INDIES, CENTRAL AND 
 SOUTH AMERICA. 
 
 The importation of oranges from the West Indies consisted 
 of 5 full cargoes and of parts of several cargoes of oranges by 
 sailing vessels; and 83,587 barrels of oranges by 111 steamers. 
 Of the above, 52,191 barrels were from Kingston, Jamaica, and 
 comprised 18,446,650 oranges; from Havana, 8,866 barrels, com- 
 prising 2,953,763 oranges; from Port Maria, 6,065 barrels, com- 
 
TROPICAL PRODUCTIONS OF FLORIDA. 29 
 
 prising 2,120,950 oranges; from Jamaica, 5,029 barrels, com- 
 prising 1,760,150 oranges; from Saniana, 4,608 barrels, com- 
 prising 1,612,800 oranges; from Nassau, 1,924 barrels and 2 car- 
 goes, comprising 1,095,050 oranges; from Dominica, 1 cargo and 
 1,548 barrels, comprising 669,360 oranges; from Montego Bay, 
 860 barrels, comprising 300,624 oranges; from Savana La-Mar, 
 750 barrels, comprising 286,300 oranges; from Trinidad, 334 
 barrels, comprising 116,900 oranges; from Port Antonio, 728 
 barrels, comprising 263,800 oranges; from Black RiveiyMontan- 
 zas, St. Jago, Aricibo, Port au Prince, Para, Lucia, 694 barrels, 
 comprising 244,000 oranges; from Ponce, P. R., 1 cargo, com- 
 prising 273,900 oranges; from Ma} r aguez, 1 cargo, comprising 
 483,000 oranges; from Abaco, 1 cargo, comprising 200,000 
 oranges ; from Porto Bico, part cargo, comprising 150, 000 
 oranges ; from San Andreas, part cargo, comprising 72,000 
 oranges ; from Baracoa, part cargoes, comprising 75,590 
 oranges, making a grand total of 31, 160,587 oranges, of which 
 11,217,811 perished on the voyage, a loss of 36 per cent. On 
 comparison of the above with the imports of 1881, the result 
 shows a decrease of 35,910 barrels, and of 13,456,325 oranges ; 
 less than the imports of 1881, also a decrease of 4 sailing ves- 
 sels, and an increase of (approximately) 99 steamers engaged 
 in the trade. 
 
 FLORIDA. 
 
 A passing allusion here to the rapidly increasing production 
 of oranges in Florida may not be thought amiss. The hun- 
 dreds of thousands (it may be millions) of trees heretofore trans- 
 planted are annually arriving at a bearing state, and a large 
 crop of fine oranges the past season has amply rewarded the 
 labor bestowed upon their cultivation. Perseverance and more 
 experience will insure lasting results, so far as the permanence 
 of the fruit growing industry is concerned, and constantly in- 
 creasing returns to its promoters. The writer predicts that the 
 products of the orange groves of Florida in a single decade 
 will be sufficient to supply the whole United States with an 
 abundance of fine oranges. About 200,000 boxes and barrels 
 of oranges were shipped to this city this season from Florida 
 
30 TROPICAL. PRODUCTIONS OF FLORIDA. 
 
 and found a ready market, and about 300,000 boxes and bar- 
 rels of oranges were distributed through the West, South, and 
 Southwest from the same source. 
 
 The trade in West India oranges the past year proved both 
 unsatisfactory and unprofitable. 
 
 Amongst the principal inrporters in this city who are engaged 
 in the fruit trade with the Island of Jamaica, and the West In- 
 dies generally, are Messrs. Gomez & Pearsall, Mr. Joseph S. 
 Johnson, Messrs. George H. Richardson & Co., Messrs. G. 
 Wessels & Co., Mr. Aubrey G. Hutcheson, Mr. G. de Cordova, 
 Messrs. William Douglass & Son, Mr. R McD. Kirldand, Mr. 
 Joshua C. Cromwell, Mr. W. M. Hinton, Mr. J. F. Ferrier, Mr. 
 John Marsh and Messrs. C. H. Griffin & Co. 
 
 PINEAPPLES. 
 
 The importation 'of pineapples from the West Indies the 
 past year consisted of 30 cargoes by sailing vessels, and 15,033 
 barrels by 81 steamers. Of the above 12,692 barrels were from 
 Havana, and comprised 568, 610 pineapples; from Port Maria, 
 247 barrels, comprising 10,460 pineapples; from St. Jago, 41 
 barrels, and 22,596 pineapples in bulk, comprising in all 24,621; 
 from Kingston, 816 barrels, comprising 40,807 pineapples; from 
 Nassau, 2 cargoes and 897 barrels, comprising 229,748 pine- 
 apples; from Port Antonio, 163 barrels, comprising 8,150 pine- 
 apples and 9,804 in bulk; from Green Turtle Bay, 1 cargo, 
 comprising 31,212 pineapples; from Eleuthera, 5 cargoes, com- 
 prising 412,388 pineapples;, from Governor's Harbor, 4 cargoes, 
 comprising 212,616 pineapples; from Abaco, 8 cargoes, com- 
 prising 468,744 pineapples; from Cat Island, 10 cargoes, com- 
 prising 528,672 pineapples ; from Montego Bay, Trinidad, 
 Barbadoes, Corn Island (in bulk), and Curacoa, 189 barrels, 
 comprising 9,488 pineapples; making a grand total of 2,555,320 
 pineapples. 
 
 On comparison of the above with the imports of 1881, the 
 result shows a decrease of 3 cargoes by sailing vessels, an in- 
 crease of 11 steamers engaged in the trade, also, an increase of 
 1,062 barrels of pineapples, and 499,301 pineapples. The 
 average loss on the above was 20 per cent. 
 
TROPICAL PRODUCTIONS OF FLORIDA. 31 
 
 Amongst the principal importers engaged in the trade are 
 Mr. Joseph S. Johnson, Mr. Aubrey G. Hutcheson, aud Messrs. 
 Gomez & Pearsall. 
 
 Probably few persons in this city are aware of the fact that 
 nearly two millions of pineapples are annually canned or packed 
 at the canning factories of Mr. Joseph S. Johnson at Eleuthera 
 and Harbor Island, in the West Indies, about three-fourths of 
 which find a market in this city and the residue in Europe. 
 
 The annual production of pineapples in the State of Florida 
 is gradually on the increase. Four cargoes, aggregating about 
 a quarter of a million of fine pines, of superior quality, were re- 
 ceived in this city the last season. 
 
 BANANAS. 
 
 The importation of bananas (mostly from the West Indies) 
 the past year consisted of 146 cargoes by sailing vessels and 
 cargoes and parts of cargoes by 99 steamers. Of the above, 
 142 cargoes by sailing vessels and 7 hj steamers were from 
 Baracoa, and comprised 388,859 bunches; from Port Antonio, 
 286,912 bunches by 47 steamers and 4 sailing vessels; from Port 
 Maria, 115,796 bunches by 20 steamers; from Montego Bay, 
 42,952 bunches by 9 steamers; from Jamaica and Kingston, 
 Samana, Belize ( Hon. ), Curacoa and Corn Island, 25,017 bunches 
 by 6 steamers; from Colon, 39,140 bunches by 6 steamers: from 
 Port Limon,* 20,994 bunches by 4 steamers; making a grand 
 total of 919,670 bunches of bananas, showing an increase of 
 495,389 bunches and an importation more than double the 
 number imported in 1881. Of the above 147,227 bunches per- 
 ished on the voyage, a loss of 16 per cent. 
 
 Amongst the principal importers of bananas, in this city, 
 importing mostly from the West Indies, are Messrs. Gomez & 
 
 * Since the recent construction of the Costa Rica Railroad, seventy- 
 one miles long, extending from Port Limon to Rio Scucio, through a fertile 
 country abounding in banana plantations, and the recent renewed ap- 
 preciation by the natives of the importance of the cultivation of the banana, 
 and the present facilities for unloading the fruit directly from the cars 
 along the side of the steamers, largely increased importations of bananas 
 from Port Limon are confidently anticipated in the future. 
 • 
 
32 TROPICAL PRODUCTIONS OF FLORIDA. 
 
 Pearsall, Messrs. George H. Richardson & Co., Messrs. G. 
 Wessels & Co., Mr. Aubrey, G. Hutcheson, Messrs. Wm. 
 Douglass & Son and Mr. Edgar Tilton. 
 
 The reasonable anticipations of the importers of West India 
 bananas the past year were far from being realized. On the 
 contrary a large amount of loss was sustained by those in the 
 banana trade. 
 
 ASPINWALL BANANAS. 
 
 The importations of bananas from Aspinwall the past year 
 consisted of 68 cargoes per steamer, of which 60 cargoes were 
 imported by " The Frank Brothers Company," comprising 
 ■429,987 bunches bananas, and 8 cargoes by Messrs. George H. 
 Richardson & Co., comprising 66,835 bunches, making a total 
 of 496,822 bunches bananas, of which 84,459 bunches perished 
 on the voyage, an average loss of 17 per cent. There was an 
 increase of 7 cargoes, and of 35,861 bunches bananas over the 
 imports of the previous year. The importers engaged in the 
 Aspinwall trade are The Frank Brothers Co., Messrs. George 
 H. Richardson & Co., and Messrs. G. Wessels & Co. 
 
 COCOANUTS. 
 
 Cocoanuts were imported from the following named places 
 during the year in quantities as follows: From Baracoa, 6,079,- 
 634; San Andreas, 1,863,837; San Bias, 2,048,186; Ruatan, 
 596,691; Barcelona, 687,344; Aspinwall, 549,000; St. Jago, 
 520,400; Porto Bello, 460,000; Blewfields, 572,000; Trinidad, 
 198,258; Montego Bay, 205,700; Port Spain, 144,768; Kingston, 
 201,725; Boco del Torro, Port Limon, Porto Rico, Port Antonio, 
 La Guayra, Belize, Port au Prince, Greytown, Barbadoes, Corn 
 Island, Curacoa, United States Columbia, Columbo, Aricibo, 
 Maracaibo, Port Maria, Samana, Pernambuco, Guantanimo, Ja- 
 maica, Nassau, Progresso, Truxillo, and Cienfuegos, in quantities 
 aggregating 914,365 cocoanuts, making a grand total of 15,041,- 
 507 cocoanuts, which comprised the cargoes and parts of car- 
 goes of 217 sailing vessels and 72 steamers. Of the above, 
 1,203,320 perished on the voyage, a loss of 8 per cent. 
 
 On comparison of the above with the imports of 1881, 
 
TROPICAL, PRODUCTIONS OF FLORIDA. 33 
 
 the result shows an increase of 4,GG2,678 cocoanuts over those 
 of 1881. 
 
 The principal importers of cocoanuts from Central and 
 South America and Cuba are Messrs. George H. Richardson & 
 Co., Messrs. G. Wessel & Co., Messrs. "William Douglass & Son, 
 and Mr. Aubrey G. Hutcheson, and Messrs. Gomez & Pearsall, 
 from Baracoa. 
 
 MISCELLANEOUS. 
 
 The importations of limes comprised 1,987 barrels, on which 
 there was a loss of 35 per cent.; 25,600 grape fruit, loss 10 per 
 cent; 1,270 shaddocks, loss 10 per cent.; 74,150 mangoes, loss 
 50 per cent; 15,115 plantains, loss 15 per cent. 
 
 The value of green fruit entered for consumption at the 
 
 port of New York from January 1, 1882, to December 31, 1882, 
 
 is exhibited in the following table : 
 
 Amount 
 Varieties of Fruit. Pr. Ct. Value. f Duty. 
 
 Oranges and Lemons 20 $3,853,007 $770,601.40 
 
 Grapes 20 386.392 77,278.40 
 
 Pineapples 20 102,693 20,522.60 
 
 Bananas .,, 10 823,227 82,322.70 
 
 Limes:, Shaddocks, Mangoes, Grape Fruit, 
 
 Plantains, Sapodillas, Avocado Pears, 
 
 Guavas, and several other varieties of 
 
 fruit not specified, under the head of 
 
 Miscellaneous 10 11,993 1,199.35 
 
 Cocoanuts Free 353,502 
 
 Total value and duty $5,530,734 $951,924.35 
 
 A comparison of the value of green fruit imported into 
 New York in 1881 with that, in 1882, shows an increase in 
 value of $1,147,638, and of duty $189,518.36. 
 
 The countries and islands from whence the foregoing varie- 
 ties of fruit were imported are Mexico, Central America, Brit- 
 ish, French and Danish West Indies, Cuba, San Domingo, 
 Hayti, United States of Colombia, Venezuela, British Guiana, 
 Brazil, England, Scotland, France, Spain, Portugal, Italy and 
 Sicily. 
 
 J. H. Bostwick, 
 U. S. Inspector of Customs. 
 Burling Slip, New York, April, 1883. 
 
The following paper on the climate of the Gulf Coast of Florida 
 so exactly describes that of Palma Sola that it has been included in 
 this pamphlet with many thanks to the author: 
 
 A WINTER CLIMATE FOR INVALIDS— 
 
 THE GULF COAST OF FLORIDA. 
 
 By R. J. Levis, M. D. 
 
 From The Continent. 
 
 The season is at hand when those who, like the birds of sum- 
 mer, take annually their flight southward, will bethinking of run- 
 ning away from winter. There are many who seek genial airs and 
 sunlit waters for pleasure only, others to escape from the chilling 
 discomforts of winter ; and the great invalid corps, turning its back 
 on cold and death when the leaves fall, makes its pilgrimage to 
 sunny lands. 
 
 In the choice of a climate for invalids in general, there are cer- 
 tain health-giving factors which may be summed up as equability of 
 temperature, purity of atmosphere and comparative dryness. 
 
 I regard it as essential for most invalids that the temperature 
 shall be such that they may be able to remain for an indefinite time 
 out in the open air without discomfort, and to freely permit it to 
 enter their apartments at all hours of the day and night. 
 
 The general prevalence of bright, clear, sunny days, with the 
 rarity of cloudiness and a light rainfall, are essentials of a winter 
 health resort for lung diseases. The physiological, and specially 
 the stimulating and eutrophic effects of sunlight on the human 
 
THE GTJIjF COAST OF FLOKIDA. 35 
 
 system, are well recognized ; but, owing to the in-door habits of 
 invalids, are too little regarded. 
 
 The discomfort and depression produced by the prevalence of 
 violent winds are familiar to most conditions of invalidism, and 
 climates of continuous and moderate air-movements are found to 
 be the most desirable. 
 
 An atmosphere of varying electric conditions, with the conse- 
 quent production of ozone, purifying the air and keeping it free 
 from septic germs, is favorable. 
 
 A dry soil of sand or gravel, which quickly absorbs and filters 
 away the rainfall from its surface, and does not keep the air moist 
 by evaporation, is an essential of a winter health resort for pulmon- 
 ary affections. 
 
 The salubrious atmosphere from extensive pine forests, with 
 their ozone and antiseptic influences, should incline invalids to the 
 choice of such proximity. 
 
 Facility for sea-bathing, at a tolerable temperature throughout 
 the winter, gives occupation and pleasure, and is an important ad- 
 juvant in the treatment of some morbid conditions. 
 
 As incipient and developing pulmonary tuberculosis, and in 
 many other diseases prevalent among the dwellers in cities, it is 
 essential that there shall be a change of habits from a sedentary to 
 an out-door life, the region for a health resort should be one in 
 which there are abundant opportunities for amusement or for 
 agreeable and profitable work in the open air. In a region of 
 country where open-air amusements can be varied by riding, hunt- 
 ing and sailing, and where the scenery is an attractive blending of 
 vistas of forests and stretches of water, the conditions most favor- 
 able to an out-door life will be most happily presented. 
 
 The poorly- nourished victim of tuberculosis should not be 
 banished to a land where his diet may be impoverished by the lack 
 of fresh meat and vegetables. If he is where he can add to his fare 
 by the products of his recreations of hunting and fishing, then will 
 good digestion be most likely to wait on appetite. 
 
 Agreeable society is an essential of happiness and a preventive 
 of depression of spirits in that class of invalids who are obliged to 
 seek winter quarters away from home. Their associations should 
 not be in a crowded caravansary, where the halls echo with the 
 
36 THE GULF COAST OF FLORIDA. 
 
 sad sound of coughing, and the corridors seem sepulchral with the 
 hoarse voices of sufferers. Far better is it to find companionship 
 with the woodsman or the fisherman, and be entertained by their 
 woodcraft or simple lore of boats, bays and streams. 
 
 The ideal winter climate for invalids, embracing perfectly all 
 the essentials and suited to the fancy and caprice of sufferers, may 
 not be found, but it can be approximated in its most important re- 
 quisites. 
 
 It is evident that in Europe and in this country mild or warm 
 climates have of recent years grown most in favor as winter health 
 resorts. In our own land Florida has become the great winter 
 sanitarium for consumptive invalids, for the nervous and debili- 
 tated, and for valetudinarians of all degrees, with the prospect of in- 
 creasing in repute as the merits of some of its most advantageous 
 localities become more generally known. My personal observa- 
 tions of Florida have extended over the regions usually visited by 
 invalids and tourists, and over a domain of wilderness beyond the 
 ready access of travelers. The greater part of the territory of the 
 entire State still remains inaccessible to invalids, and the tide of 
 travel is mostly confined to the great water-course of the St. John's 
 River and vicinity ; but the increased developments of railroads 
 and of the coast and interior navigation are about to speedily 
 spread travel over a most attractive sanitary region. That there are 
 portions of Florida much more suited for winter homes than those 
 generally resorted to it is the object of this article to state. 
 
 Florida is a land of many waters. It has a coast line of about 
 twelve hundred miles. Its rivers, lakes, everglades and lagoons 
 are numberless. It is estimated that from a fourth to a third of the 
 entire State, varying with the season of the year, is covered by 
 water. To its extensive and peculiar water containings and sur- 
 roundings is due its unique and wonderfully mild and equable 
 climate. Florida is our nether land, which, as Sidney Lanier 
 wrote, by " its peninsular curve whimsically terminates our coun- 
 try in an interrogation point." It geographically and climatically 
 resembles Italy, but its air is more bland and healthful, and its soil 
 has even a greater range of productiveness. 
 
 No known land is exempt from the liability of its inhabitants 
 to pulmonary consumption, but in this country statistics of the last 
 
THE GULF COAST OF FLOKIDA. 37 
 
 two decades show that the disease progressively diminishes from 
 our extreme Northern States southward to Florida. The mortality 
 from consumption, as compared with all other causes of death in 
 Florida, is, by the census, but 58 to the 1,000 ; whilst in the State 
 of Maine it is 258 to the 1,000; Connecticut, 179; Pennsylvania, 
 142, and South Carolina, 90. 
 
 The low consumption mortality of Florida exists, notwith- 
 standing the number of Northern invalids who seek too late its 
 healthy air, only to end their days and add to the normally very 
 low death rate. The best authority on the subject, Dr. Kenworthy, 
 of Jacksonville, who has given much intelligent attention to 
 climate in the cure of consumption and to sanitary statistics in gen- 
 eral, believes that the mortality from consumption among the per- 
 manent residents of Florida actually does not exceed thirty deaths 
 to the thousand from all causes. 
 
 Of the extended seaboard of Florida the Gulf Coast stretches 
 over seven hundred miles. The climate of this coast has, in my 
 opinion, more of the essentials of a good winter resort for invalids 
 than any other of which 1 know. I make this statement after some 
 personal experience over a large extent of the coast, from much 
 conference with invalids who have happily tested its merits, and 
 from a comparison with the thermometric and hygrometric records 
 of many of the various popular health resorts of the world. The 
 west, or Gulf coast of Florida has a temperature more mild, 
 equable and dry than that of the corresponding Atlantic border. 
 As compared with that of the much-frequented region of the St. 
 John's River, in the winter season it is free from malarious in- 
 fluences, fogs are unknown, and the opportunities and inducements 
 for an out-door life are far greater. Sidney Lanier, the poet, whose 
 failing days were prolonged by a residence in Florida, says that 
 the air of the Gulf Coast is " milder and dryer than on the eastern 
 coast in midwinter ; and it is to be greatly hoped that increased 
 facilities for reaching these favorable regions will soon render them 
 practicable to those who now find the journey too trying." 
 
 For the agriculturist and the orange-grower, and for the gar- 
 dener who raises early vegetables for the Northern markets, this 
 coast offers a fertile soil and a climate freer from destructive frosts 
 tha*n any other part of the peninsula. To the capitalist and the 
 
38 THE GTJLF COAST OF FLORIDA. 
 
 investor for speedy increase in values of lands, it, with the rapid de- 
 velopment of railroads now stretching their competing lines to the 
 fertile hummock lands and numerous harbors of this coast region, 
 gives assurance of a flood tide of immigration — 
 
 " The first faint wash of waves where soon 
 Shall roll the human sea." 
 
 The Gulf Coast has great advantages in its many excellent 
 harbors, and is, in this respect, more favored than the Atlantic 
 border of the peninsula, which, south of the mouth of the St. John's 
 River, has not a single good harbor. The best harbors of the west 
 coast are at Cedar Keys, the Anclote River, Clear Water Harbor, 
 Tampa Bay, Manatee Bay, Palma Sola Bay, Sarasota Bay, Char- 
 lotte Harbor and San Carlos Harbor; but there are innumerable 
 inlets, with moderate depths of water, passing in between the thou- 
 sands of beautiful islands which border the entire coast line. These 
 islands, or keys, are lovely, fertile tracts, mostly in primitive wilder- 
 ness, capable of high cultivation, with a delightful climate, and 
 their only disadvantage is the liability to partial overflow from the 
 occasional hurricane tides of late summer or early autumn. Res- 
 idences on them can be safely located only on eminences above the 
 possible reach of the waters, which may rise six or eight feet above 
 the normal level. 
 
 The whole of the Gulf Coast, from Cedar Keys southward, is 
 attractive for health- and pleasure-seekers, but the southern limit is 
 sharply defined near the end of the peninsula by a region so in- 
 flicted with insect annoyances as to render human existence intoler- 
 able. How far south ward the coast may be in all respects desirable 
 for winter residences, my explorations have not determined ; but 
 from Homosassa down as far as the Ten Thousand Islands, a region 
 included between the twenty-sixth and twenty-eighth degrees of 
 latitude, the invalid will find a winter climate presenting the essen- 
 tials, as I have stated them, of equability of temperature, purity of 
 atmosphere and comparative dryness. 
 
 The mean temperature for the five cold months for a period of 
 five years, at the United States Signal Station at Punta Rassa, about 
 two hundred miles south of Cedar Keys and one hundred north 
 of Cape Sable, is shown in the following table: • 
 
THE GULF COAST OF FLORIDA. 
 
 39 
 
 
 2! 
 
 o 
 
 b 
 
 a 
 
 P 
 B 
 
 *1 
 
 P 
 
 
 
 B 
 
 B 
 
 P 
 
 s 
 
 (3* 
 
 O g 
 
 B 
 
 
 a 
 a 
 
 
 "<1 
 
 
 
 
 
 69.4 
 
 64.6 
 
 64.8 
 
 66.1 
 
 68.8 
 
 66.7 
 
 
 
 Another table shows the maximum and minimum temperatures 
 for the same months in the years 1878 and 1879. 
 
 Punta Rassa. 
 
 3 
 
 
 
 < 
 a 
 
 B 
 
 
 a 
 
 
 
 E 
 
 P 
 
 B 
 
 
 K 
 p 
 
 tf 
 
 a 
 p 
 
 
 
 c 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 a 
 
 >-s 
 
 
 : 
 
 
 
 
 83.7 
 46.7 
 
 76.2 
 42.3 
 
 79.3 
 46.7 
 
 79. 5 — 
 47.5 
 
 82.6 
 49.7 
 
 80.7 
 
 
 46.6 
 
 
 
 Here is shown a winter temparature which, with its well-known 
 equability, renders out-door life agreeable, and dwelling apartments 
 can always be kept open to the free admission of air. The winter 
 temperature is rarely so low as to require even the open wood-fire. 
 The skies, from sunrise over the tops of the pines and palms to the 
 dip of a red sunset into the warm waters of the Gulf, are almost 
 always bright and blue, checkered only by white flying clouds. 
 The balmy breezes blow mildly and almost without ceasing, except- 
 ing during an occasional lull of calm at the sunset hour, so that 
 the advantage to health of continuous and moderate air movements 
 prevails. 
 
 As to purity of atmosphere the situation and surroundings are 
 extremely favorable. The breezes blow from either the vast area of 
 waters of the Gulf or from over great forests of pine, palm and 
 cypress, with their ozonizing influences. It is due to these agencies 
 and to the remarkable dryness that an aseptic condition of the 
 atmosphere exists. I have seen venison, game birds and other 
 meats remain for many days, or even for weeks, hanging unprotected 
 in the open air, free from taint, and becoming merely hard and dry 
 without decomposition. 
 
 No claim for the sanitary merits of the Gulf Coast of Florida 
 will create so much surprise as that of the comparative dryness of 
 its atmosphere. The natural and popular inference that it has a 
 
40 
 
 THE GULF COAST OF FLORIDA. 
 
 moist climate must be from a consideration of its vast traverses and 
 surroundings of water, fresh and salt, and not from the trustworthy 
 reports of the Signal Service or from personal observation. I am 
 not able to give a reasonable explanation of the cause of the re- 
 markable dryness of the atmosphere amidst such a realm of waters; 
 but that the climate of this coast is comparatively dry and bracing 
 can be proved by the records of official observation and attested by 
 the permanent residents of the region. The following table, from 
 official data, of relative humidity of some winter resorts of Europe 
 and America shows particularly well for Punta Rassa, on the Gulf 
 Coast of Florida, during the five cold months : 
 
 
 oa 
 
 2 
 
 o 
 < 
 cd 
 
 B 
 o* 
 
 CD 
 
 b 
 
 CD 
 
 a 
 a> 
 
 B 
 c 
 
 CD 
 
 1 
 
 P 
 
 B 
 B 
 P 
 
 ■-S 
 
 3 
 
 g 
 
 g 
 p 
 
 H 
 o 
 
 
 
 3 
 5 
 5 
 5 
 5 
 5 
 5 
 
 per ct. 
 71.8 
 76.9 
 76.9 
 70.3 
 72.7 
 77.1 
 71.7 
 
 per ct. 
 74.2 
 79.1 
 83.2 
 73.5 
 73.2 
 78.7 
 69.3 
 
 per ct. 
 72.0 
 80.6 
 76.8 
 75 2 
 74.2 
 78.9 
 70.1 
 
 per ct. 
 70.7 
 77.3 
 81.8 
 70.7 
 73.7 
 77.2 
 68.5 
 
 per ct. 
 73.3 
 76.8 
 79.5 
 67.1 
 69.9 
 72.2 
 63.9 
 
 per ct. 
 72.4 
 
 Atlantic City, N. J 
 
 78.1 
 79.6 
 
 St. Paul, Miim 
 
 71.3 
 
 
 72.7 
 
 Key "West Fla 
 
 76.8 
 
 
 68.8 
 
 
 
 Data supplied by the United States Signal Service prove that 
 during the five cold months the relative humidity of Florida, as 
 taken at a number of widely separated stations of observation, is 
 less than that of what is popularly called the " dry winter climate of 
 Minnesota." 
 
 The very small rainfall at Punta Rassa during the five cold 
 months, given in inches and hundredths, from the statistics of the 
 Signal Service, is as follows : 
 
 
 2 
 
 b 
 
 =H 
 
 *! 
 
 a 
 
 g 
 
 
 o 
 
 CD 
 O 
 
 B 
 
 C 
 
 p 
 
 a <d 
 
 p p 
 
 
 
 CD 
 
 £ 
 
 
 
 
 
 B 
 
 B 
 
 p 
 
 p 
 
 p- 
 
 a 
 
 
 CD 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 ; 
 
 
 
 
 
 - en 
 
 
 1.62 
 
 1.08 
 
 2.31 
 
 1.79 
 
 .83 
 
 1.52 
 
 The mean of the maximum and minimum temperatures oi the 
 water of the ocean bottom, at Punta Rassa, for the five cold months 
 during five years, from 1878 to 1883, is here shown : 
 
THE GFLF COAST OP FLORIDA. 
 
 41 
 
 o 
 
 
 o 
 
 P 
 
 a 
 
 a- 
 
 
 a 
 
 
 a 
 
 I 
 
 
 P 
 
 E 
 
 c 
 
 9 
 
 B 
 
 cr 
 
 
 r 
 
 
 
 
 72.8 
 
 07. 2 
 
 63.6 
 
 68 1 
 
 73.0 
 
 Punta Rassa. 
 
 Such temperatures render sea bathing agreeable throughout 
 the winter and early spring months. 
 
 For an attractive out-door life in the winter for invalids I know 
 of no region equaling the Gulf Coast of Florida, with its great bays 
 and harbors for sailing, its wonderful fishing and excellent deer 
 hunting, and the great abundance of feathered game in the forests 
 and on the waters. There is perpetual inducement to spend time 
 in the open air. The sun does not parch, the winds do not chill, 
 and the atmosphere has that indefinable poetic quality called 
 "dreamy." I have felt comfortable in the bracing air when very 
 lightly dressed, and not oppressed when heavily clothed. Sea 
 bathing is agreeable on the shelly or white sandy beaches all 
 through the winter, and I have found the water warmer on the 
 western than on the eastern coast of the peninsula. 
 
 The reason that the Gulf Coast has not been more popularly 
 known as a sanitary resort is the want of convenient access and of 
 accommodations for sojourners, but a happy change is at hand. 
 Coasting steamers now run into all of the more important harbors, 
 as those of Anclote, Tampa, Palma Sola and San Carlos ; and rail- 
 roads are rapidly being constructed to reach the towns all along 
 the coast. The want of convenient residences for invalids is now 
 quite overcome, and comfortable accommodations can b.e had in 
 every village. The hospitality of the people renders the stay genial 
 and social, and it is a common remark, which I have happily 
 verified, that in Florida wherever you see a house you can find a 
 home, for every home seems open to welcome the stranger. 
 
 At a most attractive and salubrious location on the high pe- 
 ninsula between Manatee Bay and Sarasota Bay, on the shore of 
 Palma Sola Bay, a beautiful site for villas is being developed, and 
 a large hotel will be ready this winter for the accommodation of 
 health- or pleasure-seeking visitors. This locality can be readily 
 reached by the coasting steamers from Cedar Keys to Palma Sola, 
 
42 MANATEE COUNTY. 
 
 about one hundred miles, or by rail to Tampa via Sanford, thence 
 by daily steamer to Palma Sola. The land here is much elevated, 
 overlooking the Gulf of Mexico, through Palma Sola Bay and Long 
 Boat Inlet. The elevation of this region, which is the highest on 
 the coast, and its extensive water surroundings, render it most 
 favorable for a winter resort, and, indeed, for residence during the 
 entire year. A number of persons from the North are erecting cot- 
 tages on these shores, so that abundant accommodations will soon 
 be ready for winter visitors to this favorable locality. 
 
 To all who would escape from the severity and danger of our 
 Northern winters and seek a mild, equable and comparatively dry 
 climate, free from malarial influences, and where life in the open 
 air is always practicable and agreeable, I commend a journey to 
 the Gulf Coast of Florida. 
 
 MANATEE COUNTY. 
 
 In the preparation of this pamphlet, which is designed to give 
 the information most frequently asked for by correspondents, the 
 authors have culled liberally from the most reliable sources obtain- 
 able, giving due credit for articles which cost their authors much 
 more work than the simple use of the shears which placed them 
 here. The following article on Manatee County, from the pen of 
 Col. John G. Webb, one of the most practical, scientific and success- 
 ful farmers, will be found to contain many items of interest which 
 apply as well to Palma Sola, which is located on its western side, as 
 to any part of it. 
 
 Area, 4,680 square miles; 2,995,200 acres. Population in 
 i860, 834; in 1870, 1,931; in 1880, 3,544. Number of public 
 schools, 44; school lands unsold, 86,772 acres; scholars of school 
 age, 1,285; whites, 1,243; colored, 42; attendance, 571; number 
 of acres improved land, 1,993. Horses and mules, 855; cattle, 
 53> 2 73> sheep, 1,329; hogs, 8,892. Assessed value of property in 
 1881, $899,556. 
 
 Manatee county is mostly situated between the 27th and 28th 
 parallels of latitude, a little of it extending below the 27th, and it 
 cannot be successfully disputed that it embraces the most southern 
 
MANATEE COUNTY. 43 
 
 body of desirable land of much extent in Florida, for, except the 
 islands on the coast below it and a narrow strip on both banks of 
 the Caloosahatchie, only a few miles below, if not within our 
 boundary, and the Lake Worth region in Dade county— of no 
 great extent — I do not know of any very choice locations south 
 of it. 
 
 In considering the desirableness of any region as a residence, 
 there are many considerations that enter into a reasonable estimate. 
 In a general way they may be referred to under the following heads, 
 viz.: i st, Climate; 2d, Soil; 3d, Character of the Inhabitants; 4th, 
 Accessibility. 
 
 If a man is seeking for a cold climate he will look elsewhere than 
 in Florida, and if he is seeking a warm and almost frostless one he 
 will be likely to go as far south, even in Florida, as he can get, 
 provided always that the climate in other respects is inviting. He 
 will ask: " Is the climate healthful?" I answer that there is no 
 healthier region in Florida, and I doubt whether there is in the 
 United States. I resided in the county for several years before there 
 was more than one doctor in it, and I don't think that he got rich 
 very fast, though an excellent and scientific physician. There are 
 now in the county just four practicing physicians, and two of them 
 are engaged in mercantile business, and one of those two also 
 edits and publishes a newspaper. The truth is our people are not 
 often very sick, and many things which come under the cognizance 
 of a doctor in other States are got along without his assistance here, 
 and apparently just as well. 
 
 I think the most material feature of our county is the size ot 
 the families. Children do not seem to be born here to die, but to 
 live, and yet I do not think our people live well, or pay any atten- 
 tion to speak of to the laws of health. It is from such facts as these 
 that I draw my conclusions as to the comparative healthfulness of 
 our climate. 
 
 Another feature of a climate is the presence or absence of nox- 
 ious insects. Let us examine that question. Away from the coast 
 mosquito-bars are the exception, but I think that during a part of 
 every summer people would study their comfort if they provided 
 their beds with them. It is a curious fact that the presence of mos- 
 quitoes in large numbers depends upon excessive draughts. In a 
 
44 MANATEE COUNTY. 
 
 normal condition of things, when the ponds do not dry up, the fish, 
 of which the ponds are always full, destroy the wrigglers, and mos- 
 quitoes are only produced in such wet places as are destitute of 
 fish. But when the ponds, as they are sometimes, are completely 
 dried up, and are again filled by the rains, and before they get 
 stocked with fish, the wrigglers flourish, with no enemies to keep 
 them down, and generate mosquitoes in countless millions. But 
 the fish reappear from some unknown hiding places, and in a few 
 weeks restock the ponds with young fish and the mosquitoes dis- 
 appear. 
 
 On the coast, while they are never as numerous as they are 
 sometimes in the interior, they are more persistent, though scarcely 
 noticeable except in July, August and September. But the drain- 
 ing (and sometimes this is a simple affair) of the sand flats, where 
 the tide and rain make brackish water, makes a great difference 
 with them. Sand fleas are just as bad, and no worse than in light 
 sandy soils anywhere where dogs and hogs are allowed to run in 
 and under the house. House-flies need never be seen in any well- 
 regulated house, or, rather, house with properly-regulated surround- 
 ings. 
 
 We have the large rattlesnake, not exactly the same species 
 found North and West, and away from the coast the ground -rattle- 
 snake, and in about sloughs several varieties of the moccasin, and 
 we have a variety of harmless snakes, some of which make war 
 upon the venomous kinds. No white man here ever thinks of 
 destroying a harmless snake, or ever fails to kill a harmful one. 
 
 The next question of climate is temperature. I could give 
 yearly and monthly means, but I will not, but prefer to say gener- 
 ally that our short winter in Manatee county is much like the first 
 half of October, minus the rains of that season, in Central New 
 York and New England. It is now more than four years 
 since I observed any frost at my place on Sarasota Bay, or the 
 thermometer below 38, -and I think that has been the case only 
 on one morning. It has been forty several times during four years 
 and somewhere about forty-five three or four times during each 
 winter. The early part of the year is usually dry and almost con- 
 tinuously pleasant, and just right as to temperature. About the 
 first of July the weather begins to be showery and becomes hot. 
 
MANATEE COUNTY. 45 
 
 The thermometer rarely rises above ninety, but then it rarely falls 
 below eighty, and until about the first of October this condition of 
 things continues. But even during our summer months, to a man 
 who can afford to desist from labor, the climate is quite as agree- 
 able as the summer of the North. As to the question whether a 
 white man can labor out of doors in a South Florida summer, I can 
 only answer that I have labored consecutively and severely for the 
 last fourteen summers at almost every kind of out-door work. And 
 farm labor is not less essential here in the summer than elsewhere. 
 There are only about one hundred blacks in Manatee county, and 
 it would be absurd to suppose that they do all the summer work 
 for the county. But the value of the climate consists in this: That 
 crops may be produced the whole year round. 
 
 Now let us look at the question of soil. We have some rich 
 lands in our county — as fertile as can be found anywhere. One 
 tract on the Manatee River comprises not less than 6,000 acres, and 
 there is a large body equally fertile on the opposite or south side of 
 the river. Smaller hummocks and rich bay-heads are scattered 
 over the county everywhere. The keys or islands lining the shores 
 often have good land, and always a climate free from frost. But if 
 Manatee county consisted of rich alluvial soil like the rich valleys 
 of the North, it would be so unhealthy that all its fertility would be 
 useless. But most of the soil is naturally poor, through flat dry 
 and flat wet to shallow ponds, deep ponds and sloughs, hundreds 
 of thousands of acres prairies and some river bottoms. The high, 
 rolling pine woods make the best orange land, but the flatwoods 
 make the best farms, for while we suffer from two extremes, wet 
 and dry, we suffer most from the extreme of too dry, and it is then 
 that the flatwoods show their superiority. The prairie lands appear 
 fertile, but they have not yet been tried. I believe they are some 
 of our very best lands. 
 
 Suppose a stranger comes in from the North or West and buys 
 a tract of pine woods or prairie. He must first decide upon his 
 house. A palmetto-leaf hut is the cheapest and every way the 
 meanest. Then comes the log house, which is cheap if not alto- 
 gether comfortable. On the coast the concrete house may be built 
 by the most unskilled labor, and, when completed, is a wholly com- 
 fortable and not expensive house. Lumber is worth about $16 per 
 
46 MANATEE COUNTY. 
 
 thousand feet at the saw-mills. His chimney, and every house 
 needs one for comfort in winter, is made, away from the coast, of 
 sticks plastered with clay; on the coast, of rock laid in mortar. His 
 cheapest fence will be plain No. i x galvanized wire; two strands 
 will keep out cattle. Posts should be ten feet apart, of lightwood, 
 and will not cost much. A ditch should be dug around the fence 
 and the earth thrown under the wires, and then a log laid along 
 the ridge. This completes the fence and makes a hog and cattle- 
 proof fence. The ditch keeps off fire, and with a suitable outlet 
 keeps off water from adjacent overflowing lands. Why not use rails ? 
 Because near the coast the pines will not split, and the pines of the 
 interior will not last as rails more than five years. The fence I have 
 described can be built at a cost not to exceed fifty cents a rod. Then 
 comes clearing. To clear away the palmetto will not cost over $10 
 per acre; much land can be cleared for half that. The trees are 
 simply deadened, and the land in August planted to sweet potatoes 
 and partly in cow-peas. These last are to be turned under before 
 they die in November or December, and in February planted to 
 sweet potatoes. This is the great renovating crop. All weeds and 
 grasses are " listed in " with the hoe and plow into the ridges, and 
 sweet potatoes planted anywhere from August till November, and 
 dug when the proprietor sees fit. He digs them only when they 
 are wanted. 
 
 The settler should lose no time in providing himself with pigs, 
 and even if he has to buy corn to feed them they will pay in the 
 manure they will manufacture. There are other sources of garden 
 manure that will suggest themselves to the economical and tidy 
 housekeeper, that, for the sake of health and exemption from house- 
 flies, should not be neglected. There are times when fastidiousness 
 "o'releaps itself." There is also a manure manufactured from the 
 wastes of the fisheries that is valuable. 
 
 But the great source of manure in Florida is now and always 
 will be muck from the sea coast or ponds. There are various ways 
 of preparing it. My method is by heat. Make a pile of lightwood 
 and cover it with muck, except a breathing hole in the top. Heat 
 it like a coal-pit or tar-kiln. When the wood is burned up^ the muck 
 will be converted into manure. 
 
 But with all this labor of manure-making can he also make 
 
MANATEE COUNTY. 47 
 
 money ? By gardening, if near transportation, yes. Manatee county 
 is beginning to show her ability to furnish the North with early veg- 
 etables. The business has hardly begun. So far the North has re- 
 fused to buy our sweet-potatoes, which are so much superior to 
 those they are accustomed to, and at the same time so different 
 that they need to learn to eat them under a new name per- 
 haps. A little well-directed effort will remove this prejudice, and 
 if once removed a new and immense source of revenue will be 
 opened up to us. 
 
 It will be noticed that I have said nothing of the orange or its 
 kindred. I have done so because I have been addressing plain 
 people. Only a capitalist can afford to create an orange or lime 
 grove. The plain farmer will gradually produce one. It will be to 
 him a branch of his farming instead of his sole employment, and 
 considered in this light it will pay. Nor have I alluded to the ba- 
 nana. The stranger can have but slight conception of the luxuri- 
 ance of growth and magnitude of yield of this plant. The most 
 profitable kind, the African, is best cultivated in rich ponds, bedded 
 up high and drained. As the herbaceous tree produces a bunch and 
 the bunch ripens, the tree dies ; but many shoots spring up to take 
 its place. These, except one, can be transplanted, and before a 
 year they will bear. I have seen four hundred bananas on a single 
 shoot at one time, and the shoots need not be over ten feet apart. 
 The market for these bananas is constantly increasing, but if the 
 settler never sold one he would be the gainer for it. 
 
YACHTING ON THE GULF. 
 
 DOWN THE COAST IN THE SCHOONER MALLORY. 
 
 AN ARTIC NIGHT AT CEDAR KEYS SAILING INTO SUMMER WEATHER 
 
 THE FIRST GAME PALMA SOLA. 
 
 " Oh, wad sum power the giftie gie us, 
 To see oursels as others see us." 
 
 Burns. 
 
 The following letters, cut from the New York Sunday 
 Time*, of April and May, '84, give so pleasant a picture of 
 Paltna Sola and its surroundings, as seen by their special cor- 
 respondent, W. Dry sd ale, that they are given entire. This 
 gentleman was so happily impressed with the location that he 
 selected a home where a horde of newspaper men will enjoy 
 with him the pleasures of winter life on Manatee Bay. When 
 a New York newspaper man fails to find the best thing in life, 
 and get them, too, it's of little use for others to seek them. 
 His experiences — hunting, fishing, and boating — make a part 
 of the every -day life of the resident here, boats being oftener 
 used for travel and transportation than teams. 
 
 The fact that Florida, and especially this part of it, is 
 attracting attention that is as world-wide as the circulation of 
 the Sunday Times, is evident from the fact that hundreds of 
 letters were received from all quarters of the States, Canada, and 
 England, referring to the Times correspondence from Palma 
 Sola, and asking for further information. To the Times, and 
 especially "W. D.," Palma Sola is indebted for more than 
 "honorable mention," full appreciation of which will be made 
 evident upon his return. 
 
" AS OTHERS SEE US. " 49 
 
 Palma Sola, Fla., Feb. 13. — In wandering aimlessly about 
 the streets of Cedar Keys in search of my friends with the yacht, 
 and afterwards in despair haunting- the piers with the idle hope 
 that I might find their vessel without even knowing her name, 
 I came across a trim little schooner yacht, so much neater and 
 shapelier than an}' of the others, so much cleaner and brighter 
 in her paint, so much more taut and ship-shape in her rigging, 
 she looked as if she might belong to a party of New York pleas- 
 ure seekers. And so indeed she did. She was the yacht Mallory, 
 preparing for a fortnight's cruise down the Gulf coast to that 
 paradise of the fisherman and the sportsman — Charlotte Harbor. 
 Anything more pleasant than such an excursion as this it would 
 be difficult to imagine — making a dash out of New York in the 
 worst of the cold season, coming rapidly southward by rail and 
 finding at Cedar Keys this fine schooner yacht equipped and 
 provisioned in a way that would have answered for a transat- 
 lantic voyage. And three gentlemen, Mr. Henry Gaullieur, Mr. 
 Barnet Phillips, and Mr. Turcas, had settled upon the most 
 enjoyable thing in the world for a winter trip, and were ready 
 to get into the region of perpetual summer without delay. 
 
 Three o'clock having been fixed upon for the sailing hour, 
 we all went up to the Suwanee House to dinner. And when the 
 viands came in, served upon something like a score of dishes for 
 each person, we gave ourselves up for lost. One member of the 
 party, who has had unlimited experience with hotel dinners, 
 said he had always found that the more dishes that were served 
 the poorer was the dinner. When there were only two or three 
 dishes they were likely to be good and well cooked, but when 
 there were a dozen they were pretty sure to be bad. This dinner 
 in the Suwanee was no exception to the rule. There were 
 plenty of dishes, such as they were, and they were very good 
 what there was of them. But even a New York dinner at that 
 moment would hardly have tempted us, for we were full of the 
 vexation of having a truck-load of trunks and satchels taken to 
 the yacht, and of collecting the thousand and one things that 
 can only be gathered together at the last moment, The obliging 
 landlord promised us that the porter should have a truck in 
 front of the hotel for our trunks in half an hour ; it could not 
 
50 " AS OTHEKS SEE TJS." 
 
 possibly be there sooner, but it should not be a minute later. 
 So we started out for the stores again to see what else we could 
 find that might possibly be useful in such a voyage. When the 
 time was about half expired we returned to the hotel to see after 
 our baggage, and were told by the landlord, with a show of 
 pride at his punctuality, that our trunks were gone. 
 
 "Gone!" exclaimed one member of the party, aghast. 
 " Impossible ! Why, my trunk was not packed." 
 
 " I can't help that, " said the landlord, ' ' the trunks are gone. 
 They went about ten minutes ago." 
 
 The unpacked member hurried up stairs to see what had 
 happened to his baggage, and found indisputable evidence that 
 the porter, in his zeal to be on time, had packed his trunk for 
 him and hustled it off to the yacht. He had not thought it 
 worth while to put in the few stray hair-brushes, whisp brooms, 
 and other toilet articles that were scattered about the room, but 
 all the larger articles were gone. Mr. G.aullieur gathered up the 
 fragments, which in this instance did not make 12 basketsful, 
 but only one little bundle, done up in a newspaper, and we 
 started for the yacht, the landlord declaring as we went out that 
 the porter never had done such a thing as pack a guest's trunk 
 before, and that he would see that he would never do it again. 
 This was a noble resolve on the landlord's part, and I trust he 
 will carry it out. 
 
 When we reached the yacht, at precisely 3 o'clock, we found 
 the shipping agent, the captain, the crew, the cook, two or three 
 porters, and a little army of hangers-on about the wharf, all 
 making frantic efforts to get the last of the provisions and 
 other necessaries on board. That is, each one Was trying vainly 
 to get somebody else to do something, and nobody was doing 
 anything worth talking about except the shipping agent, who 
 was a New-England er, and had more energy than a dozen of 
 the natives. Two or three little things "were still lacking, and 
 we could not well start without them — the water, for instance. 
 Now, water was the last thing that any one in our party would 
 have waited for, but the cook declared he could not get along 
 without it, and we had to take some aboard. Then there was a 
 sailor missing and the agent said he was too good a man to lose> 
 
"AS others see us." 51 
 
 and we had to wait for him. One stray article after another 
 kept arriving till nearly dark, the water was taken aboard 
 another sailor was found, and we were all ready to be off. But 
 just at this happy moment the wind died out and the captain said 
 there was no possible chance of our getting out of the harbor 
 before morning. Considering what an undertaking it was to 
 get everything together, the commander of the expedition de- 
 cided to run no more risks, but to keep the party aboard the yacht 
 all night and make an early start in the morning. So with the bow 
 and stern securely tied up to the wharf we had a chance in the 
 early hours of the evening to look into the mysteries of the lockers 
 and closets and fo'castles and cubbies that were scattered all 
 about us. And what an outfit for a pleasure trip we gazed upon •' 
 What cans of meat, what baskets of bread, what stores of every- 
 thing good to eat ; what company files and regiments of bottles, 
 containing, no doubt, Apollinaris and soda; what boxes of cigars; 
 what pillows stuffed with choice brands of smoking tobacco; 
 what varieties of pipes; what countless little devices for making 
 a fortnight's cruise pleasant ! It reminds me of Robinson Crusoe 
 after he had made a successful trip to his wonderful wreck, and 
 returned to the island loaded down with everything the heart 
 could desire. I doubt whether a vessel ever went out of port 
 for so short a cruise so wonderfully provisioned. There was only 
 one thing lacking, in my opinion, as we lay in harbor at Cedar 
 Keys that night. This was a gale of wind that would drive us a 
 few thousand miles away, down to the west coast of Peru, for 
 instance, or into the mouth of the Amazon, and wreck us on any 
 distant but friendly coast, that we might gather together the 
 remains, and live for months upon them without thought of 
 coming back to civilization. But no gale came, nor any wind 
 at all, and we lay quietly by the wharf all night. 
 
 As we were in mild and sunny Florida, of course we ex- 
 pected reasonably comfortable weather. But for that first night 
 of our journey we were mistaken. The wind had been chilly 
 enough in the afternoon, but as soon as the sun went down it 
 was absolutely cold. Although we all had heavy clothes and 
 plenty of blankets, we suffered more from the cold that night 
 aboard the yacht than we would have in New York in a room 
 
52 " AS OTHERS SEE US." 
 
 without a fire. There was no way to keep the cold wind out 
 and blankets seemed to have no effect upon it. A glass of water 
 stood upon the cabin table, and when I got up in the middle of 
 the night, preferring to sit up and shiver rather than lie still 
 and freeze, I found myself watching this glass of water to see 
 whether it would not take on a coating of ice. Of course, it 
 was not cold enough to freeze, but it was a miserable kind of 
 cold that went through all the clothing you could put on, and 
 made everybody and everything uncomfortable. Although no 
 one in the party acknowledged to having passed a night of 
 misery, yet I noticed that within five minutes after we heard the 
 cook starting a fire in his gallery we were all upon deck bug- 
 ging his little cooking pen in the most abject manner. He used 
 cedar chips for fuel, and the smoke of a thousand lead pencils 
 came out of the galley pipe and nearly suffocated us. But we 
 were all so nearly frozen that no amount of smoke could have 
 driven us away from the fire. 
 
 We were a jolly pleasure party, hugging the galley fire 
 before daylight, choked with the aromatic cedar-wood smoke, 
 and all chilled to the marrow. Soon after daylight the sun 
 gave some signs of coming up, and we watched for it with the 
 greatest anxiety. I don't remember ever looking for the sun's 
 coming up with any great concern before, but this morning we 
 all looked upon him as our best friend, and when, after just 
 showing his head, he disappeai-ed temporarily in a bank of 
 mist, our spirits fell almost as low as the thermometer was. 
 Pretty soon, however, he began to give us a little heat, and our 
 arctic night on the Gulf coast was over. There was a fine breeze 
 blowing, and we made good time out among the Cedar Keys, 
 out past the lead-pencil works, out of the harbor entirely, out 
 into the Gulf. Then we had a free course and a fair wind for our 
 sail of 200 miles down the coast. It was still too chilly to come 
 out on deck without heavy overcoats, and we kept in the shelter 
 of the cabin as much as possible. We were too far out from the 
 coast to see much of it, but near enough to feel easy over its pres- 
 ence. All morning going down the coast we occupied ourselves 
 chiefly with trying to keep warm, and with wondering how it 
 happened that Cedar Keys was so much colder than New-York. 
 
"AS OTHERS SEE US." 53 
 
 All four of us had traveled a good many hundreds of miles in 
 search of warm weather, and so far we had made a disastrous 
 failure of it. But about 1 o'clock on our first afternoon out we 
 found it. It came so suddenly it almost seemed as if there 
 were a sharp line drawn from east to west, with cold weather to 
 the north of it and warm weather to the south of it. We were 
 all up on deck shortly after dinner lying in sheltered sunny 
 places smoking our pipes, when somebody discovered it was 
 warm enough to go without our overcoats. Within five minutes 
 all the overcoats were shed and fired in a wintry heap down on 
 the cabin floor. In the next half hour another layer of coats 
 had to follow. We had reached summer land at last after 
 many tribulations. Suddenly the shelter we wanted was from 
 the sun instead of from the wind. We stretched out on the 
 cabin roof, leaned against the masts, or lounged any where about 
 the decks without fear of being frost-bitten. The party were 
 well supplied with guns, and as the air was full of gulls, 
 pelicans, and blue heron, we had an occasional shot without 
 any great results. That night we passed in comfort, and early 
 in the morning one of the sailors called us up to see how neatly 
 we had been provided with a breakfast. Our yawl was towed 
 astern with a long line, and in the night a large Spanish mack- 
 erel had jumped into it and was waiting for the frying-pan. He 
 was plump and of course fresh, and made us a delicious break- 
 fast. Before noon we reached Clearwater Harbor, where the 
 captain of the yacht lived, and he was anxious to go ashore and 
 see his family. So we came to an anchor, and two of the party 
 went ashore with their rifles in search of game. They came 
 back later, bringing a blue heron, a duck, and a sensational 
 report of a number of wildcat tracks along the shore. This 
 heron and the duck were the first blood, and they made the 
 party long for gore; so the greater part of the afternoon was 
 spent in the cabin operating a lot of little machines that pre- 
 pared the cartridge shells for business. If our yacht had been 
 captured she might easily have been taken for a privateer 
 schooner fitted out by the dynamiters to assist Ireland. There 
 were enough cartridges aboard to kill every deer in the State 
 of Florida, and powder and shot and bullets enough to supply 
 
54 "as othebs see us." 
 
 an army. We worked faithfully all afternoon with the myste- 
 rious little machines, some of which were for ramming the pow- 
 der and shot into the cartridge shells, and others for trimming 
 down and rounding off the ends. When this little job was 
 finished we had something like five or six bushels of loaded 
 cartridges. About 3 o'clock in the afternoon we reached the 
 mouth of Tampa Bay and went inside past the Egmont Light- 
 house. This left us a run of about 15 miles across Tampa Bay 
 to Palma Sola, the first stopping place for the party, and the 
 end of my journey in the yacht. As I had to spend a night there 
 I was interested to know what sort of a place Palma Sola was, 
 and made some inquiries among the crew. 
 
 "Well," said one of the sailors, "I can hard]}' tell you just 
 how large it is. It is smaller than New York, but bigger than 
 no place at all. There are about a dozen houses there, one of 
 which is a good little hotel, one an ice-house, and one Warner's 
 store. The hotel is not very large, but it is one of the best ones 
 on this side of Florida, and you will like it." 
 
 Presently, having crossed Tampa Bay, we found ourselves 
 at the mouth of a broad river. On the right along sandy point 
 extended into the bay. Almost on the point was a little settle- 
 ment of palmetto houses, which, the sailors told us, were used 
 by fishermen. On the left was a long island, and near the 
 middle of this island, in the front yard of an unoccupied house, 
 was a very large and beautiful date palm tree. 
 
 "The name of this place, you know," said one of the 
 sailors, "is Palma Sola, and that is the Spanish for solitary 
 palm. There is the solitary palm on that island." Things were 
 beginning to look a little tropical; the weather was delightfully 
 warm; the shores were shaded with palmetto trees; there was a 
 big palm tree in sight, and the name of the river reminded us 
 forcibly of the sea monster after which it is named. The water 
 was clearer than any we had theretofore seen. The bottom 
 was a pure white sand, and the whole scene was one of sum- 
 mer. As we rounded the point Palma Sola came in sight. 
 First, there was a large brown building, which we took to be 
 the hotel, but which the sailors said was the ice-house; then the 
 hotel showed up, and the church and a lot of residences, and 
 
"as others see tjs. " 55 
 
 the great Warner's store, about which we had heard so much 
 from the sailors, for it was said to contain a little of everything 
 under the sun. We found as we drew nearer a large wharf in 
 front of the store, but a steamship lay there, and we were 
 compelled to anchor out in the harbor close to the wreck of an 
 old vessel and directly in front of the hotel. The little hotel 
 looked so clean and inviting that as I had to spend 24 hours 
 there waiting for a steamer for Key West, I took courage to 
 invite my yachting friends to come ashore and eat supper with 
 me, which they did. Of our long walk before dark around 
 curious and interesting Palma Sola, of our breaking big clusters 
 of oysters off the roots of mangrove trees and eating them, of 
 the great supper of fried clams and stewed oysters and fresh 
 fish and fresh vegetables prepared for us in the hotel, and of 
 the comfortable room with the snow-white bed where I was to 
 stay one night, but did in fact stay a fortnight, I shall have 
 something to say nest week. W. D. 
 
UNDER THE SOLITARY PALM. 
 
 A NEARER VIEW OF A UNIQUE FLORIDA TOWN. 
 
 PALMA SOLA ON A SUNDAY AFTERNOON BOBINSON CRUSOE HOUSES 
 
 THE ALLIGATOR BA\'OU AND THE OYSTER TREES. 
 
 Palma Sola, Fla., Feb. 20. — The wreck of an old steamer 
 her ribs and part of her boiler exposed, lies about 200 yards 
 from shore directly in front of the Palma Sola Hotel. When 
 they told me here it was " talked of " blowing the hulk to pieces 
 because of its unsightliness, I remembered a Coney Island 
 landlord saying to me once that he would give $1,000 to have a 
 wrecked vessel on the beach in front of his hotel for an attrac- 
 tion. A wreck always adds to the beauty of a marine view, and 
 this one makes a romantic foreground for a handsome tropical 
 landscape. Our yacht, the Mallory, came to anchor between 
 the wreck and the wharf in front of the hotel, and in a few 
 minutes we were all ashore. Mr. Scott, the landlord, immedi- 
 ately took possession of my big trunk and started it on its jour- 
 ney to the hotel on a wheelbarrow. As the trunk was about four 
 sizes larger than the barrow, and as the path along the wharf was 
 exceedingly narrow, I watched with great interest to see the 
 trunk and the barrow and perhaps the landlord go overboard, 
 but there was no such catastrophe. It was Sunday afternoon, 
 and all Palma Sola was out in its best clothes. The entire 
 population, numbering, when nobody is away on a visit, as many 
 as 50 or 60 people, were on the wharf to watch the steamer, the 
 yacht, or any other exciting thing they could find. Going into 
 
"AS others SEE US. ■'< 
 
 the hotel and examining the register, the first name we came 
 across was a familiar one — "George W. Curtis, New York." 
 We jumped at the conclusion, of course, that we had come upon 
 the editor of Harper's Weekly here in the wilds of Florida, but 
 it was another Curtis. There was too much outside that was 
 new and pretty for us to stay in doors before dark. The land- 
 lord assigned me to a corner room on the ground floor, with 
 windows overlooking the Manatee Kiver, Tampa Bay, and the 
 Egmont Lighthouse. After two rough nights in sleeping cars, 
 followed by two nights of tossing on the Gulf, the neat little 
 chamber with its snowy bed and furniture of white ash impressed 
 me as such a fairy-bower that I had to call the yachtsmen in to 
 look at it, and then we started out to see the sights. In landing 
 we had noticed a curious place to the left, or westward, and in 
 that direction we walked. The Palma Sola wharf is on a point 
 jutting to the eastward, and immediately above it the river 
 widens out into a little bay, whose shore sweeps around with a 
 graceful curve, showing a beach of pure white sand. A few 
 hundred yards from the hotel the bay spreads itself oixt into the 
 back country, through a narrow opening half concealed with 
 mangrove trees, and makes a long, narrow bayou, where vege- 
 tation is heavy, where fish are plenty, and where alligators on 
 warm afternoons come out and sit on the banks and discuss the 
 tariff question. Along the low sandy shore, between the hotel 
 and the mouth of the bayou, we found a regular Robinson 
 Crusoe settlement, and we went and reveled in it like a lot of 
 school-boys. But I need not apologize for this, for old Robinson 
 is still an intimate friend of mine, and we often spend a rainy 
 evening together. With his exciting adventures, his quaint 
 sayings, and the charm of his old-fashioned style, I find him 
 altogether a better companion under the evening lamp than the 
 artistic modern novel. This is not peculiar to me, but is the 
 case with most men, if they would be honest enough to own it. 
 The three yachtsmen were at once taken with the curious place, 
 and I know it was because it reminded them of Robinson 
 Crusoe's settlement, though they did not say so. There were 
 five or six tiny little houses, built to suit the climate, the walls 
 male of boards, or palmetto leaves, or anything that came 
 
58 "as otheks see us." 
 
 handy, with occasionally one wall omitted entirely, where there 
 
 did not seem to be any particular use for it ; with sometimes 
 
 an old sail laid over the roof to keep out the rain, with a little 
 
 fire, often built in the back yard, and the lady of the manor 
 
 cooking the family supper there. Little houses, some of them 
 
 not more than 12 feet square; cosy houses, all built under the 
 
 shade of palm trees of the palmetto variety of trees of some 
 
 other sort. All the doors and windows open (there is no glass 
 
 in the windows); children playing in and about them; older 
 
 people of both sexes sitting about the doors smoking their pipes; 
 
 a quiet, peaceful little settlement, that in the warm sunset glow 
 
 looks to us frost-nipped Northerners like Adam's family in Eden, 
 
 but in reduced circumstances. On one side of the road this 
 
 little cluster of houses, on the other side the river, with its white 
 
 sandy beach, and on the sand lying all sorts of little boats, right 
 
 side up and wrong side up, mantled and dismantled, some with 
 
 sails and some without ; some propped up on one side, as if 
 
 they had a colic; some high and dry on shore; some full of fish, 
 
 some of oysters, and, scattered about everywhere, nets and seines 
 
 and all the paraphernalia of the fisherman. For in these little 
 
 houses live the fishermen of Palma Sola, and the oysterman, and 
 
 their neighbors, the shoemaker, the boat-builder, and the painter. 
 
 A few steps beyond the small houses, which are embowered in 
 
 green leaves, the road led to a long and narrow wooden bridge. 
 
 Near the eastern end of the bridge, before we came to it, we 
 
 found the shore covered with mangrove bushes, and as it was 
 
 low tide and the roots of the bushes were covered with small 
 
 oysters we stopped to wonder at them and to eat some of the 
 
 oysters. They are called mangrove oysters, and are very small, 
 
 but very sweet. We found some stones and knocked off a few 
 
 cubic feet of the oysters, and opened them with our knives. 
 
 The larger ones of them tasted very much like our Shrewsbury, 
 
 only sweeter. They grow on the roots and lower branches of 
 
 the mangrove trees in clusters, and you have only to break off 
 
 a piece of the root to secure a cluster of half a bushel or more. 
 
 After leaving the oyster trees we went on a few steps further 
 
 and stopped to admire the scenery. The long wooden bridge 
 
 I have mentioned spanned one arm of the bayou. On the left, 
 
" AS OTHERS SEE US." 59 
 
 across the mouth of the bayou, was a narrow wooden footbridge, 
 several hundred feet long, giving access to a number of fine 
 houses that line the river-bank. A short distance further up 
 another narrow wooden footbridge spanned the bayou. As we 
 walked out on one of these little bridges we saw thousands of 
 fish in the water, great and small, but, as it was Sunday, 
 of course we could not undertake to catch any of them. It 
 was too late in the day for alligators, but we saw a number of 
 places on the banks where they had mashed down the tall grass 
 and bushes. The bottom of the lagoon was covered with dark 
 colored weed, which made the water look black as ink, and if 
 alligators know a good place when they see it hundreds of them 
 go in there to rest. The vegetation was very dense, everything 
 green, and palmetto palms were abundant. It was a sight we 
 could have enjoyed for hours if it had not been so near supper 
 time. But we were growing hungry and started back for the 
 hotel, our hearts full of the glories of nature and our shoes full 
 of Florida sand. If we were interested by what we saw we 
 furnished an equal amount of amusement to the natives and 
 their children, who were struck "all of a heap" by the hunting 
 and sailoring costumes worn by our yachtsmen. And indeed I 
 could not wonder at their astonishment, for when a New 
 Yorker gets himself up for a hunting expedition game and natives 
 alike have to quail before him. 
 
 When we reached the hotel again supper was not quite 
 ready, and we occupied some of the chairs on the front piazza* 
 watching the sun gild the water for miles up the Manatee River 
 and enjoying the delicious warm air. The table in the public- 
 room was covered with newspapers, and we looked for news 
 from home. I picked up an illustrated paper several weeks old 
 and found two lines under the heading of " Deaths of the 
 Week," that carried me far away from Florida, back to old 
 New York. 
 
 " Dr. John B. Wood, ex-President of the New York Press 
 Club." 
 
 The warm midwinter sun, just sinking to rest in the waves 
 of Tampa Bay, lost all its brilliancy. The drooping palmetto 
 trees, their green foliage suddenly turned black, changed into 
 
60 "as others see its.'' 
 
 weeping willows. The bright-plumed birds, instead of joyful 
 songs, chirped bits of funeral dirges. What floats from yonder 
 staff' — a flag? No, a strip of crape. What rides there by the 
 wharf — a boat ? No, a coffin. And this elevated spot of ground 
 by the walk is not a flower-bed but a grave. Two lines of finest 
 print thus change the landscape. Two lines take me from this 
 Eden-spot of Florida back, quickly back, to frozen New York. 
 I see my friend of many years ago carried mournfully to the 
 tomb. I see those mild and loving eyes, in life the cause of so 
 much joy and so much suffering, forever closed in death. I see 
 our mutual friends mourning by the open grave. I see one of 
 the kindest, the gentlest, the noblest of all God's noble creatures 
 hidden from sight, and covered with clay. I feel the stricken 
 widow's heart sink, as the clods fall upon the coffin. My own 
 heart sinks as if in sympathy. I am back in my old chair in a 
 New York newspaper office, hearing words of encouragement 
 and cheer from those gentle lips. Those loving hands I see 
 once more dealing out alms to the homeless and friendless. 
 That tender heart throbs once more, as I have often known it 
 to, at some tale of want and distress. That silent tongue once 
 more is giving new life and new heart to some almost disheart- 
 ened worker. The jovial smile plays once more upon the lips. 
 Once more the half-blind eyes twinkle with love and good na- 
 ture. Ah ! Dr. Wood, my old-time friend, if nature had made 
 all mankind like you, where would newspapers get their para- 
 graphs of crime, of avarice, of anything mean or wrong ? And 
 am I never to shake that warm hand again, never again to hear 
 that loving voice ? Once only, doctor, do you inspire an unholy 
 thought, when I grow jealous to think that I must share my 
 love and my sorrow with a thousand other writers of the 
 younger generation. 'Tis but a brief adieu I bid thee, gentlest 
 of friends, if I can so carry myself as to merit a share in the 
 reward prepared for such as thou ! Dr. Wood — not that part 
 which was of clay, and is buried, but that part which was of 
 love and goodness, and is in heaven — I was reading about you 
 only yesterday. Though I may never meet you more on earth, 
 gentle, loving Dr. Wood; kind, compassionate, merciful; 
 though the awful silent river for a brief time rolls between us, 
 
"AS others see us." 61 
 
 yet listen to what I was reading about you, only yesterday, Dr. 
 Wood: 
 
 ' ' Blessed are the merciful, for the}' shall obtain mercy. 
 
 ' ' Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the 
 children of God." 
 
 There was something quieting and restful in that beautiful 
 Sunday evening twilight, after our unpleasant experiences 
 further north. The guests in the hotel numbered only three 
 or four besides ourselves, and at supper, which was soon ready, 
 we were favored with seats at the table with our landlord and 
 his family. It seemed like the first real meal we had had for 
 weeks. Perhaps it was because of our unsuccessful efforts to 
 find something worth eating in other Southern hotels; perhaps 
 the sea trip had sharpened our appetites; but, at any rate, 
 that first supper in the Palma Sola hotel seemed better than 
 sitting down to a feast at Delmonico's. All the luxuries of 
 Southern Florida were there — great big clams, beautifully fried; 
 the sweetest of oysters from Sarasota, served raw; an abun- 
 dance of fresh vegetables just out of the garden; fresh, ripe 
 Florida oranges, and a great dish of guava jelly, home made, 
 from Manatee County guavas. We let no edible thing escape, 
 and after supper returned to the portico to watch the moon 
 come up and smoke our pipes. Presently the yachl smen re- 
 turned so their vessel to be ready for a start at daylight; and 
 half an hour later the captain came ashore bearing me a mes- 
 sage from them — a box crammed full of cigars and smoking 
 tobacco and a flask containing a sovereign remedy for cramps 
 and indigestion. This was doubly welcome, for the tobacco 
 obtainable in Palma Sola is strikingly different from that found 
 in Havana, and Manatee County is such a strong temperance 
 place the nearest cholera medicine to be had is in Tampa, 30 
 miles away. 
 
 Early to bed and early to rise is the proper thing for 
 Florida, where there is not much entertainment in the evening, 
 but where early morning is always beautiful. I was out on the 
 piazza soon after daylight, in time to see the sun come up out 
 of the river. In the fortnight that I have spent in Palma Sola 
 I have not missed this sight once. The early hands in the 
 
62 "as others see us." 
 
 neigboring saw mill were just beginning to gather, for a day's 
 work here is from sunrise to sunset. There were some signs 
 of life aboard the yacht, and as I sat on the piazza in the light 
 of the rising sun I saw the anchor raised and the mainsail 
 hoisted. Ten minutes later the Mallory was under way again, 
 and with a parting wave of the handkerchief to the party, who 
 by this time were up on deck, I watched her round the point. 
 When the breakfast bell rang she was only a little white spot 
 out on Tampa Bay. It does not take long to become acquainted 
 in a small place like Pahna Sola with so few boarders in the 
 hotel; and perhaps my stock of tobacco and cholera medicine, 
 judiciously administered, helped bring about that desirable end 
 — -for when you are far away from a big city, a man with an 
 open pouch and an uncorked bottle is a man to be cultivated, 
 I was soon on good terms with Mr. Curtis, who if he was not 
 the editor of Harper 's Weekly, was prime authority on all soi'ts 
 of Florida fishing, the owner of a row-boat and a great assort- 
 ment of fishing tackle, an ardent lover of a fragrant pipe, and 
 in every way a first-rate companion. He gave me such glowing 
 accounts of the fishing, the sailing, the alligator-shooting, and 
 the sports of the place in general, and I was so well pleased 
 with the Palma Sola hotel that I determined to spend at least 
 a few days here and let the steamer go on to Key West without 
 me. And now, after having been here two weeks, and having 
 tramped, and rowed, and sailed, and steamed all over the land 
 and the waters hereabout, I am so well acquainted with the 
 Manatee River, with Terra Ceia Bay, with Snead's Island, with 
 the neighboring towns of Manatee, Fogartyville, and Palmetto, 
 and with the big alligator bayou, so cut in the hands with fish- 
 ing-lines, so tanned with the warm Florida sun, I feel altogether 
 like a native Floridian. 
 
 Palma Sola is so different from any other place under the 
 sun, and withal so quiet and so pleasant and inviting, it is 
 worthy of description. It is a new town, even for Florida, 
 where cities of a year's growth stand almost side by side with 
 ancient St. Augustine. About 200 miles down the Gulf coast 
 from Cedar Keys is Tampa Bay. This is a large body of water, 
 four or five times as large as New York Bay, with a string of 
 
"as others see us." 63 
 
 islands nearly shutting it off from the Gulf. Going up the 
 south shore of Tampa Bay, three or four miles from the Gulf, 
 the Manatee River is reached. This river is 25 or 30 miles 
 long, and for the first 15 or 16 miles it is more a bay than a 
 river, being from one to two miles broad, with a strong tide. 
 Then the river narrows down into a little stream, full of alli- 
 gators and fresh water fish; Palma Sola is on the side of the 
 river nearest the Gulf, and about a mile from the river's mouth. 
 The little bay in the river at this point makes an excellent 
 harbor, with water of sufficient depth for the largest vessels. It 
 is only a few years since there were no buildings at all at Palma 
 Sola. Now there is a large store, one of the best in Florida; a 
 good wharf, an immense ice-house, a big saw-mill, a hotel, a 
 church, a school-house, and a number of handsome dwellings, 
 nearly, if not quite all, belonging to Mr. W. S. Warner, the 
 father and founder of the place, the postmaster, land agent, 
 steamship agent, and general factotum. Mr. Warner, a New 
 Englander by birth, but for many years a resident of this part 
 of Florida, saw the natural advantages of the place, bought a 
 large tract of the land, and founded Palma Sola. He has put 
 in some hard strokes of work, and now is reaping his reward, 
 by seeing his big store doing a flourishing business, his saw- 
 mill eating up all the logs it can get hold of, and at least one 
 steamer at his wharf nearly every day. His residence is one of 
 the line houses fronting on the Manatee Iiiver, between the 
 river and the bayou. There are three or four of these houses 
 in a row, and they are all occupied by Warners. I tried one 
 day to make a list of the Warner brothers, but at last had to 
 give it up. One of them owns a good-sized steamboat, the 
 Erie, which does a good business in collecting the garden 
 produce raised hereabout in large quantities, and carrying it 
 to Tampa, whence it is shipped by rail to New York. Another 
 brother owns and sails a beautiful yacht, the Mischief, and 
 carries out excursion parties. Mr. Warner has made a heroic 
 fight against being called " captain," and I think he is about the 
 only man in Manatee County who is not "captain" of some- 
 thing or other, if it is only an oyster-sloop. No, there is one 
 other man over on Terra Ceia Bay who is not a captain. He 
 
64 "as others see us.'' 
 
 is a judge. The vessels of the Tampa Steamship Company 
 touch at Palma Sola three times a week, and those of the ' ' op- 
 position line " at about the same intervals, so there is hardly a 
 day without communication with the rest of the world. Just 
 across the river from Palma Sola is Snead's Island, a long-, nar- 
 row strip of land, which is cut off from the mainland by Terra 
 Ceia Bay. This bay connects with Tampa Bav by a broad inlet, 
 and with the Manatee River by a narrow channel known as 
 " the cut-off," and it is a regular young paradise for a sports- 
 man or a fisherman, and probably as beautiful a little piece of 
 water as there is in the world. It is full of small mangrove 
 islands that look like little green domes set down in the water, 
 and on any day in the year you can sail through it and see 
 from one million to a million and a half (by the census of 1880) 
 of ducks, pelicans, and blue heron. There is some fine land 
 for gardening on the shores of this bay, mostly in the hands of 
 Northern men, and many of the early tomatoes we eat in New 
 York, and early watermelons and other vegetables come from 
 here, though Ave don't know it. These gardeners have far 
 larger heads, to my mind, than the people who come down here 
 to raise oranges. Tomatoes and potatoes are not so romantic, 
 but they are much more profitable. In this climate vegetables 
 can be ripened in any month of the year, and rates to New York 
 are not high. Perhaps it is the preponderance of Northern 
 people here that makes the place seem so homelike. The 
 Warners, as I have said, are New-Englanders. Mr. Scott, who 
 keeps the hotel is from " Terry Hut," and I think about nine 
 men out of every ten within a radius of five miles are from 
 somewhere in the North. But they vote the Democratic ticket 
 with great unanimity, and you could count the Republicans on 
 your fingers. There has to be something, I suppose, to keep 
 the place from being perfect, and a Democratic majority is 
 good for this purpose. With its glorious climate, its perfect 
 healthfulness, its abundance of fruits and other good things, 
 and its exceptionally good society for such a new country, 
 Palma Sola might be mistaken for the Garden of Eden; only 
 one could hardly imagine the Eden district coming in with a 
 Democratic majority. A new-comer here is always sure at 
 
"AS OTHEBS SEE ITS." 65 
 
 least of " a good living," unless he gets too lazy to go fishing. 
 With fish hustling each other's shoulders in the water; with 
 oysters growing on the trees; with fruits growing wild; with 
 birds coining up to the back door and making friendly calls, a 
 man could hardly starve here if he tried. It is a great tempta- 
 tion to branch off and write something about the fishing in and 
 around the Manatee River, but I have a great collection of fish- 
 ing and alligator shooting experiences to tell and must save 
 them for another time. One of the great attractions of this 
 part of Florida, and indeed its very greatest after its climate 
 and its healthfulness, is the fact of its being out of the usual 
 routes of winter travel. The ' ' tourist " does not get here. 
 Our dear friend with weak lungs and a consumption bottle is 
 nowhere to be seen. You can go about all day in a flannel 
 shirt and eat your dinner without brushing your hair, which is 
 a great blessing. No doubt the New York invalid will find it 
 out in time, but at present he alternately shivers and roasts at 
 Jacksonville, and occupies his spare moments, when he is not 
 telling his intimate friends the latest news from Lung Valley, in 
 trying to find something tropical. The west coast of Florida is 
 about as little known as any part of the United States. I felt 
 almost like a discoverer when I landed at Palma Sola, but others 
 had been here before me; unfortunately I even found that a 
 fellow-townsman of mine in New Jersey, Mr. J. M. Atwater, of 
 Crawford, owned several large tracts on the banks of the 
 Manatee; Mr. J. H. Hobbs, a Virginia capitalist, from Wheeling, 
 also owns some land here. The Florida land boom has not yet 
 reached the Gulf coast, but it is creeping over. Last fall it got 
 to Tampa, 30 miles from here, when the railroad was completed 
 to that place. When it does come, and some New Yorkers 
 come over here and break the way, people will wonder why 
 they didn't come here long ago, and it will be a cold day for 
 the St. John's River bonanzas. The soil is not as good here as 
 it is along the St. John's. There is no use of any land-owner 
 contesting this fact. But everybody who is acquainted with 
 tropical countries know that rich soil means fever and sick- 
 ness, and that sandy soil is a guarantee of healthfulness. This 
 rule holds good throughout the entire West Indies. Cuba, 
 
66 "as othebs see us. " 
 
 Jamaica, and a narrow strip of Mexico lying along the Gulf 
 have as rich soils as any countries in the world, and they are 
 full of deadly fevers. The only healthy West India islands are 
 the rocky and comparatively sterile ones. There are spots of 
 rich soil here sufficient for gardening and orange groves, good 
 pieces of " hammock land," as the natives call it, but the great 
 bulk of the soil is sandy. There is plenty of health here, and 
 consequently happiness. You get np before sunrise, you go to 
 bed soon after dark, you go to the table every time with the 
 appetite of a shark, and you wonder what in the world it is that 
 makes } r ou feel so well. I never saw or heard of this country 
 till two weeks ago. It may be a disgrace either to my old 
 schoolmasters or to me, but I don't think that until two weeks 
 ago I had ever even heard the name of Palma Sola, or Charlotte 
 Harbor. It was good fortune (and the yacht Mallory) that 
 brought me here, for after visiting nearly all the warm countries 
 frequented by Americans — Cuba, Mexico, Bermuda, Yucatan, 
 Texas, Louisiana, and many of the smaller West India islands 
 — I like the west coast of Florida best of all. 
 
 W. D. 
 
THE FISHING IN FLORIDA. 
 
 EXPLORATIONS ON A DESERT ISLAND. 
 
 THE CHAEGE OF THE* FRIGHTENED FIDDLERS A DESPERATE ENCOUNTER 
 
 WITH A SHEEPSHEAD INDIAN MOUNDS AND 
 
 PALMETTO HOUSES. 
 
 Palma Sola, Fla. , Feb. 23. — Somewhere in the dim past I re- 
 member a schoolmaster telling- me that knowledge is of two 
 kinds — that which you have and that which you know where to 
 get. On the same principle boats are of two kinds — those that 
 you have and those that you know where to borrow. By this 
 generous rule our fleet at Palma Sola consists of three boats. 
 First, there is Mr. Curtis's little skiff, very sharp and narrow, 
 barely large enough to carry one fat man or two lean ones; 
 Landlord Scott's boat, that on moonlight evenings sometimes 
 carries a good round dozen of passengers up the river on a pic- 
 nic, and Mr. Warner's row-boat, large but light and very easily 
 handled. One of these three is always to be obtained, and 
 there is never any lack of boats. A man might as well be out 
 on the plains without a horse as to be in Palma Sola without a 
 boat. The river is the great highway leading to every place 
 worth going to, and all communication is by water. This is a 
 very different state of affairs from what it would be in the 
 North, where ice would obstruct the w T ay through half the year; 
 for here on Christmas morning, or any other morning, if row- 
 ing proves too warm you can roll overboard and take a swim. 
 A new-comer is naturally a little timid about swimming among 
 the sharks and alligators, which are supposed to inhabit the 
 waters ; but the peaceable habits of these beasts are shown by 
 
68 "as others see us." 
 
 the fact that the natives bathe in the deepest water without 
 being harmed. *On my first morning in Manatee County I bor- 
 rowed Mr. Curtis's little boat and pulled over to have a look at 
 Snead's Island, just across the river, and as tins was the first of my 
 excursions by water around Palma Sola, and as each trip offered 
 many novel features of its own that must not be confounded 
 with any other trip, I will set them out in chapters by them- 
 selves, like the seven voyages of Sindbad the Sailor. For I am 
 surrounded with such an atmosphere of sheepshead, row-boats, 
 alligators, and trolling-lines it will require the greatest care to 
 keep them from getting all in a tangle. 
 
 AMONG THE FIDDLERS. 
 
 Shirt, trousers, and hat are all the clothes a man wants to 
 go fishing in here in the middle of winter, and the thinner they 
 are the better. With garments that will not be injured by being 
 wet, and with pantaloons rolled up above the knees, the fisher- 
 man is ready for business, for Florida waters are full of sand 
 bars, and it is often necessary to step out of the boat and pull 
 her along. Snead's Island is about two miles long and perhaps 
 half a mile wide in the broadest part. You could make a very 
 good outline of it by setting down on the top of a triangle so 
 as to mash it out of shape, and flatten down the point. One 
 end of the island, a sharp, sandy point, projects into Tampa 
 Bay. The other end, also a sharp point, is at the " cut-off," which 
 connects Terra Ceia Bay and the Manatee River. A little to the 
 right of the middle the island widens into a third point, which 
 projects into the river. Terra Ceia Bay is behind the island 
 and the Manatee River is in front of it. But three lines will 
 make a map of it which will tell the story better than words : 
 
 Terra Ceia Bay. 
 Snead's Mand. 
 
 Tampa Bay. 
 
 Manatee River. Cattle Whaif. 
 
" AS OTHERS SEE ITS. 
 
 G9 
 
 
 Along the entire front of the island, from Tampa Bay to the 
 cut-off, is a white-sand beach, with a fringe of shells beautiful 
 to look at and grand for bathing purposes. At the point where 
 the cattle wharf is the water is so deep that the largest ships 
 can go up to it. From the wharf to the cut-off the shore is 
 lined with a thick growth of mangrove trees, with only here and 
 there a little opening. I headed my boat for the cattle wharf, 
 which is directly opposite Palma Sola, the river here being 
 about a mile wide, and then paddled along shore, enjoying the 
 dark-green mangrove trees, the white-sand bottom under the 
 clear water, and the occasional wreck of a schooner or oyster 
 boat half buried in the beach. I came upon a place where 
 there was an opening among the trees, disclosing a broad strip 
 of land covered with scrub palmettoes, and beyond this a clus- 
 ter of tall pines, each tree long and straight enough to make a 
 flag-staff. Here I determined to land, to have a look at the 
 island, and headed my boat for the shore. When she was 20 
 or 30 feet from the beach her nose ran into the sand, and I had 
 to step out and shove her along. But that didn't matter, for 
 my shoes and stockings were under the stern seat, and the 
 water was warm and pleasant. Tying the painter to the de- 
 scending branch of a mangrove tree, I made my way carefully 
 through the trees to a strip of smooth sand that lay beyond, 
 exercising great skill in dodging the sharp shells that lay all 
 about and the pointed ends of mangrove sprouts, not more than 
 three inches high, that were growing everywhere. There was 
 not a house nor a living being in sight— nothing to be seen but 
 mangroves, palmettoes, pines and sand, with occasionally a 
 bunch of oysters sticking to the roots of a tree down at the 
 water's edge. It was such a jungle that I involuntarily picked 
 up a stick to defend myself against any stray tigers or panthers 
 that might come along, and started up the coast barefooted to 
 have a look at the soil. I found it principally sand, with a rich 
 topping of decayed vegetable matter sufficient to make it pro- 
 ductive. 
 
 I was just about to return to the boat to continue my voyage 
 when I was startled by a rustling in the creeping plants through 
 which I was walking. One hears so many snake stories in 
 
70 "as others see us." 
 
 Florida my first thought was of them; but there was no snake 
 in sight. The rushing, however, continued and grew louder. 
 It was like a flock of frightened birds trying to make their way 
 through a thicket, but there were no birds in sight. The noise 
 came nearer to me, and I ran out to the strip of sand that lay 
 between the bushes and the mangrove trees. I was hardly 
 there before the cause of the racket came along to, crossed the 
 sand, and made for the roots of the mangroves. It was an army 
 of black bugs, each from an inch to two inches long and half as 
 wide. They were so thick that the ground was black with 
 them, for they were black, or nearly black, with thick legs, and 
 traveled over the ground about as fast as a man could run. There 
 were millions and millions of them ; I might say billions, and then 
 not come within a few millions of the true number. But there 
 were so many at any rate that they shook all the bushes, and 
 made a noise like a rustling wind. I was freshly out of Arkan- 
 saw, where I had spent a considerable portion of my time in 
 dodging the deadly tarantulas, and these beasts looked very 
 much like them, so I thought of tarantulas. I was barefooted, 
 and they were crawling over my feet. With great deliberation 
 I concluded to leave that part of the country. Under the cir- 
 cumstances I consider half a second "great deliberation," and 
 at the end of that time I made my first deliberate and dignified 
 move, which was a jump of about 15 feet, and then calmly 
 walked the rest of the way down to the beach, seven or eight 
 feet to the step, walking over and crushing a few thousand of 
 the little wretches every time I put down a foot. The black 
 space covered by the beasts was at least a quarter of an acre in 
 extent, and I fooled away no time in getting out of it and reach- 
 ing the beach. The bugs were frightened to death by the noise 
 I had been making in the bushes and were trying their level 
 best to reach their holes among the roots of the mangrove 
 trees; and I was scared by the bugs; so with mutually trying to 
 get away from each other we had a lively time. If I had had 
 shoes on I think I might possibly have staid and made a fight of 
 it. But being barefooted in the bushes makes a man timid 
 here among the spiders and snakes and 'gators. 
 
 After rowing up into the " cut-off," and finding it very 
 
"as otheks see us." 71 
 
 narrow and tortuous, lined with mangrove trees, their roots 
 covered with oysters, and with wild ducks and blue heron in 
 great abundance, I pulled up on the shore, around another 
 point, and discovered a romantic little house in the midst of the 
 palmettos, almost hidden in the verdure. It was evidently a 
 fisherman's place, and I was thinking of paying it a visit, when 
 I saw two or three naked children in swimming, which so 
 shocked me that I headed the boat for home and soon reached 
 the hotel. Of course, I had to find Mr. Curtis, and tell him of 
 my encounter with the bugs. 
 
 ' Why," said he " they are fiddlers — fiddler crabs. They're 
 just what I've been looking for ; the best bait in the world. I 
 know there must be sheepshead around that old cattle wharf. 
 Suppose we go and get some fiddlers this afternoon, and try 
 for the sheepshead." 
 
 " Agreed." 
 
 UNDER THE CATTLE WHARF. 
 
 Provided with a light wooden box, with a cover hung on 
 leather hinges, we started immediately after dinner for my 
 newly discovered fiddler ground, Mr. Curtis in his little skiff 
 and I in Landlord Scott's boat. The fiddlers were not out in 
 such large numbers as in the morning, but still there were 
 plenty of them, and we soon had enough. We first put a quan- 
 tity of moist sand in the box, and then " scooped " up the 
 beasts with our hands wherever we could find them. They are 
 harmless enough, except that if they catch your hand just 
 right they can give you a pretty hard pinch with their princi- 
 pal claw, and in handling single specimens you have to pick 
 them up witl j thumb and forefinger in such a way as to hold 
 their claws down, like holding a bird across the back and pin- 
 ioning his wings. When we had enough for the afternoon's 
 use we started for the cattle wharf and were soon there, wdnd 
 and tide being in our favor. We pulled our boats up on the 
 sandy beach, got out our lines and went out to the end of the 
 wharf, which is soon to be replaced by a new one, being shaky 
 with age and the spiles incrusted with barnacles. To a new 
 
72 "as otheks see us." 
 
 hand at the business picking up the fiddlers to bait the hooks 
 was not nice work at first. They look like dirty young lob- 
 sters, and are not at all inviting, but it soon became easy 
 enough, and we let our lines drop among the sunken spiles. It 
 was soon evident that our sinkers were not heavy enough to 
 combat the strong tide, and we pulled a lot of rusty spikes out 
 of the rotten wharf, and tied them to some of the lines. After 
 two or three minutes of anxious expectancy Mr. Curtis pulled 
 in a beautiful sheepshead, weighing four or five pounds. This 
 feat he followed soon after by catching a channel bass, not less 
 than 2 feet in length. All this lime my line was hanging in the 
 water like a broken fiddle-string, and not a fish came near it. 
 I put on a cheerful face and said something about its being "my 
 turn next," but inwardly I felt sure that my old fishing luck 
 would stick to me, and that I would bave all the expectation and 
 my partner all the fish. Presently I got into my boat and 
 rowed out among the spiles, and braced the boat between two 
 of them, to give the fish every chance in the world to eat my 
 fiddler. But they spurned him, and I had not even a bite. 
 Mr. Curtis had bite after bite and soon pulled in another 
 sheepshead. Half an hour had passed and I had never a nibble, 
 and was disgusted and tied my line to one of the posts and 
 rowed up the beach to have a swim. This took at least half an 
 hour, and when I got back Mr. Curtis had four sheepsheads 
 and the channel bass. I was envious, but still disgusted, and 
 started to pull in my line. It pulled hard. I gave it a jerk, 
 thinking the hook was caught in one of the posts, and felt it 
 give. I could hardly believe it, but there was certainly a fish 
 on the hook. When he came to the surface he proved to be a 
 fine big sheepshead, not less than a five-pounder, and the 
 biggest we had seen yet. I hoisted him out of the water and 
 he fought like a tiger. I had him in the bottom of the boat 
 once and he got up and fought me again, and I think would 
 certainly have got away, but I put out my left hand and 
 grabbed him. Sheepshead, as you may know, have a row of 
 " spines " along their back that they raise when excited and 
 that are as sharp as needles. He set these to work at me and 
 gave me a series of cuts across the hand that I still carry and 
 
"AS OTHERS SEE US." 73 
 
 that soon covered me with blood. I pulled him back into the 
 boat, but it was still a pretty even battle till I got hold of a 
 small piece of board that lay in the bottom of the boat and 
 pounded him over the nose with it till he took no more interest 
 in tiddlers. Even after this he continued to fight me, and I had 
 to pull up one of the seats and lay it on top of him and sit down 
 on it. Ten minutes afterward, when I uncovered him to in- 
 quire after his health, he fought me again, though his nose was 
 all battered in and he must have had a sprained wrist. Fisher- 
 men who like to catch " gamey " fish will be fully satisfied with 
 these Florida sheepshead. 
 
 The capture of this big fellow was, of course, an encour- 
 agement to me, and I brought down more fiddlers and kept at 
 work. At last I had "struck my gait," for I could not get my 
 hook baited fast enough. It was no sooner in the water than 
 some big sheepshead seized it and I pulled him in, and they 
 all fought me just like the first one. I was barefooted and 
 could not put my foot on them to hold them, but I made a 
 practice of battering them over the nose with my board as fast 
 as they came in and then covering them with the seat and sit- 
 ting on them. They took our fiddlers very fast, and, at length, 
 we ran out of bait and had to go home to supper. When we 
 wound up our lines Mr. Curtis had 11 sheepshead and 1 chan- 
 nel bass, and I had 9 sheepshead — the sheepshead averaging 
 from three to five pounds each. More than satisfied with the 
 afternoon's work, we took a drink and started for home ; not 
 out of the traditional flask that fishermen are supposed to carry, 
 but out of the " water-monkey," full of pure spring water. The 
 water-monkey is a very useful tropical institution, something 
 like a big earthen jug, but slightly different in shape, and no- 
 body goes out for a day's boating without one. You put your 
 " monkey " in a shady place, where the breeze can strike it, 
 and the water keeps as cool as if just out of the spring. If you 
 are thoughtful you put a few lumps of sugar in your pocket 
 from the hotel sugar-bowl, and as you can stop almost any- 
 where and pick fresh limes, you have all the materials for the 
 most refreshing drink to be made on a hot day. Our 20 sheeps- 
 head supplied the hotel table for several days, though we all ate 
 
74 "as otheks see us." 
 
 largely of them, for the sheepshead^ is the most delicious 
 fish caught in any water, with the possible exception of the 
 pompano. 
 
 That evening, I fear, we made a slight crack in the truth. 
 All the stay-at-home guests in the hotel were astonished at what 
 they called " our luck " (we called it our skill), and wanted to 
 know where we caught them. But we had discovered a fine 
 fishing-ground and were not disposed to take the public into 
 our confidence, so we told them " over in Terra Ceia Bay," " in 
 the Cat Off," and in a dozen places we had not visited. But 
 these answers did them just as well as the truth and gratified 
 their curiosity. Then followed a grand finale for such a day's 
 sport — a hearty supper, two pipes, and nine hours of sound 
 sleep. 
 
 AT PALMETTO POINT. 
 
 Palmetto Point is a place not to be found on the maps. 
 The point is there, just where the Manatee River runs into 
 Tampa Bay, on the side nearest the Gulf; but it has no name 
 and I have given it this name because there are on the point 
 several palmetto houses, used by the fishermen who draw their 
 seines there. We were told about these palmetto houses at 
 the hotel, and one morning Mr. Curtis and I started out to visit 
 them — he in his skiff and I in Mr. Warner's row T -boat. Just 
 around the point from the fishery, facing on Tampa Bay, is a very 
 large Indian shell mound, where curious shells and pieces of 
 Indian stoneware are found, and we could go to both places at 
 the same time. We passed on the way down my own private 
 bathing ground, which I claim by right of discovery. This is 
 a smooth, sloping beach of beautiful white sand not 200 yards 
 from the hotel, so nicely protected by a high bluff that you can 
 go there at any hour of any day in the year and enjoy a bath 
 in the greatest privacy, with the warm sun beating down upon 
 you, and have the water any depth you want it, from 2 inches 
 to 50 feet. We went around the point first, past the fishery, 
 and landed at the shell mound and climbed the steep part to 
 its top. It is 30 or 40 feet high, built entirely of shells that 
 have lain here so long that the outer ones have crumbled to 
 
"as others SEE F r 
 
 pieces, and the whole surface is c^. iJike 
 
 all the other shell mounds, it has a largo • . , out of its 
 
 summit. These shell mounds are counted an ftg the curiosi- 
 ties of Florida. There are large numbers of them throughout 
 the State, and a great many in Manatee County. Opinions 
 differ as to what they are, and how they got here. They vary 
 in size from a few feet in diameter to a quarter of an acre, and 
 from 10 to 40 feet in height. They are made of oyster shells, 
 clam shells, conch shells, and the shells of all the # water-drinking 
 beasts that frequent these waters. Some people think they 
 were washed up by the eddying tides; but Mr. Warner, who 
 has given some attention to the matter, gave me an explanation 
 of them that seems very reasonable. He pointed out the cu- 
 rious fact that every conch shell in the mounds has a small hole 
 drilled in its side in just about the same position as if it had 
 been made to draw the animal out of his shell. His theory is 
 that the Indians gathered at these places on state occasions to 
 hold their feasts, and that these shells are the remains. I have 
 not heard of anything of interest being found in them beyond 
 a few arrow-heads and some rude bits of Indian pottery. I am 
 carefully saving a curious arrow-head we picked up on the 
 beach made out of an enormous shark's tooth, which from long- 
 exposure to the air and water has ( turned into a substance 
 resembling stone. It is reasonable to think that the Indians 
 had some good way of getting the conch out of his shell, for it 
 is no easy matter. The modern way is to stick a fish-hook in 
 the animal and hang him to the limb of a tree. As his muscles 
 weaken he comes out inch by inch, and the process takes two 
 or three days. It is a cruel practice, and takes a hard-hearted 
 person to do it. I know a lady who found a handsome conch- 
 sheU on the beach, with the living animal inside of it, and hung 
 him up to a lime tree in the back yard. In the evening she 
 went out to look at him, and he was just beginning to come 
 out. She went to bed and dreamed that the conch had got out 
 of his shell and was crawling up on the bed to bite her. This 
 so alarmed her that she went out in the middle of the night, 
 took out "the hook and threw the conch overboard, and a fine 
 story that conch had to tell his companions when he got back, 
 
76 "as others see us. 
 
 but of course none of them would believe him. However, 
 whether the Indians opened the oysters and killed the concha, 
 or whether the conchs killed the Indians and ate the oysters, or 
 the clams ate the conchs and killed the oysters, the mounds are 
 here just the same, and they are almost the only high points in 
 this part of Florida. This one near Palmetto Point is just at 
 the water's edge, and a high tide frequently washes out peculiar 
 shells and bits of queer Indian pottery. From the quantity of 
 broken Indian jugs found in all these mounds, I think the 
 Indians after finishing their feasts must have wound up with a 
 grand spree and broken all their crockery. There is a fine view 
 of Tampa Bay and the Egmont Lighthouse from this large 
 mound, and all the steamers that go into Palma Sola have to go 
 directly by it. While Mr. Curtis was admiring the mound and 
 looking for shells I took my boat and went down the coast, out 
 toward the Gulf. I rowed past a large number of mangrove 
 islands, almost around to Palma Sola Bay. The water was so 
 clear I could see thousands of fish, and there were enough birds 
 around to start a museum. Some of them were of great size, 
 and they were all so tame that I could row almost up to them 
 as they sat on the water without frightening them. One old 
 fellow in particular was so big that at first I thought he was a 
 hogshead floating, and so tame that I was within a dozen yards 
 of him before he took wing. He was fully as large as four big- 
 turkeys put together, and looked something like a man with 
 wings, only his nose was rather too large, being something like 
 8 or 10 inches long. I rowed back to the mound and joined 
 Mr. Curtis, and together we visited Palmetto Point, where the 
 palmetto houses are. There are four of these buildings, each as 
 large as an ordinary house, and all built entirely of palmetto- 
 roof and Avails— without a nail in any of them. The fishermen 
 use them for drying, cleaning, and curing houses, and very good 
 houses they make. To build such a house the builder goes into 
 the woods and cuts such poles as he wants, of a length to suit 
 his building, and ties them together with cords, making a frame- 
 work to hang his palmettoes on. The palmetto leaves are then 
 tied in place, layer upon layer, like shingles, making a thatch 
 that no rain can beat through nor no heat or cold can penetrate. 
 
"AS OTHERS SEE 08." 77 
 
 Such a house cost just the price of the cord and the labor, and 
 lasts 15 or 20 years. Each of these houses had a smooth, white, 
 sand floor, and any one of them would make a comfortable 
 dwelling. In front of them, at the point, the bank runs down 
 so suddenly that a ship drawing 20 feet of water could come up 
 within six feet of the shore. When we reached home again 
 after a long pull against a strong head wind we were just in 
 time for dinner, and just in time to meet Mr. Warner with an 
 invitation to go up the river with him next day in his steam 
 launch to shoot alligators — an invitation that of course we 
 gladly accepted. W. D. 
 
AMONG THE ALLIGATORS. 
 
 TWENTY-FIVE MILES UP THE MANATEE RIVER 
 
 Palma Sola, Fla., Feb. 25. — I had long desired to see a real 
 live and lively alligator. Not a puny orphan, such as one some- 
 times sees shedding tears in an aquarium; nor down-hearted 
 beasts like those in the tank at the New Orleans Spanish Fort; 
 but an alligator on his native heath, looking for prey. They had 
 been promised in the trip down the Red River, but the weather 
 was too cold, and there was not one in sight. Then they told 
 us that the bayou at Palma Sola was a great place for them, and 
 we looked expectantly behind every bush, but without results. 
 This trip with Mr. Warner in his steam-launch Alice, however, 
 was to be up the Manatee River, "right into the alligator 
 country." We might even see and kill a manatee, or sea-cow, 
 though the chances of this were somewhat doubtful, as it is 10 
 years or more since one has been killed here. But alligators 
 were to be so thick " you can't throw a stone against the bank 
 without hitting one, Sir!" And this was true enough; not 
 because of the number of alligators, but because there are no 
 stones in this part of the world. I could not fairly realize this 
 queer fact till the day that Mr. Curtis and I were fishing off 
 the cattle wharf. Our sinkers were too light, and I volunteered 
 to go ashore and get some stones. But I searched the beach in 
 vain; there was not even a pebble — nothing but shells and sand. 
 Mr. Warner was about to make a trip to his lumber camp at 
 Fort Hamer, 15 miles or so up the river, and intended afterwards 
 to go still further up the stream, and he kindly invited all the 
 guests in the hotel to go with him. We numbered just eight in 
 the hotel at that time, including three ladies. There were Mr. 
 
"as others see us." 79 
 
 and Mrs. Curtis, a young gentleman waiting for a chance to get 
 to Sarasota, and a Mr. Ingersoll and his party of two ladies and 
 a colored man servant, from somewhere in the Northwest. Mr. 
 Ingersoll bad arrived at the hotel a few days before with such a 
 stock of tents and sheet-iron stoves and trunks and gun cases, 
 and fishing-tackle, be looked like a May moving in New York- 
 He had chartered a boat at Cedar Keys, and was waiting for it 
 to come along and take him and his party down the coast to 
 Sarasota, or Charlotte Harbor, or anywhere the wind listed — 
 "anywhere, by — ," as he eloquently expressed it, " where the 
 weather's warm!" He had just come out of a temperature of 
 20° below zero in the North, and was not yet thawed out, so he 
 still wore an overcoat and gloves; while the rest of us were 
 sweltering in the thinnest linen. Mr. Ingersoll is a character, 
 and this is my excuse for making public property of him, and 
 trying to photograph him — a character of a kind you never meet 
 at the fashionable resorts on the St. John's, and run across only 
 seldom here on the wilder west coast. He is a leviathan, to 
 begin with; weighing somewhere in the neighborhood of 300, 
 and is always careful about trusting his weight in a small boat- 
 He had not been here 12 hours before he had all the mechanics 
 in the place at work for him, adding to his stock of camping 
 materials. The carpenter was chartered to make him a fish-trap 
 and a lot of tent-pins, the sail-maker to make him a new tent, and 
 the blacksmith to make him a shark hook, with a chain 6 feet 
 long. He stored his property in a little building near the hotel, 
 and, from a moment's visit to the place yesterday, I can remem- 
 ber a large tent with iron-bound poles, three trunks, a sheet 
 iron stove, a lot of camp stools, three guns, and several large 
 boxes. There were also the remains of a Dutch oven, which 
 had been broken in transit, and this accident nearly broke Mr. 
 Ingersoll's heart. He set out one morning to find another, and 
 scoured the whole country, and at last came back with one — a 
 second hand one, which he had bought at some farm house. His 
 man told me that this assortment of goods was only a few odd 
 bits selected from a large roomful of hunting and camping 
 equipage, and it was currently reported that the total result of 
 his nine winters of shooting in Florida was one tame duck, but 
 
80 "as others see us. 
 
 this may have been a libel. His enthusiasm, at any rate, is in 
 proportion to his weight, and he started on the alligator trip 
 with a rifle and a trolling line, and half a bushel of crackers for 
 lunch. But they did better for us than this at the hotel, and put h 
 up a substantial dinner; and by 10 o'clock in the morning we 
 were off. The deck of the launch was about six feet below the 
 level of the wharf, and perhaps the liveliest "part of the day's 
 sport was seeing Mr. Ingersoll get aboard. It reminded me of 
 the old school-book story of the elephant crossing a bridge- 
 putting one foot on it carefully first, shaking it, and then draw- 
 ing back and shaking his head. Mr. Ingersoll was sure at first 
 that the Alice would not support his weight; then he was 
 satisfied that he never could get down to her, and at last he 
 gritted his teeth and swung himself carefully over the edge of 
 the wharf. 
 
 "Now four or five of you," he shouted, "get down there 
 astern, while I drop on the forward deck." 
 
 We obeyed his instructions, and he came safely aboard and 
 we were off. The Alice is a handsome little launch, drawing 4 
 or 5 feet of water, with a cabin and a cockpit aft-, the engine and 
 boiler amidships, and the pilot-house in a sort of well, with a 
 roof over it, so that the man at the wheel stands on a level 
 several feet lower than the deck. In front of this is a small for- 
 ward deck. We steamed up the river without incident past 
 Braidentown, Fogartyville and Manatee, and reached Fort 
 Hamer, where Ave were to make a stop, without seeing any 
 alligators. Mr. Curtis and Mr. Ingersoll put out a trolling line, 
 but up to this point did not catch any fish. At Fort Hamer 
 several men were watching for us on the river bank, among 
 them the foreman of the loggers, who had come down from the 
 camp several miles in the interior, and thus saved us consider- 
 able delay. I looked around for the fort, but saw nothing of it- 
 There was not a building of any kind in sight. Upon making 
 inquiries I learned that the fort disappeared many years ago, 
 soon after the close of the Indian wars, and that its title now 
 sticks to the place only by courtesy. This is the case with all 
 the Florida forts, so I hear. Looking on the Florida map you 
 see a large number of little crosses scattered about the State 
 
"as others see us. " 81 
 
 and each cross is supposed to represent a fort. But the forts, 
 like the Indians, have disappeared, and there is nothing left hut 
 their names. As we were about to re-embark at Fort Hamer, 
 to continue our journey, Mr. Warner sniffed the air and said 
 that there was either a rattlesnake or an alligator about, as he 
 smelled the peculiar musky scent that attaches to both. But 
 we saw neither, and went on. Above Fort Hamer the Manatee 
 River narrows down into a little stream and the water looks 
 black. As the sun had now been up long enough to make the 
 ground warm we were told that we might expect to see alligators 
 at any minute. I stationed myself on the forward deck armed 
 with a large 38-calibre revolver, and I had to lie down flat, so 
 that the pilot could see over me. In the pilot-house with Mr. 
 Warner were Mr. IngersolTs two ladies, who were enjoying the 
 novelty of the scenery. We were hardly a mile above the fort 
 before Mr. Warner shouted : 
 
 " There's an alligator on the right bank !" 
 Sure enough, there he sat, a big fellow, sunning himself 
 among the taU grass, which he had trampled down. We were 
 too far from him to expect to hit him with a revolver, but I 
 dropped a ball over in his direction, and he lost no time in 
 slipping into the water. We were close to the left bank, and 
 in a minute more I saw an immense fellow there, directly op- 
 posite us, not more than 20 feet away. Even at this short 
 range I had not much hope of hitting him in any vulnerable 
 part with a revolver, but thought I might tickle him a little. 
 Only by patting a ball into one of his eyes or directly behind 
 one of his front legs could I hope to kill him. But I let fly on 
 general principles and had better luck than I expected. The 
 'gator rolled half over, recovered himself and slid off the 
 bank into the water. He headed directly for the launch, and 
 in less than five seconds was within three or four feet of us. 
 The two ladies in the pilot-house thought he intended to climb 
 aboard, and indeed it did look very much like it. They set up 
 a scream that was enough to frighten an alligator to death 
 and made a scramble for the door on the opposite side, where, 
 in trying to get through both together, they stuck, and the 
 sudden shifting of cargo nearly capsized the launch. The 
 
82 "AS OTHERS SEE US." 
 
 alligator, when his slimy head was nearly against the boat's 
 side, let himself sink and disappeared and we saw him no more. 
 From this time forward, all the way up the river, alligators 
 were quite as thick as we had been told. There was some 
 sport in firing at them and making the big rascals get up and 
 run, even with slim chances of hitting them. At a very moder- 
 ate estimate we saw two or three hundred alligators on this 
 trip. Most of them were very large ones and looked as if they 
 could make a brave fight. It is a common saying that they 
 will run away from a white man, but stay and fight a negro ; 
 how much truth there may be in it I do not'know. The natives 
 here seem to have no fear of them, but when they come in the 
 way take a fence-rail or a club and drive them off, There is 
 hardly anything to keep them from multiplying, for people do 
 not take the trouble to kill them, 'except such visitors as go out 
 and shoot them for fun. Some tender-hearted people who have 
 never seen an alligator may think it cruel fun to go out and 
 shoot them uselessly. But if they should see one they would 
 change their minds. Just as everybody hates a snake, or as 
 sailors hate sharks, so there is a natural feeling against alliga- 
 tors ; and the first thought upon seeing one is to kill him ; 
 unless, indeed, you are a little timid and first think of getting 
 away from him. They look veiy much like big snakes ; and I 
 venture to say that even Mr. Henry Bergh, sailing up the Man- 
 atee Biver with a rifle in his hands, would blaze away at the 
 first 'gator he saw. 
 
 I had the alligator field all to myself, for just as we got 
 into the thickest of them the fish began to bite, and all the other 
 gentlemen gave their attention to trolling. We had only two 
 lines along, but these two kept the other three gentlemen busy, 
 for the fish bit as fast as they could get the lines out, and in a 
 short time the cock-pit was so full of them the fishermen had to 
 stand up on the seats. They were fine large fish, locally known 
 as "Jacks." I do not know their proper name, but they were 
 from two to two and a half feet long, weighing from four to 
 eight pounds each, with a forked tail looking very much like 
 that of a mackerel. It was no easy work hauling in such big- 
 fellows, and before long all the fishermen were complaining 
 
"as otheks see us." 83 
 
 of sore hands. I had already put my hands in such a condition 
 that nothing could make them worse, having worn them into 
 holes with pulling in fish and hacked and hewed them with 
 knives, so I was able to listen to these complaints with the air 
 of a veteran, merely giving the same humane advice that was 
 given me, to wash each fresh cut in salt water " to take the 
 poison out." This, of course, smarts so that it keeps a man 
 dancing a hornpipe for half an hour. As we approached 
 Manatee on the homeward trip we saw a flock of ducks sitting 
 on the water. Mr. Warner headed the boat for them and Mr. 
 Ingersoll brought out his shot-gun. The latter was already in 
 a state of enthusiastic excitement over the fishing, and he hoped 
 to add a new leaf to his laurel wreath by bringing down a duck. 
 He immediately went through the interesting performance 
 usual to city sportsmen. The gun was in a heavy leather case, 
 which had to be unstrapped. Then it was in several pieces, 
 which had to be put together. The cartridges were in another 
 case, which also had to be unstrapped, and by the time he had 
 looked down the barrel to see that no eels or snakes had crawled 
 in, examined the hammer, and put in the cartridge, the ducks 
 might have been a mile away if they had known anything. But 
 they were foolish ducks, or perhaps they knew Mr. Ingersoll, 
 and had confidence in his inability to hit them, so they 
 sat still. The boat continued to approach them, and he fired 
 before they rose, and then they took the hint and flew away, 
 every one of them. Mr. Ingersoll was explaining that he knew 
 they were out of range, when one of them unexpectedly 
 dropped, and we went over to it and gathered it in. The young 
 man, who was on his way to Sarasota whispered to me that 
 there never was a bigger surprised man in the world than Mr. 
 Ingersoll when that duck dropped; but he wiped his gun with 
 great complacency, and put it away with the air of a man who 
 has done his whole duty. The sun was well down by this time, 
 and we reached home by moonlight and went into the store 
 and got two large gunny bags to carry the fish up to the hotel. 
 It took four men to carry them. This is not a fish story, but 
 solid truth. 
 
 One day soon after the alligator hunt Mr. Curtis and I or- 
 
84 "as others see us." 
 
 ganized an excursion to Egmont Key, to visit the light-house. 
 The Key is 10 or 12 miles away, about the centre of the mouth 
 of Tampa Bay, and we chartered a good-sized sloop, manned 
 by a jolly old Welsh tar with a very red face. The party con- 
 sisted of Mr. and Mrs. Curtis, Mrs. Scott, our landlady, and 
 myself. Such a move as this in picnicking is worth the genius 
 of Jay Gould, for, by taking your landlady along, you at once 
 " make }'ourself solid " with the hotel, and need have no fear 
 of a vacuum in the lunch-basket. With a great water-monkey 
 full of cool water, a good store of limes and sugar, and a fat bas- 
 ket just full of pies and sandwiches, eggs and tarts, guava jelly 
 and light biscuits, to say nothing of a little " filling-in " of 
 crackers and cheese; with a good boat, a good crew, a fair 
 wind, and a bright, sunshiny day, we had everything to make 
 us happy. The boat had no cabin, but a large cock -pit, and 
 some old sails spread on the floor of this made us comfortable 
 seats. The wind, indeed, was a little too fresh, blowing so 
 hard that we received several warnings that we had 
 better not start. But we were in for it and bound to go; so 
 Landlord Scott's boat was hitched behind for a tender, and we 
 set sail. I natter myself that it was I who insisted upon taking 
 the small boat along, somewhat contrary to the desires of the 
 rest of the party ; for, as it turned out, the row-boat was all 
 that saved us from having to spend the night upon the briny 
 deep. We started for the mouth of the river at a lively rate, 
 and began to think we were going to get a wetting outside, but 
 while we were talking about it the wind suddenly died out and 
 left us drifting lazily into Tampa Bay. Within five minutes 
 the weather changed from a stiff breeze into almost a dead 
 calm. Our jolly old tar told us there was no use trying to 
 reach Egmont Light; that it would take us all day to get there, 
 with no telling when we would get back. But couldn't we go 
 somewhere else? This" is one of the beauties always attending 
 a trip in a sail-boat. Very likely } r ou won't get to the place 
 you start for, but you can go somewhere else. Wherever the 
 wind directs, that must be your destination. Some of the 
 party had never been in Terra Ceia Bay, and the rest of 
 us wanted to see more of it, and we asked the tar whether he 
 
"AS OTHERS SEE US." 85 
 
 could take us there. Yes, lie thought he could heat into Terra 
 Ceia Bay, and immediately set ahout it. It was slow work, 
 making our way into it, and seemed to me to occupy five or six 
 hours, though it really was not more than an hour or two. The 
 time seemed so long, not because drifting before this light 
 breeze and lounging on the warm sails and puffing at a pipe 
 was not pleasant, but because I had a longing eye on the din- 
 ner-basket. I proposed at one point that we should eat, but 
 the rest of the party scorned such a proposition, and the ladies 
 said we ought not to eat " before we were in Terra Ceia Bay, 
 anyhow. " So I waited patiently for the old ship to drift into 
 our dining-room. When she did at last get there our appe- 
 tites were up to the razor-edge stage, and we enjoyed the 
 boiled eggs and the beautiful scenery together. Terra Ceia 
 Bay is a peculiar piece of water, suddenly spreading out into a 
 broad lake, as suddenly contracting into a narrow channel, and 
 then widening out again. At the end of it nearest Tampa Bay 
 its shores are lined with broad belts of mangrove trees, whose 
 foliage is so thick and green that they look like beautifully 
 sloping lawns. The whole bay is dotted with mangrove 
 islands, each island a dark green dome. I have never seen 
 anything like it anywhere, and its very novelty makes it attrac- 
 tive. It is somewhat as if all the Thousand Islands in the St. 
 Lawrence were covered with thick green foliage. You sail up 
 before an apparently unbroken line of these islands, and it 
 looks as if you were going straight ashore, but your bold navi- 
 gator finds an opening, takes the boat through it, and you are 
 in another big bay, larger than the first, and have to make 
 another such manoeuvre to get out of it, and unexpectedl}' find 
 yourself in a third open place ; so you keep along for miles . Luck- 
 ily for us we were not lost in this part of the bay, as we soon 
 afterward were in a part we were better acquainted with, or we 
 might yet be subsisting on mangrove oysters and palmetto 
 cabbages, and I doubt whether we would ever have found our 
 way out. We sailed on, very slowly and comfortably, till we 
 were near what I should take to be the upper end of the bay, 
 within sight of a number of houses on the shore. The sailor 
 
86 "AS OTHERS SEE US." 
 
 told us who lived in them, and said that one of the places be- 
 longed to Howard & Kennedy, who recently bought some land 
 here, and began market-gardening on a large scale. We all 
 had some curiosity to see a Florida market-garden, and it was 
 unanimously decided to pay Messrs. Howard & Kennedy a 
 visit. The wind had come up again into something like its 
 former glory, and when we dropped anchor in front of the place 
 there were white-caps on the beach. We saw before us a hand- 
 some place, with a long stretch of fencing, a comfortable 
 dwelling-house, and down by the water a novelty that at once 
 attracted our attention — a roof of palmetto thatch, supported at 
 the corners by four large palmetto trees, and without walls. 
 In this climate such a house answers every purpose for a barn, 
 or any out-building, and is at once cheap, durable, and hand- 
 some. There were a number of small boats at anchor in front 
 of the place, and what we could see of it from the water made 
 us all anxious to pay it a visit. We embarked in our row- 
 boat — we four passengers — and were soon disappointed to find 
 that we could not approach within 50 yards of the shore on 
 account of the shallow water. It was out of the question to 
 carry the two ladies over this gap; so, after trying in vain to 
 find deep water at several places, we were compelled to give it 
 up, and went back to the sloop. W T hen we reached her we 
 found her hard and fast aground. But our gallant crew did 
 not mind a little thing like this; he quietly stepped overboard 
 into water nearly waist deep, shoved the sloop further away 
 from shore, and helped us aboard. As we were 10 or 15 miles 
 away from home, and the afternoon was rapidly wearing itself 
 awa} r , we voted to start for Palma Sola, but this was a matter 
 entirely beyond our reach. The second spurt of wind had died 
 out, and we were once more becalmed. There was indeed 
 enough breeze left to carry us along at the rate of about a mile 
 an hour, but this was tedious work, and bade fan to keep us out 
 till late at night. In an hour or two, after we had progressed 
 a mile or two, I grew tired of such monotonous business, and 
 stepped into the skiff and started off alone for a row. The sun 
 was just about to set, and millions and millions of birds that 
 occupy cheap lodgings on the islands of Terra Ccia Bay were 
 
"AS OTHEKS SEE US." 87 
 
 taking the rapid transit line for home. I should be almost 
 afraid to say anything definite about the numbers of birds I 
 saw, ducks, gulls, herons and many kinds that were strange to 
 me, for it might strain the* reader's imagination after the true 
 fish stories I have told. But it is no exaggeration, at any rate, 
 to say that there were a thousand times as many as all the rest 
 I ever saw in my life. They came home in long strings, V 
 shaped, so long that sometimes the ends of the V were lost in 
 the horizon. In one of these rows I counted 700 birds, but as 
 there were still several miles more of them I gave it up. 
 There was a curious-looking bit of shore, not far away, lined 
 with big palmetto trees, and I rowed over to it. As the sun 
 went down entirely, and darkness began to make itself visible, 
 the drum-fish came out of their lairs and played their 
 melancholy tunes under my boat's bottom. They sounded, at 
 least, as if they were under the boat, but I was not able to 
 make them out. As the darkness increased their sound was so 
 funereal that it almost frightened me. They are well named, 
 for nothing could better describe their noise than to say that 
 it sounds like a big bass drum struck under water. I don't 
 know whether it was the same fish following my boat, but 
 imagined that it was, and he kept good time with me, letting 
 me take about three strokes, and then coming in with his bass 
 "boom." Occasionally some other drum-fish would join in, but 
 generally my own private drummer had the field to himself. I 
 had noticed, while it was lighter, that a long narrow fish of a 
 peculiar shape was following the stern of my boat. I had 
 struck at him several times with an oar, but he merely dodged, 
 and continued to follow me. The water, too, was becoming phos- 
 phorescent in the dark, and at every stroke my ores splashed 
 fire. So with the knowledge that the long, narrow fish was 
 keeping up his surveillance over me, with the drums beating un- 
 der my boat, and the water in a blaze on both sides, I confess 
 that I felt more comfortable to head my skiff for the sloop; I 
 didn't know but the next thing might be a water-spout or a 
 great whirlpool, there seemed to be so many strange creatures in 
 these Florida waters. The fish that followed by boat looked 
 suspiciously like the "pilot fish" that precedes a shark. Getting 
 
88 "as others see its." 
 
 back to the sloop just before dark I found the party in no wise 
 alarmed, which rather surprised me, for our situation was 
 awkward. Not that we were in any danger, but our friends in 
 the hotel would be mourning for us. The ladies said there 
 was no hurry, that there would be a breeze presently, so we 
 finished the provisions in the dinner-basket, and sang a song. 
 By that time it was genuinely dark, and the ladies began to feel 
 uneasy. About 15 stars were out, but there was no moon. We 
 were 12 or 15 miles from home by the way we had come, and 
 about 3 miles by going through the " cut-off." But whether 
 we could find the cut-off on such a dark night and pick it out 
 from among the hundreds of false bays and inlets along 
 the shore was a very open question. Failing to find the cut-off, 
 we might also lose the sloop, and then we would be in a fine fix. 
 We resolved, at all events, to take to the boat. 
 
 [I notice that writers for the weekly story papers always 
 break off in an interesting place, and this week I must follow 
 their illustrious example, for this letter is already far too long, 
 and our night ride on Terra Ceia Bay is one of my pet stories, 
 and I am going not to spoil it by cutting it off short.] W. D. 
 
LOST ON TERM CEIA BAY. 
 
 AN IMPROMPTU STUDY OF ASTRONOMY. 
 
 STARS WANDERING ABOUT THE SKY HUNTING THE CUT-OFF FISHING 
 
 BY TORCHLIGHT A VISIT TO TAMPA. 
 
 Tampa, Fla., March 4. — We were on Terra Ceia Bay, be- 
 calmed, with a sloop and a skiff, and a very dark night had just 
 settled down upon us. Once or twice the moon made a feeble 
 effort to shine, but each time a bank of clouds drifted over it ; per- 
 haps a dozen stars were visible. Having determined to leave the 
 sloop under the charge of our sailor and strike for home with the 
 row-boat, we made preparations to start, and I was appointed navi- 
 gating officer. I accepted the post with some misgivings, for it 
 was no easy matter to find the "cut-off" on a dark night. People 
 familiar with the Northern waters will think that, knowing the gen- 
 eral direction, we ought to find it without trouble ; but 
 here the shores are different. Terra Ceia Bay is fringed with a 
 thousand little bays and inlets, and each of these is heavily lined 
 with mangrove trees, so that they all look alike. One of the 
 small bays opens into the cut-off, and that one we had to find. If 
 we went too far into a false channel there was a very strong likeli- 
 hood that it would take us hours to find our way out again. The 
 nearest inhabited shore was about two miles off, and there a feeble 
 light occasionally glimmered — one solitary light, on a beach that 
 we knew, although we could not see it, to be three or four miles 
 long. I asked our sailor what light that was. 
 
 " That," said he, "is at old Joe Franklin's. The safest way 
 will be for you to go straight to that shore, and then follow along 
 the beach until you come to the cut-off. You'll never find it if 
 you go right toward it. " 
 
90 "as otheks see us." 
 
 The light on shore was very feeble, and occasionally we lost it 
 entirely. I asked the sailor whether he had a lantern aboard, and 
 he said he had. He could not leave his sloop, but had to stay 
 with her all night, wherever he anchored. He said, however, that 
 he was used to staying in her alone, and would not mind having 
 his passengers leave him. I insisted upon having the lantern lighted 
 and hoisted at the mast-head, so that whatever happened we 
 could find our way back to the sloop. Anybody who can row a 
 boat knows that it is impossible to keep one in a straight line at 
 night without something for a guide, and we had no desire to 
 spend the night rowing around in a circle. The light on shore 
 disappeared so often it seemed likely to go out altogether, and I 
 looked about for something else to use for a guide. Happy 
 thought ! there were the dozen stars. So many ships have been 
 guided safe into port by them they ought surely to do a good turn 
 to our little row-boat. But I was under a great disadvantage in 
 trying to steer a boat by the stars, for I knew nothing whatever 
 about astromomy, and had to invent an entire new system of my 
 own, even to giving names to the stars, my celestial education be- 
 ing confined to the Dipper and the Southern Cross. By great good 
 luck I found three trump stars almost in a straight line, and that 
 line pointing direct from the sloop to the light on shore. What 
 could be easier than to follow that line ? I immediately named 
 the three stars Venus, Adonis, and Gibraltar, (which I consider 
 very neat and appropriate names), and we stepped into the boat, 
 having first given the deserted sailor nearly all the tobacco we had 
 and left him a supply of matches. 
 
 " Now," said Mr. Curtis to the crew, " tell us once more the 
 exact direction of the cut-off from the sloop, will you ?" 
 
 The old tar stood up on the forward deck, leaning far over, 
 holding on to the stay, and, without saying a word, answered by 
 pointing his hand, thus : 
 
 We left him standing so, and put off into the darkness, Mr. 
 Curtis and I at the oars. The direction he gave us was northwest, 
 as nearly as I could make it out. But our objective point was Joe 
 Franklin's, where the light was, and thitherward we headed the 
 
"as others see us." 91 
 
 boat. I had a grand chart before me, composed of objects both 
 celestial and terrestrial, very much like this : 
 * The Sloop. 
 
 * Venus. 
 
 * Adonis. 
 
 * Gibraltar. 
 
 * 
 
 The Light on Shore. 
 "How beautifully Heaven has arranged things for us naviga- 
 tors," I thought, " to put stars in a straight line like that. Won- 
 der I never thought of guiding myself by them before. Why, no- 
 body could miss his way with such a row of lanterns as that in 
 the sky !" But I was young and fresh in the astronomical business 
 then ; I have less faith in it now. We " rowed the boat lightly, 
 love, over the sea," though she might have gone even more lightly 
 if our two lady passengers had been a trifle thinner. To enliven us 
 up a bit, we tried to start a song; but no two of us knew the same 
 tune, and we gave it up. It was a dead still night, just such a 
 time as the prowling drum-fish like for a stroll, and they gave us 
 more music than we wanted. It was melancholy music, and made 
 us wish ourselves in front of the supper table in the Palma Sola 
 Hotel. They made a continual din in our ears, with their loud 
 "boom," ''boom," "boom." The water was full of the little insects 
 or whatever it is that makes phosphorus, and our oars made waves 
 of fire with every stroke. It seemed very solemn and impressive, 
 this ride through utter darkness. One of the ladies said it was a 
 very solemn thing to be alone thus with the Creator ; and the sacri- 
 legious Mr. Curtis said it was deucedly more solemn to be alone 
 without the Creator, as we seemed to be just then. However, we 
 pulled on and on, half a mile or so, and then I took another ob- 
 servation, and found there had just been a celestial earthquake. 
 The stars were all knocked out of place. My nice straight line was 
 broken into fragments, and the stars, the sloop, and Joe Frank- 
 lin's window were utterly and hopelessly mixed. Here was the 
 beautiful chart I had to steer by on the -second observation : 
 
 * Venus. 
 
 * Gibraltar. 
 
 * Adonis. 
 
 *The Sloop. *Joe Franklin's. 
 
92 "as others see us." 
 
 It was alarming to think how the stars had been jumbled up. 
 I didn't mind it so much for ourselves, because the worst that was 
 likely to happen to us was a night in a rowboat; but so many ships 
 at sea were depending upon their being stationary and orderly there 
 was no telling what disasters might be caused. If these three are 
 what they call fixed stars they're very badly fixed. They put us out 
 of our course and left us all at sea. A minute after this second 
 observation, and before we had entirely recovered from the astonish- 
 ment it caused, Joe Franklin's light disappeared, and we determined 
 to make a bold stroke direct for the cut-off, without trying to reach 
 the other shore. Guided only by the light at the sloop's mast- 
 head, we pulled for the cut-off, thought we had found it, rowed 
 some distance up a little inlet, and found we were in the wrong 
 place. We backed out, tried another inlet, and found we had 
 made another mistake. We were lucky enough each time to be 
 able to find our way back to the bay, but these set-backs discour- 
 aged us. "Why not land on this shore, and go to the nearest 
 house ?" perhaps somebody would ask. Because the nearest house 
 on that side was miles and miles away, with impossibilities of man- 
 grove swamps and pine barrens between. Tired of hunting in 
 this wild fashion for the cut-off, we concluded to make another 
 effort to reach Joe Franklin's, where we could at least find shelter, 
 and perhaps procure a guide. Joe Franklin is an old colored chap 
 who is said to have passed his hundredth birthday, and who lives 
 with his wife (of nearly equal age) in a beautifully romantic palmetto 
 house, surrounded by gardens and orange groves, on the back 
 shore of Snead's Island, facing on Terra Ceia Bay. When we were 
 once more out on the open waters of the bay, clear of the man- 
 groves and the dark shadows of the towering palmettoes, I took 
 another observation. Three times and out; never again will I un- 
 dertake to guide anything by the stars, for I have no more faith in 
 them; they have basely deceived me. The three planets had got 
 up close together, as if they were holding a convention, and 
 Joe Franklin's and the sloop were completely reversed, after this 
 fashion: - 
 
 * foe Franklin s. 
 
 *%* The three stars. 
 
 * The sloop. 
 
"as others see its." 93 
 
 We could distinguish Joe Franklin's light from that on the 
 sloop, because Franklin's had grown much larger and was a deeper 
 red. For a moment, but only for a moment, we thought of pulling 
 back to the sloop and giving it up. But we changed our minds, 
 set up the battle-cry of "Joe Franklin's or a watery grave," 
 and steered for the aged darky's light. We had not gone far 
 when one of the ladies sitting in the stern seat, being able to see 
 ahead, exclaimed: 
 
 " Why, Joe Franklin's house is moving down the beach!" 
 
 We all looked around, and so it was. The light, which was, 
 we thought, in the window of the palmetto house, was moving 
 down the beach and coming nearer to us. None of us were much 
 surprised. Under ordinary circumstances we might have been; but 
 after the way we had seen the stars shuffled about the mere moving 
 of a small house was nothing remarkable. We continued to pull 
 for the light, which still kept approaching us; and presently we 
 were delighted to hear voices. They sounded like the music of 
 the angels, and brought our courage up 50 per cent, in a minute. 
 If Old Joe Franklin's house was moving off, somebody at any 
 rate was in it. Louder and louder the voices grew, nearer and 
 nearer the light came, growing every minute, till at last it 
 was close enough for us to see that it was a great naming 
 torch held in the bow of a boat, and that the two oc- 
 cupants of the boat were spearing fish. So romantic was the 
 scene, and so beautiful the sight, this torch lighting up the two 
 fishermen and their boat, making a circle of light like the glare 
 from a magic-lantern, that we enjoyed it for some time before we 
 hailed them. They were coming in our direction, and not a min- 
 ute passed but they speared one or two big fish. 
 
 " Hello-o-o!" we shouted to them; "will you tell us the way 
 to the cut-off?" 
 
 "Just the opposite way from what you're going," one of 
 the fishermen replied. " We're going through it, and you'd better 
 follow us." 
 
 We followed them very willingly at an easy pace, they spear- 
 ing fish all the way across the bay, for we had managed to get to 
 the wrong side, of course, and were further away from home than 
 when we started. At length we reached the cut-off, the fishermen 
 
94 
 
 AS OTHEKS SEE US. 
 
 went up the river and we went down, we bade them good night, 
 and we were soon in Palma Sola, devouring everything in the hotel 
 pantry. As we sat on the front piazza an hour later the sound of 
 a shrill whistle came across the water. It was our deserted sailor 
 over on Terra Ceia Bay, blowing a great conch shell to let us know 
 that he was still alive. 
 
 As my advent in Palma Sola was unprepared for, so my exit 
 from it was unexpected. One of the steamers of the Tampa Com- 
 pany usually arrived there on Sunday afternoon and lay till Mon- 
 day evening on her way to Key West. Last Sunday afternoon the 
 steamer T. J. Cochran arrived, and went on up to Manatee to dis- 
 charge and take on freight. As she was coming down the river the 
 Alabama, of the same line, came in, and the two vessels met nearly 
 opposite Mr. Warner's house just above the Palma Sola wharf. The 
 Alabama signaled the Cochran to come alongside and both boats 
 stopped. As we watched them from the front of the Palma Sola 
 store, and as minutes grew into quarter hours and quarters into full 
 hours, we began to wonder why they lay there so long. When we 
 saw the Cochran send the end of a stout hawser over to the Ala- 
 bama, and saw both vessels start their engines at full speed, we 
 knew that the Alabama was aground. The wind and tide had 
 drifted her around upon a flat, and she was hard and fast. "Served 
 her jolly well right," was the opinion of everybody who saw her, for 
 the two steamers had approached each other in midstream rather 
 than have the delay and expense of going up to the wharf, when 
 they wanted to transfer some portion of their cargo; and this was 
 only in accordance with the usual careful management of the Tampa 
 Steamship Company. The Cochran tugged away for an hour or 
 two without effect, and then came down to the Palma Sola wharf 
 to wait for the tide to rise and to unload some of her cargo. I went 
 aboard to inquire when she would leave for Key West, and was 
 given the startling information that it would be necessary to get 
 aboard at once, as the Cochran, after pulling the Alabama out of 
 the sand, would proceed to Tampa, and sail thence for Key West, 
 but would not stop at Palma Sola on her way out; so, for Key 
 West passengers, it was "all aboard."' The distance from Palma 
 Sola to Key West is something like 175 miles, but by this very neat- 
 and accommodating arrangement of the steamship company, it was 
 
"as others see us." 95 
 
 necessary to add a journey of 70 miles to Tampa and back. But 
 there was no help for it, for this line has a monopoly of the west 
 coast traffic, so I had my baggage put aboard the Cochran, and bid 
 a reluctant adieu to Palma Sola and her good people. The Cochran 
 steamed up the river again to the Alabama, passed her another 
 line, and began anew the work of trying to pull her off. There 
 were only two or three passengers aboard, and we were consoled 
 with the information that the Cochran " would not start for a week 
 unless she got the Alabama off." By great good luck the Alabama 
 "came off" just before dark, and the Cochran started for Tampa. 
 As it is just possible that some other unlucky New Yorker may be 
 compelled to travel down the Gulf in one of the vessels of the 
 Tampa Steamship Company, I will try to give a brief description of 
 the T. J. Cochran, so that he will know what to expect. Upon tak- 
 ing hold of some loose rope and climbing aboard, as you usually 
 have to do, you find yourself on the main deck, which is just far 
 enough from the upper deck to allow a very short man to stand 
 upright. A man of any reasonable height, when he goes to his 
 berth or crawls in to his meals, has to hump his shoulders like a 
 camel, and keep his chin well down on his chest. This fine speci- 
 men of marine architecture is of between 300 and 400 tons burden, 
 and is very appropriately painted black. There is a general appear- 
 ance and smell as if her decks and rails were greased every morning 
 with whale-oil. The cabin passengers and the crew eat together, 
 and the captain occasionally comes down to a meal, and sours the 
 condensed milk with his austere and dyspeptic countenance. I very 
 much regret that I have lost the card on which I wrote the name of 
 this agreeable seaman, the captain of the Cochran, for it would give 
 me pleasure to serve him upon the half-shell with all due solemnity. 
 But nameless as he is, I confidently recommend him for the surliest, 
 most unaccommodating officer that ever shuffled over a greasy deck. 
 The purser and all the rest of the officers are good fellows, and they 
 made such apologies as they dared for the remarkable conduct of 
 the captain, who, they said, is a Norwegian, and does not know the 
 customs of the country. There were several New Yorkers aboard, 
 afterward, and it is very largely at their solicitation that I waste so 
 much trouble on this captain; they all offered to wager large sums 
 that he is the surliest man in the world, but there were no takers. 
 
96 "AS OTHERS SEE US. 
 
 Monday morning found us at the head of Tampa Bay, at anchor, 
 about two miles out of Tampa. The object in going so far out of 
 the way was to lay in a supply of wood for the furnaces, for wood 
 can be bought a few cents a cord cheaper at Tampa than at Palma 
 Sola. The sun began to shine with a blaze like a blast-furnace, and 
 all the tar and paint about the ship turned into liquid. Before 9 
 o'clock in the morning the decks blistered the feet of whoever 
 walked over them. I was deliberating whether I should stay on 
 board and be broiled or drop overboard and be gobbled by a shark, 
 when the accommodating purser came to me and said: 
 
 ' ' The captain is going ashore in the yawl. Don't you want to 
 go up and see something of Tampa ?" 
 
 All the desire I had to see Tampa would have rattled around 
 in the eye of a needle, but the trip offered a chance of escape from 
 the heat of the ship, and I went. The animated lump of tar and 
 oakum that bore the captain's uniform and I occupied the stern seat, 
 and two sailors rowed us. I immediately opened up an animated 
 conversation with the captain. I asked him some question about 
 Tampa, and he replied: 
 "Umph." 
 
 I ventured some other little remark, and again he answered : 
 "Umph." 
 
 The sailors looked at each other slyly, and wanted to smile. 
 Presently we reached the mouth of the little creek on which Tampa 
 stands, and went up past the beautiful spot lately vacated by the 
 Government, where the barracks used to be. This place faces the 
 bay, and has on it a small old-fashioned house, surrounded by im- 
 mense trees. The Government abandoned the property for some 
 reason or other, leaving it open for settlement under the homestead 
 act, and half of Tampa has been fighting for it ever since, to see 
 who shall have the plum. We were soon alongside of a rickety 
 old wharf and made a landing by the side of a big steamboat,which 
 proved to be an old New York acquaintance, the Eliza Hancox. 
 The captain and his men went up the street to Miller & Hender- 
 son's store, to see about supplies for the steamer, and I sauntered 
 along after them and went into the store, too. Miller & Hender- 
 son own the Tampa Steamship Line, a big store in Tampa, and 
 ■up to this time they have practically owned the central part of the 
 
"AS OTHERS SEE US." 97 
 
 west coast of Florida, through controlling its transportation facili- 
 ties. But now that Tampa has a railroad the monopoly is broken. 
 The railroad was opened on the very day that I reached Tampa, 
 and everybody who owns a square inch of land is wild over the in- 
 creased value of his property. Knots of men were down on their 
 knees and haunches on the sidewalks making diagrams of their 
 " property " and telling how much they had already been offered 
 for their lots, and how much they expected to realize on them. 
 There was a regular "boom" in real estate, as far as sellers were 
 concerned, but I did not see any excited men rushing around look- 
 ing for a chance to buy. It will be easy to draw a picture of Tampa. 
 Take any little New Jersey town with 2,000 or 3,000 inhab- 
 itants and sand six inches deep in every street ; put a few orange 
 and lemon trees in the front yards, and you have Tampa. Only 
 the temperature of the New Jersey town in August Tampa has in 
 January and February. The heat wilted me down, the merciless 
 sand filled my shoes, and I longed for a comfortable place to sit 
 down and rest, but longed in vain, for the principal hotel is like a 
 barn, and a barn that has not been cleaned for some months. 
 There is said to be a very good hotel two or three miles out of 
 town, built for winter visitors, but I did not go to it. I went into 
 a drug store to make some trifling purchase, and was told by the 
 jeweler, who occupied the other side of the room, that the druggist 
 had gone out, and that I could get what I wanted in about an hour. 
 I walked over the town as much as the intense heat and the deep 
 sand would permit, and saw many cozy homesteads, surrounded 
 by handsome yards, with plenty of oranges growing and shady 
 nooks of verandas ; some curious four-horse wagons, just in from 
 the country, driven by equally curious natives ; a great lot of Flor- 
 ida darkies, born with a genius for leaning against the shady side 
 of a house and chewing tobacco. The captain's boat was not to 
 go back to the Cochran till 8 o'clock in the evening, and before I 
 had been in Tampa an hour I began to wonder how I could get 
 back to the ship — which might be hot, but could not possibly be 
 as hot as the town. Fortunately, the purser's boat, loaded with 
 provisions, went out to the ship at 3 o'clock, and I went with her. 
 I was in Tampa just five hours ; next time I come I will not care 
 to stay more than four hours and a half. W. D. 
 
98 "as others see us." 
 
 PALMA SOLA— FLORIDA. 
 
 Editor of the Florida Agriculturist: 
 
 Within a few months, Braidentown and Sarasota have both 
 been heard from, but I see nothing from Palma Sola. If no one 
 else will sing its praises I must needs do it myself. 
 
 Three years ago, where the village of Palma Sola now stands, 
 it was, literally, a "howling wilderness." Then Messrs. Warner 
 & Beach awoke to the fact that it was a beautiful site for a towm 
 and presto, change, it is transformed. First began the erection of a 
 large saw-mill, and naturally cottages for the workhands followed. 
 Settlers began to pour in. The cottages were soon filled. Others 
 had to be built. Then to supply the rapidly growing town, Mr. 
 Warner erected a fine store. For weeks before it was opened we 
 heard of nothing else. We feasted, in imagination, while listening 
 to the accounts of the stock of groceries constantly arriving, and 
 when the grand opening day came no one was disappointed. 
 Everything was on a mammoth scale. But alas ! for human 
 hopes. In a few days the news flew through the country that 
 Warner had burned out, and everything was lost. It was only too 
 true. The store and wharf on which it stood had burned to the 
 water's edge. Things uninjured by the fire were destroyed by the 
 water into which they dropped. A new engine destined for the 
 saw-mill, and which was in the warehouse, was also destroyed. 
 No insurance. But fearful as the loss was, Palma Sola never 
 flinched. Mr. Warner does not know the meaning of the word fail. 
 In less than a month a new stock arrived and was put into a tem- 
 porary building. Then, like the fabled Phoenix, a new store rose 
 from the ashes of the old one. If possible, a better stock than the 
 first one was put into this new venture. So much for the founding 
 of the tiny city 'yclept Palma Sola. As for the location, "like a 
 jewel on a maiden's breast," lies Palma Sola on the bank of the 
 Manatee. Only two miles from the mouth of the river, it is plainly 
 to be seen from Tampa Bay, and a more beautiful picture was 
 never painted. In the background, the "forest primeval," the 
 stately pine trees of the South. On the neck of the land extending 
 into the river is the mill. From the mill an immense steamboat 
 wharf extends out into the river, and on the end of this wharf is the 
 
"AS OTHEBS SEE US." 99 
 
 store, postoffice and warehouse. Back of the mill lies Palma Sola, 
 a collection of pretty little cottages, some gothic, others simply box 
 houses, so popular in California and Florida. All are snowy white 
 as paint and whitewash can make them. In the center of the 
 village — I should have written — is a large hotel, erected by Mr. 
 Warner, and run by Mr. L. G. Jenness, the well-known hotel man 
 — himself the proprietor of a magnificent summer hotel at Scroon 
 Lake, Orange County, New York ; his name is a guarantee that 
 everything possible will be done for the comfort of the guests of the 
 house. Who that has sojourned South will fail to remember the 
 genial host of the Suwannee House in Cedar Keys, and the Rus- 
 sell House in Key West, both of which hotels have been under Mr. 
 Jenness's management ? The hotel itself is a large, square, frame 
 building, furnished in the daintiest style imaginable. The view 
 from the upper windows is simply magnificent. From the north 
 and west windows, Egmont Key Light is plainly to be seen ; look- 
 ing eastward, the Manatee, one catches glimpses of Fogartyville, 
 Braidentown, Manatee and Palmetto. The river is continually 
 dotted with sails and tiny boats. From the south windows can be 
 seen the piney woods. The hunting and fishing in the vicinity is 
 very fine. Boats of all descriptions, from a schooner-rig to row- 
 boat, can be obtained from the boat livery of the Hammatt Bros. 
 In the distance, across the bayou, lies San Terre, the home of W. S. 
 Warner, a house in the gothic style of architecture, surrounded by 
 grounds of unsurpassing beauty, and a fine orange grove. At 
 the foot of the beautiful lawn is the wharf, at the end of which lies a 
 perfect float of pleasure boats belonging to the house, noticeable 
 among which is the steam yacht "Alice," used occasionally in 
 towing a raft of logs from the extensive log camps run by the mill, 
 far up the river and adjacent creeks. I have no time to describe 
 other homes here, but there are many beautiful ones. 
 
 To those wanting homes in South Florida, I say come and 
 look at our little city before settling elsewhere. To the wealthy it 
 offers many attractions. No more beautiful locations can be found 
 anywhere for the erection of handsome homes. Land can be 
 bought in any quantity from a city lot to a thousand acres. Mr. 
 Warner is the agent for the Disston Land Company, and has 
 already sold thousands of acres of land, and there are ninety thou- 
 
100 "AS othees see us." 
 
 sand more to be sold. ' To the poor man, Palma Sola offers as 
 many attractions as the wealthy. There is work for all classes and 
 ages, for mill hands, lumbermen, laborers, carpenters, blacksmiths, 
 cabinet-makers, wheelwrights, for every one save physicians ; we 
 have no use for them. Wages are from $1.25 to $2.50 per day. 
 Board can be obtained for from 40 to 50 cents per day. Houses 
 can be rented for from $3.00 to $8.00 per month. Warner & Co. 
 give employment to all who apply. Everything which is necessary 
 for comfort can be obtained from the store — hardware, tinware, 
 dry goods, furniture, groceries, jewelry, toys, everything in fact 
 from a steamboat to a clothespin. The saw-mill is constantly turn- 
 ing out fine lumber, sash, shingles, doors, blinds, etc. An Episco- 
 palian Church and a school-house are to be the next improve- 
 ments. " Dost like the picture ?" Bohemienne. 
 
"as others see its." 101 
 
 The following article, cut from the Jacksonville Times- Union, 
 will interest the Northern hotel keepers looking for statistics on 
 Florida business. It will be understood that this record represents 
 but a small part of the Tourist travel into the State, and is only val- 
 uable as showing the increase in the seasons named. During the 
 season of 1883-84 the records of the railroads entering Jacksonville 
 show the arrival of 130,000 tourists, to which might be added fully 
 20 per cent, for an estimate of the arrivals by the steamers and 
 railroad lines terminating at other points in the State. When it is 
 considered that $200 is probably a moderate estimate of the average 
 expenditure of each one of this pleasure-seeking crowd we can well 
 understand the activity of all business interests during the time 
 this money is flowing in. 
 
 The Lelands, of hotel fame, have had these figures in view for 
 some years, and Warren Leland, Jr. , of the Ocean House, Long 
 Branch, has secured a location at Palma Sola for the erection of a 
 winter resort. The prediction is a safe one, based as it is upon the 
 natural attractions of the place, that he will make this the " Long 
 Branch " of Florida. 
 
 THE HOTEL BUSINESS. 
 
 An Increase of 8,281 Visitors Over the Season Last Year. 
 
 Below we give, by actual count, the total number of arrivals at 
 the various hotels in this city keeping registers for the seasons of 
 1882-3 and 1883-4, including the months of October, November, 
 December, January, February, March and April, of each year. 
 From this report it will be seen that for each month during the sea- 
 son just closed there has been an increase in the number of arri- 
 vals, the total increase for the season over that of 1882-3 being 8, 281. 
 Some of the largest hotels show a falling off, and others an increase. 
 The falling off of the number of Everett arrivals can be attributed to 
 the decrease of the transient business caused by the close connec- 
 tion of the boats with the trains and the fact that that hotel closed 
 at least two weeks earlier than last season. The fallinof oft' at the 
 
102 
 
 AS OTHEKS SEE US. 
 
 Carleton is attributed to the fact that a restaurant has been run in 
 connection with that hotel, and, unlike previous years, hundreds of 
 persons took meals at the restaurant during the season without reg- 
 istering their names. We were unable to get the arrivals at the 
 Carleton for the months of April, 1883-4/01 the reason that the pro- 
 prietors have gone North and left their register locked up in their 
 safe, but this will not make a difference of more than five hundred 
 for either month. Below will be found the table giving the num- 
 ber of arrivals at each hotel for the months specified : 
 
 
 
 Season 
 
 of 1882 and 1883. 
 
 
 
 HOTEL. 
 
 
 O 
 
 > 
 
 
 
 a 
 
 =3 
 
 Ha 
 
 
 o 
 u 
 
 'u 
 ft 
 < 
 
 O 
 
 H 
 
 
 
 191 
 
 654 
 
 329 
 
 1,264 
 
 416 
 
 1,988 
 334 
 
 1,405 
 386 
 
 1,262 
 574 
 
 1.883 
 425 
 
 1,287 
 586 
 
 2,202 
 387 
 
 40 
 813 
 288 
 191 
 
 5 382 
 
 
 
 1,863 
 8 194 
 
 
 
 627 
 
 
 
 1,903 
 191 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 322 
 
 326 
 
 395 
 682 
 
 481 
 
 422 
 1,072 
 653 
 199 
 284 
 1,500 
 342 
 
 401 
 1,694 
 697 
 372 
 281 
 854 
 1,40 8 
 
 418 
 2,158 
 487 
 521 
 203 
 293 
 2,129 
 
 353 
 678 
 685 
 134 
 164 
 393 
 721 
 
 2,637 
 
 
 6,284 
 
 
 638 
 
 755 
 
 4,396 
 
 
 1,127 
 
 
 164 
 
 336 
 
 230 
 
 1,662 
 
 
 2,540 
 
 
 
 
 
 460 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 1,124 
 
 2,235 
 
 4,451 
 
 8,586 
 
 9,351 
 
 10,572 
 
 4,460 
 
 40,779 
 
 
 
 Season 
 
 of 1883 and 1884. 
 
 
 
 HOTEL. 
 
 O 
 
 > 
 
 o 
 
 6 
 ft 
 
 a 
 
 1-5 
 
 .a 
 
 0) 
 
 o 
 
 u 
 
 Pi 
 
 < 
 
 "3 
 o 
 H 
 
 
 
 198 
 
 518 
 902 
 903 
 360 
 
 943 
 
 685 
 
 1,402 
 
 413 
 
 1,138 
 718 
 
 1,847 
 391 
 
 1,148 
 700 
 
 2,056 
 265 
 
 610 
 266 
 443 
 
 1,695 
 396 
 247 
 600 
 590 
 401 
 179 
 690 
 
 1,024 
 
 3,945 
 
 
 
 3,515 
 
 
 
 474 
 364 
 
 6,948 
 
 
 283 
 
 2,600 
 
 
 1,698 
 
 
 265 
 
 73 
 382 
 
 578 
 375 
 606 
 491 
 588 
 218 
 
 612 
 372 
 
 1,305 
 613 
 615 
 326 
 
 2,280 
 397 
 
 716 
 313 
 
 1,909 
 618 
 512 
 308 
 653 
 
 1,266 
 
 485 
 261 
 
 2,285 
 582 
 569 
 218 
 795 
 
 2,170 
 
 2,860 
 2,215 
 
 
 6,675 
 
 
 666 
 196 
 183 
 
 643 
 502 
 309 
 
 4,293 
 
 
 3,383 
 
 
 1,706 
 
 
 4,418 
 
 
 
 
 
 4,857 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Totals 
 
 1,593 
 1,124 
 
 2,935 
 2,235 
 
 5,539 
 4,451 
 
 9,852 
 8,586 
 
 10,385 
 9,351 
 
 11,604 
 10,572 
 
 7,141 
 4,460 
 
 49,060 
 
 Totals of above months in 1882-3.. 
 Monthly and total increase of the 
 
 40,779 
 
 469 
 
 700 
 
 1,088 
 
 1,266 
 
 1,034 
 
 1,032 
 
 2,681 
 
 8,281 
 
"as others see trs." 103 
 
 WINDSOR HOTEL. 
 
 Arrivals at the Windsor Hotel for the season ending May ist, 
 1884, classified by States : New York 1,953, Pennsylvania 572, 
 Massachusetts 402, Illinois 215, Ohio 152, New Jersey 151, Flori- 
 da 209, District of Columbia 55, Virginia 49, California 23, New 
 Hampshire 30, Georgia 92, Maryland 84, Minnesota 48, Delaware 
 16, Vermont 33, South Carolina 20, Wisconsin 42, Tennessee 38, 
 Connecticut 141, Maine 39, Kentucky 52, North Carolina 19, 
 Rhode Island 84, Alabama 8, Missouri 41, Texas 6, Indiana 22, 
 Mississippi 4, Michigan 56, Oregon 10, Dakota 5, Iowa 26, Wyoming 
 
 1, Utah 3, Mexico 1, Louisiana 7, Montana 4, Colorado 20, Arkansas 
 
 2, Kansas 4, West Virginia 2, Nevada 1, England 53, Canada 35, 
 Ireland 15, Scotland 7, Nova Scotia 10, Austria 2, Germany 1, 
 Italy 1, France 1 — total 4,857. 
 
 Departures classified by railroads and boats for the season 
 ending May ist, 1884: Cygnus 543, Sylvester 208, DeBary Line 
 142, Glen 172, Mail boat 12, Georgia 1, Water Lily 6, Arlington 
 boat 1, Margaret 14, Hancock 26, Mabel 2, Florida 6, Merrimac 
 2, to Mayport 2, Port Royal 7, City of Palatka 80, Yacht Pratt 1, 
 Yacht Ileen 3, Yacht Ryder 1, S., F. and W. Railway 2,251, F. C. 
 and W. Railway 311, J. and St. A. Railway 483, F. and J. Rail- 
 way 28, Florida Transit 10, J., T. and K. W. 144 — total 4,857. 
 
FROM 
 
 METEOROLOGICAL REPORT. 
 
 ^B£TF(ACT f OVERIJMQ A ^ERJOD Op Jv/ELVE YeAR^. 
 
 AN OFFICIAL STATEMENT OF THE CONDITION OF THE WEATHER IN 
 
 FLORIDA AS RECORDED IN THE SIGNAL OFFICE IN 
 
 JACKSONVILLE AND WASHINGTON, ETC. 
 
 Below will be found a complete report of the weather in this 
 city, as observed by the United States Signal Observer for the past 
 twelve years. The report was prepared for the Times-Union by 
 Sergeant J. W. Smith, the Observer in charge of the office here, 
 and afterwards sent to the office of the Chief Signal Officer in 
 Washington, where it was compared with the original records of 
 this office on file there and corrected. 
 
METEOKOLOGICAL. 
 
 105 
 
 00 
 
 1-i 
 
 •UB3H 
 
 56.7 
 55.8 
 60.6 
 67.7 
 73.9 
 81.6 
 82.1 
 81.0 
 79.1 
 71.6 
 62.0 
 56.9 
 
 d 
 
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 Ht-toecococoot-OHCJ 
 
 COCOCO-*-*t<COtOI>«OiOaOCN 
 
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 xxxwcsjiooa. x«» 
 
 
 
 00 
 
 •ueaj^ 
 
 59.4 
 68.6 
 65.9 
 69.9 
 75.4 
 80.6 
 80 
 78.8 
 77.3 
 69.0 
 64 
 58.6 
 
 d 
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 •ajH 
 
 mt-t-cipixcixtocioin 
 
 C0C0CO'*»Q<COtCCOir3-#'<*CO 
 
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 •x«m 
 
 t-XX005 01CT.OCT.XXt- 
 
 
 
 m 
 
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 CO 
 X 
 
 •UU0J\[ 
 
 57.9 
 
 64.3 
 
 60 
 
 70.1 
 
 73 
 
 80.9 
 
 84.1 
 
 80.8 
 
 76 5 
 
 74.2 
 
 63.3 
 
 60.5 
 
 3 
 
 •«?!« 
 
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 62.5 
 61.7 
 66.6 
 70.9 
 74.5 
 81.1 
 80 9 
 81.6 
 77.8 
 72.6 
 60.0 
 54.2 
 
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106 
 
 METEOROLOGICAL. 
 
 War Department, 
 Office of the Chief Signal Officer, 
 Washington, D. C, January 16, 1883. 
 Statement showing the mean, maximum, minimum and water temper- 
 atures; the precipitation, in inches and hundredths, and the mean rela- 
 tive humidity, at Punta Rassa, Florida, for each month from the com- 
 mencement of observations to December, 1882. (Compiled from the 
 records on file at the office of the Chief Signal Officer, U. S. Army, Wash- 
 ington, D. C.) 
 
 PUNTA RASSA, FLORIDA.— MEAN MONTHLY TEMPERATURES. 
 
 (Computed from the three Telegraphic Observations.) 
 
 X 
 cd 
 p 
 
 H 
 
 s 
 
 i 
 
 l-i 
 
 cd 
 C 
 
 p 
 
 K 
 
 n 
 
 Q 
 
 f 
 
 K 
 
 EP 
 •< 
 
 a 
 
 a 
 
 cd 
 
 
 05 
 P 
 
 a 
 
 O 
 o 
 
 o 
 c 
 a 
 
 3 
 o 
 
 cd 
 
 B 
 
 O 
 
 CD 
 
 o 
 
 CO 
 
 B 
 
 K 
 
 CD 
 P 
 
 a 
 
 
 << 
 
 
 
 
 —- 
 
 
 
 
 cd 
 n 
 
 
 cd 
 
 cd 
 
 
 1871 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 80.2 
 
 77.2 
 
 71.6 
 
 65.7 
 
 
 1872 
 
 61.5 
 
 62.8 
 
 68.0 
 
 76.3 
 
 78.0 
 
 81.0 
 
 80.3 
 
 81.8 
 
 79.8 
 
 73.7 
 
 67.8 
 
 62.7 
 
 72 8 
 
 1873 
 
 61.6 
 
 66.0 
 
 64.7 
 
 72.6 
 
 79.3 
 
 81.0 
 
 81.1 
 
 80.2 
 
 80 
 
 72.0 
 
 66.2 
 
 65.2 
 
 72.5 
 
 1874 
 
 62.9 
 
 68.7 
 
 71.3 
 
 73.7 
 
 75 9 
 
 79.4 
 
 80.7 
 
 81.2 
 
 78 8 
 
 74.2 
 
 70.1 
 
 65.5 
 
 73.5 
 
 1875 
 
 69.6 
 
 65.9 
 
 70.6 
 
 70.0 
 
 76.5 
 
 79.1 
 
 80.9 
 
 79.5 
 
 80.8 
 
 74.5 
 
 73.3 
 
 66.6 
 
 73.9 
 
 1876 
 
 67.1 
 
 68.7 
 
 67.9 
 
 72.5 
 
 75.6 
 
 80.4 
 
 80.4 
 
 81.4 
 
 80.8 
 
 74.5 
 
 66.6 
 
 59.9 
 
 73.0 
 
 1877 
 
 65.6 
 
 64.4 
 
 66.7 
 
 70.9 
 
 75.5 
 
 81.7 
 
 82.6 
 
 82.1 
 
 81.9 
 
 77.3 
 
 69.6 
 
 64.1 
 
 73.5 
 
 1878 
 
 60.0 
 
 63.5 
 
 69.8 
 
 74.6 
 
 78.4 
 
 81.5 
 
 82.5 
 
 83.0 
 
 80.1 
 
 75. 2 
 
 69.1 
 
 61.5 
 
 73.3 
 
 1879 
 
 61.7 
 
 63.3 
 
 69.4 
 
 70.8 
 
 75.7 
 
 79.1 
 
 81.1 
 
 80.9 
 
 78.8 
 
 76.8 
 
 69.2 
 
 70.2 
 
 73.1 
 
 1880 
 
 67.9 
 
 68.2 
 
 72.5 
 
 73.4 
 
 75.8 
 
 80.2 
 
 81.8 
 
 80.3 
 
 80.0 
 
 74.9 
 
 72.9 
 
 62.7 
 
 74.2 
 
 1881 
 
 64.5 
 
 65.2 
 
 64.9 
 
 69.5 
 
 76.3 
 
 81.7 
 
 82.9 
 
 80.6 
 
 79.9 
 
 77.2 
 
 72.1 
 
 67.7 
 
 73.5 
 
 1882 
 
 67.9 
 
 67.9 
 
 70.8 
 
 75.4 
 
 76.7 
 
 80.5 
 
 80.4 
 
 80.8 
 
 79.6 
 
 76.3 
 
 67.1 
 69.6 
 
 62.6 
 
 64.5 
 
 73.8 
 
 Mns. 
 
 64.6 
 
 65.9 
 
 68.8 
 
 72.7 
 
 76.7 
 
 80.5 
 
 81.3 
 
 81.0 
 
 80.1 
 
 75.3 
 
 73.4 
 
 Note. — The daily means are obtained by dividing the sum of the read- 
 ings at the three telegraphic observations by three; the monthly means by 
 dividing the sum of the daily means by the number of days in the month. 
 
 MAXIMUM TEMPERATURES. 
 
 CD 
 P 
 
 en 
 
 p 
 
 a 
 p 
 p 
 i 
 
 CD 
 
 o" 
 
 p 
 
 p 
 
 SB 
 
 • 
 
 2. 
 
 p 
 << 
 
 P 
 P 
 CD 
 
 
 1872 
 
 77 
 
 78.5 
 
 81 
 
 87 
 
 92 
 
 91 
 
 92 
 
 1873 
 
 80 
 
 79 
 
 81 
 
 88 
 
 90 
 
 94 
 
 93 
 
 1874 
 
 79 
 
 84 
 
 85 
 
 87 
 
 90 
 
 91 
 
 91 
 
 1875 
 
 80 
 
 80 
 
 83.5 
 
 82 
 
 86 
 
 89 
 
 91.1 
 
 1876 
 
 81.5 
 
 81 
 
 81.8 
 
 84 
 
 90 
 
 92 
 
 92 
 
 1877 
 
 80 
 
 77 
 
 80.5 
 
 83 
 
 85 
 
 93 
 
 93 
 
 1878 
 
 74 
 
 75 
 
 84 
 
 84 
 
 89 
 
 92 
 
 91 
 
 1879 
 
 78 
 
 79 
 
 81 
 
 85 
 
 89 
 
 91 
 
 92 
 
 1880 
 
 80 
 
 79 
 
 84 
 
 86 
 
 98 
 
 93 
 
 92 
 
 1881 
 
 30 
 
 78 
 
 82 
 
 86 
 
 89 
 
 92 
 
 92 
 
 1882 
 
 80 
 
 81 
 
 83.5 
 
 85 
 
 90 
 
 91 
 
 91.5 
 
 o 
 
 5 
 
 O 
 
 
 
 
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 < 
 P 
 
 a 
 
 CD 
 
 B 
 
 ►1 
 
 
 a- 
 
 
 
 
 
 ^ 
 
 ■ 
 
 88 
 
 83 
 
 80 
 
 88 
 
 83 
 
 81 
 
 85 
 
 82 
 
 80 
 
 89 
 
 85 
 
 81 
 
 89.5 
 
 82.5 
 
 75 
 
 89 
 
 87 
 
 78 
 
 88 
 
 81 
 
 76 
 
 89 
 
 84 
 
 80 
 
 88 
 
 83 
 
 81 
 
 89 
 
 86 
 
 82.5 
 
 87 
 
 84 
 
 78 
 
METEOROLOGICAL. 
 
 107 
 
 MINIMUM TEMPERATURES. 
 
 K 
 a 
 
 e 
 
 5-1 
 
 89 
 
 a 
 
 
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 1 
 
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 1-1 
 
 a 
 
 CO 
 
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 Pi 
 
 B 
 
 o 
 a 
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 B 
 
 c 
 
 
 1871 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 72 
 
 69 
 
 50.5 
 
 43 
 
 
 1872 
 
 39 
 
 46 
 
 50 
 
 68 
 
 65 
 
 71 
 
 72 
 
 71 
 
 71 
 
 58 
 
 37 
 
 35 
 
 
 1873 
 
 37 
 
 47 
 
 38 
 
 65 
 
 03 
 
 72 
 
 69 
 
 71 
 
 72 
 
 57 
 
 42 
 
 40 
 
 
 1874 
 
 42 
 
 50 
 
 55 
 
 55 
 
 59 
 
 70 
 
 70 
 
 71 
 
 67 
 
 64 
 
 50 
 
 49 
 
 
 1876 
 
 51.2 
 
 43 
 
 50 
 
 66.5 
 
 62 
 
 69 
 
 69 
 
 70.5 
 
 69.5 
 
 55.5 
 
 51.5 
 
 42 
 
 
 1876 
 
 42 
 
 51 
 
 44 
 
 66 
 
 61 
 
 70 
 
 67 
 
 72 
 
 69.5 
 
 55 
 
 48 
 
 34 
 
 
 1877 
 
 40.5 
 
 46.5 
 
 50 
 
 55,5 
 
 62 
 
 68 
 
 75 
 
 75 
 
 70 
 
 64 
 
 42 
 
 41 
 
 
 1878 
 
 42 
 
 48 
 
 50 
 
 62 
 
 64 
 
 72 
 
 73 
 
 73 
 
 69 
 
 54 
 
 48 
 
 3S 
 
 
 1879 
 
 33 
 
 44 
 
 55 
 
 48 
 
 04 
 
 6s 
 
 70 
 
 72 
 
 71 
 
 63 
 
 46 
 
 56 
 
 
 1880 
 
 53 
 
 ,52 
 
 49 
 
 53 
 
 65 
 
 67 
 
 69 
 
 70 
 
 67 
 
 57 
 
 49 
 
 39 
 
 
 1881 
 
 45 
 
 46 
 
 49 
 
 46 
 
 65 
 
 71.5 
 
 73 
 
 70 
 
 71 
 
 66 
 
 46 
 
 48 
 
 
 1882 
 
 42 
 
 49 
 
 57 
 
 64 
 
 64 
 
 68 
 
 70.5 
 
 72 
 
 70 
 
 60 
 
 45 
 
 36 
 
 
 Mean op the Maximum and Minimum Temperatures of thk Water at the Ocean 
 
 Bottom at Punta Karsa, Florida, for the Months named. 
 
 Average depth of the water at the place where observations are taken is 11.9 feet. 
 
 <t> 
 P 
 1 
 
 CO 
 
 d 
 
 
 
 to 
 
 e 
 
 CO 
 
 7 
 
 d 
 
 > 
 
 K 
 
 CO 
 
 a 
 
 ■5 1 
 
 > 
 
 a 
 
 d 
 
 SB 
 
 a 
 
 S 
 
 s 
 
 C 
 
 I 
 
 o 
 
 o 
 
 o 
 < 
 
 CD 
 
 c 
 
 a 
 
 a 
 CD 
 
 1878 
 
 60.5 
 
 * 
 
 74.5 
 
 76.0 
 
 83.0 
 
 88.0 
 
 87.5 
 
 86.5 
 
 85.0 
 
 t 
 
 71.5 
 
 64.5 
 
 1879 
 
 62.0 
 
 66.0 
 
 72.0 
 
 75.0 
 
 81.0 
 
 85.0 
 
 86.5 
 
 85.0 
 
 84.0 
 
 78.0 
 
 71.0 
 
 70.5 
 
 1880 
 
 * 
 
 70.5 
 
 74.0 
 
 76.5 
 
 * 
 
 85.5 
 
 88.0 
 
 83.5 
 
 83.0 
 
 78.0 
 
 76.0 
 
 66.5 
 
 1881 
 
 64.5 
 
 66.0 
 
 70.0 
 
 73.5 
 
 81.0 
 
 86.0 
 
 87.6 
 
 84.8 
 
 85.6 
 
 80.6 
 
 73.6 
 
 68.8 
 
 1882 
 
 67.4 
 
 70.0 
 
 74.4 
 
 79.0 
 
 81.8 
 
 85.3 
 
 86.5 
 
 88.0 
 
 85.5 
 
 80.3 
 
 72.1 
 
 65.6 
 
 * Record incomplete. 
 t Thermometer broken. 
 
 PRECIPITATION.— (in inches and hundredths), 
 
 1871 
 1872 
 1873 
 1874 
 1875 
 1876 
 1877 
 1878 
 1879 
 1880 
 1881 
 1882 
 
 2.64 
 6.84 
 2.05 
 0.84 
 0.04 
 1.58 
 4.03 
 0.31 
 3.22 
 4.02 
 0.30 
 
 2.71 
 0.48 
 2.50 
 0.03 
 0.51 
 2.89 
 7.41 
 2.11 
 1.26 
 0.52 
 0.20 
 
 0.69 
 1.59 
 0.08 
 0.70 
 1.35 
 0.84 
 2.24 
 0.14 
 0.03 
 1.18 
 0.15 
 
 1.54 2.88 
 
 3.58 I 9.89 
 0.41 ! 1.27 
 
 4.59 2.07 
 0.88 I 2.73 
 1.09 4.38 
 4.05 5.06 
 
 0.63 
 0.55 
 0.54 
 3.59 
 
 1.42 
 5.32 
 3.13 
 2.61 
 
 0.82 1.95 3.70 
 
 7.16 8.68 
 
 5.21 5.13 
 
 11.94 I 8.06 
 
 3.33 
 
 5.33 
 
 4.34 
 
 16.95 
 
 1.26 
 
 6.59 
 
 4.75 
 
 9.68 
 
 8.22 
 
 6.21 
 
 a. 45 
 
 3.76 
 
 2.53 
 
 3.60 
 
 8.46 
 
 5.58 
 
 4.08 
 9.85 
 5.11 
 
 12.49 
 5.19 
 8.33 
 3.95 
 
 12.75 
 8.55 
 7.28 
 3.62 
 
 15.49 
 
 15.14 
 
 I 9.13 
 
 I 4.73 
 
 6.99 
 
 4.07 
 
 | 4.86 
 
 8.77 
 
 13.78 
 
 I 2.50 
 
 7.20 
 
 4.12 
 
 o 
 
 a 
 o 
 c 
 
 CD 
 
 o 
 < 
 cd 
 
 B 
 c 
 o 
 >1 
 
 1.80 
 
 0.98 
 
 2.82 
 
 0.53 
 
 3.90 
 
 2.83 
 
 0.09 
 
 1.21 
 
 2.08 
 
 1.00 
 
 6.25 
 
 2.56 
 
 1.99 
 
 4.30 
 
 0.56 
 
 0.34 
 
 4.85 
 
 0.35 
 
 8.10 
 
 1.81 
 
 1.58 
 
 0.80 
 
 3.90 
 
 1.04 
 
 3.08 
 
 1.48 
 
 ct 
 o 
 a 
 
 B 
 
 o- 
 
 CD 
 >1 
 
 gel 
 a » 
 
 d 
 
 2.68 
 
 
 1.87 
 
 
 1.67 
 
 60.00 
 
 0.71 
 
 38.16 
 
 1.26 
 
 40.71 
 
 0.47 
 
 44.34 
 
 0.93 
 
 38.99 
 
 1.07 
 
 51.81 
 
 0.52 
 
 46.29 
 
 1.98 
 
 39.53 
 
 1.22 
 
 33.60 
 
 1.10 
 
 34.57 
 
 1.28 
 
 42.61 
 
108 
 
 METEOROLOGICAL. 
 
 MEAN RELATIVE HUMIDITY. — (from the three telegraphic observations. 
 
 * 
 
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 V 
 
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 << 
 
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 «< 
 
 •^ 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 c 
 
 CO 
 
 1 
 
 1873 
 
 79 
 
 75 
 
 74 
 
 73 
 
 74 
 
 75 
 
 76 
 
 78 
 
 80 
 
 73 
 
 74 
 
 78 
 
 1874 
 
 77 
 
 80 
 
 72 
 
 72 
 
 71 
 
 78 
 
 77 
 
 76 
 
 77 
 
 72 
 
 77 
 
 77 
 
 1875 
 
 83 
 
 77 
 
 73 
 
 67 
 
 74 
 
 74 
 
 76 
 
 79 
 
 78 
 
 7G 
 
 81 
 
 74 
 
 1876 
 
 75 
 
 76 
 
 71 
 
 75 
 
 74 
 
 77 
 
 79 
 
 77 
 
 77 
 
 77 
 
 73 
 
 78 
 
 1877 
 
 73 
 
 76 
 
 70 
 
 69 
 
 70 
 
 67 
 
 71 
 
 74 
 
 72 
 
 74 
 
 75 
 
 71 
 
 1878 
 
 78 
 
 74 
 
 74 
 
 73 
 
 70 
 
 77 
 
 79 
 
 77 
 
 77 
 
 70 
 
 70 
 
 69 
 
 1879 
 
 72.7 
 
 70.6 
 
 70.4 
 
 66.7 
 
 70.9 
 
 72 5 
 
 74.8 
 
 78.1 
 
 81.8 
 
 78.3 
 
 71.4 
 
 78.6 
 
 1880 
 
 77.3 
 
 77.2 
 
 71.0 
 
 70.7 
 
 74.8 
 
 75.8 
 
 72.9 
 
 77.0 
 
 75.0 
 
 74.0 
 
 81.0 
 
 74.1 
 
 1881 
 
 79.0 
 
 72.0 
 
 69.0 
 
 72.0 
 
 70.0 
 
 72.0 
 
 73.1 
 
 76 9 
 
 78.2 
 
 73.9 
 
 75.4 
 
 76.2 
 
 1882 
 
 76.3 
 
 72.9 
 
 69.4 
 
 73.8 
 
 70.5 
 
 73.7 
 
 77.1 
 
 77.1 
 
 76.7 
 
 76.2 
 
 71.9 
 
 77.5 
 
 Mean. 
 
 77.2 
 
 175.1 
 
 71.7 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 75 
 
 75 
 
ATWATER & ROBBINS, 
 
 AND DEALERS IN 
 
 Florida Real Estate. 
 
 ALSO, 
 
 Agents for the Purchase and Sale of Northern 
 and Southern Produce, 
 
 FRUITS, VEGETABLES, &e. 
 
 Full information in regard to the West 
 Coast of Florida will be given on applica- 
 tion. Correspondence invited. 
 
 Address, 
 
 ATWATER & ROBBINS, 
 
 PALMA SOLA, 
 
 FLORIDA. 
 
 P. S. — We will select Board (either Hotel or 
 Private), negotiate terms, etc., etc., for parties de- 
 siring to spend the Winter in Florida. 
 
 BBRIMMr.-n 
 
PALMA SOLA LAND CO. 
 
 CAPITAL, $100,000, PAID UP, 
 
 QFFER 13,000 acres of choice Fruit Lands 
 
 in the most tropical part of South Florida. 
 
 10,000 acres of carefully selected Tim- 
 ber Lands, in bodies to suit purchasers. 
 
 Fruit Lands divided into io acre lots, each lot on a 
 broad avenue, affording the best transportation facilities. 
 
 PERFECTLY HEALTHY LOCATION. 
 
 Good Society, Schools and Church. 
 Daily transportation by steamer to present terminus 
 of South Florida R. R. 
 
 Town Lots at low prices, to encourage improvement. 
 Fruit and Vegetable Lands are offered at from 
 
 $5 to $20 per Acre, 
 
 until March ist, 1 885. 
 
 Parties wanting a home in Florida, in a quiet, well 
 ordered community, made up largely of New England 
 people, where no liquor is sold, no fences have to be 
 built, and more conditions favorable to success are found 
 than elsewhere in the State, are requested to come and see 
 for themselves, or address for further information, 
 
 PALMA SOLA LAND CO., 
 
 Palma Sola, Fla. 
 
 4