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 DR. RIGBY'S 
 
 PAPERS ON FLORIDA, 
 
 GIVING A GENERAL VIEW OF EVERY PORTION OF 
 
 TIJE STATE, ITS CLIJJATE, RESOURCES, STATISTICS, 
 SOCIETY, CROPS, TRADE, &c. 
 
 By T. C. RIGBY, M. D. 
 
 Cincinnati: 
 E. MENDENHALL, 
 
 PUBLISHER & BOOKSELLER. 
 1876. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 Page. 
 Historical Sketch of the State of Florida, 5 
 Different Varieties of Soil, productive- 
 ness, etc., 11 
 
 The Climate of Florida — Comparisons 
 with other portions of the world, 
 
 Italy, California, etc., 14 
 
 The Healthfulness of Florida, .... 18 
 Area and Disposition of Lands, ... 20 
 Prices of Land, Homestead Lands, etc., 20 
 The Financial Condition of the State, 
 
 Taxation, etc., 21 
 
 White versus Colored Labor in the 
 
 South, 22 
 
 The Lumber Trade, Extensive Forests, 
 
 etc., 23 
 
 Agriculture and Horticulture, .... 26 
 
 Southern Manufacturing, 26 
 
 Naval Stores, immense productions, . . 28 
 Present Immigration, class of settlers, etc, 28 
 Leon County — Productions, wealth, etc., 29 
 Jefferson County — Its delightful climate, 
 unrivalled attractions, fertility of 
 
 soil, etc., 32 
 
 Madison County — Past wealth in agri- 
 culture, rich lands, general farming 
 
 interest, etc., 33 
 
 Gadsden County — One of the most 
 healthy and productive counties in 
 
 the State, 35 
 
 Wakulla County — The Banner sugar and 
 
 sweet-potato county, 36 
 
 Duval County — Its immense lumber 
 
 trade, etc., 37 
 
 Escambia County — Its agricultural wants, 
 
 rich soil, delightful climate, etc., . 38 
 Santa Kosa County — Its soil, productions, 
 
 stock-raising, etc., ...... 38 
 
 Suwannee County — Its fruit-growing, etc, 39 
 Taylor County — Its extensive stock-rais- 
 ing, future prospects, etc., .... 39 
 
 Nassau County — Its future, prosperity of 
 
 settlers, etc., 40 
 
 Columbia County — Its industrial re- 
 sources, beautiful climate, fruit, etc, 42 
 Clay County — Productions, accessibility 
 
 to market, soil, etc., 43 
 
 Hamilton County — Its farming interests, 
 
 soil, timber, etc., 43 
 
 Liberty and Franklin Counties — Stock- 
 raising, fruit-growing, etc., ... 43 
 Baker County — Naval stores, timber, etc, 44 
 Bradford County — Fruit-growing, naval 
 
 stores, etc., 44 
 
 Jackson County — The Gem of West Flor- 
 ida, fruit-raising, agriculture, etc., . 44 
 
 Washington County — Stock-raising, lum- 
 bering, agriculture, etc., .... 44 
 
 Calhoun, Walton, Holmes, Alachua, Mar- 
 ion and Putnam Counties — Agricul- 
 tural enterprise, fruit-growing, tim- 
 ber, etc., 45 
 
 St. John's County — Market-gardening, 
 
 climate, soil, etc., 46 
 
 Lafayette and Levy Counties — Product- 
 ive Soil, accessibility to good mar- 
 kets, etc., 46 
 
 Valusia County — Fruits, productive soil, 
 beautiful climate, industrial wealth, 
 etc., 46 
 
 Orange County — Orange-growing, rich 
 soil, thriving condition, enterprise 
 of settlers, etc., 48 
 
 Hernando County — Its admirable cli- 
 mate, rich lands, fine timber, etc., . 49 
 
 Sumter County — Its fruit-growing, gen- 
 eral agriculture, energy and zeal of 
 inhabitants, etc., 50 
 
 Manatee County — Stock-raising, abund- 
 ance of game, etc., 51 
 
 Hillsborough County — Its resources, fruit 
 
 growing, etc., 52 
 
 Brevard County — Its natural attractions, 
 
 increasing wealth, good hunting, etc, 53 
 
 Polk County — Stock-raising, genial cli- 
 mate, good markets for productions, 
 etc., 54 
 
 Dade County — Natural curiosities, de- 
 lightful climate, fruit-growing, etc., 54 
 
 Monroe County — Its primitive condition, 
 
 etc., 55 
 
 Jacksonville — Its commerce, industry, 
 
 wealth, etc., ........ 56 
 
 Fernandina — Its future destiny, shipping 
 
 interest, etc., 57 
 
 St. Augustine — The Saratoga of Florida, 
 
 its numerous attractions, etc., . . 58 
 
 St. John's River — Its tropical beauty, etc, 59 
 
 Mandarin — Mrs. Harriet Beecher Stowe's 
 
 residence, etc., 59 
 
 Hibernin, Magnolia, Green Cove Spring, 
 Picolata, Tocoi, Palatka, San Mateo, 
 Welaka — Towns on the St. John's, 
 and their attractions, ..... 60 
 
 The Ocklawaba River — lis natural at- 
 tractions and curiosities, .... 61 
 
 Sanford, Enterprise, New Smyrna, New 
 Britain — Growing towns, and their 
 future prosperity, 62 
 
 Daytona and Halifax City— Thriving 
 
 towns on the Atlantic coast, . . 63 
 
DR. RIGBY'S 
 
 PAPERS ON FLORIDA, 
 
 GIVING A GENERAL VIEW OF EVERY PORTION OF 
 
 TI^E STATE, ITS CLIJJATE, RESOURCES, STATISTICS, 
 SOCIETY, CROPS, TRADE, &c. 
 
 By T. C. RIGBY, M. D. 
 
 Cincinnati: 
 E. MENDENHALL, 
 
 PUBLISHER & BOOKSELLER. 
 1876. 
 

PREFACE, 
 
 In bringing this book before the public, it has been my endeavor to 
 give as brief a description of every portion of the State of Florida as 
 would still give the reader a good, fair knowledge of the different Coun- 
 ties, Cities, Towns, etc. Having visited the State several years ago to 
 recruit my health, and finding the climate so very delightful, I have since 
 spent the greater part of eight years in traveling through the State, visiting 
 every county, investigating its soil, products, etc., to my own satisfaction ; 
 and in a great many instances I have been over the ground several times 
 during this period. A great deal of my travel has been in the saddle, 
 and by this means I have been enabled to explore regions of country that 
 do not generally meet the view of the superficial or main-road traveler. 
 I am not personally interested one dollar in the State of Florida, and what 
 appears in this work is published from a wish mainly to bring, in a pro- 
 per light, before a too often ill-informed public, facts and information which 
 can only be attained by fair research. 
 
 I also bring before the public, as an assistant to the better understanding 
 and locating the different sections herein described, a book entitled "Rigby's 
 Florida Chart and Hand Book." This little book will be found valuable 
 to the reader. See advertisement in back of book. 
 
 Truly, Yours, 
 
 T. C. RiGBY, M. D. 
 
 Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1876, by. T. C. Rigby, in the Office of the 
 Librarian of Congress, at Washington. 
 
 i 
 
PAPERS ON FLORIDA. 
 
 BY T. C. RIGBY, M. D. 
 
 mSTOEICAL SKETCH. 
 
 From the earliest discovery of Florida, 
 in 1497, by Sebastian Cabot, five years 
 after the first voyage of Columbus, up 
 to the present time, she has ever and 
 anon been the subject of considerable 
 interest. As early as 1512 Ponce de 
 Leon landed on her shores in search of 
 health, hoping to find in her glades or 
 forests the rejuvenating fountains of 
 eternal youth. Other Spanish expedi- 
 tions for the conquest of Florida fol- 
 lowed, the most noted of which was that 
 under Hernando de Soto in 1539. This 
 bold and chivalric adventurer, with a 
 thousand mail-clad followers, landed at 
 Tampa Bay (San Esperitu), and amid 
 the hardships and dangers of penetrating 
 and traversing an unexplored country, 
 inhabited by barbarous and hostile sava- 
 ges, made his way northward beyond 
 the present confines of the State, and 
 thence pursued a southward route to the 
 Mississipjji, when his own restless career 
 and that of his ill-starred expedition ter- 
 minated. His failure to find among the 
 natives the precious metals in abun- 
 dance, as his compatriots Pizarro and 
 
 Cortez had done in Peru and Mexico, 
 cooled the ardor of the avaricious Span- 
 iards for conquest and domination in the 
 vast territory then claimed as Florida. 
 The first permanent settlement was 
 made in the sixteenth century, by some 
 French Hugenots, on and near the 
 mouth of the St. John's River. A few 
 years after they were massacred as here- 
 tics and foreigners. A similar fate soon 
 overtook the perpetrators of this bar- 
 barous deed. In 1565 the Spanish gov- 
 ernor, Menedez, founded St. Augustin ; 
 and consequently, for antiquity, its 
 claims to priority over every other place 
 in the United States are conceded to. 
 From this time Florida became a petty 
 colony of Spain, only attracting a little 
 attention now and then during the con- 
 tinental wars of Europe. From 1713 
 to 1784 Florida was a British posses- 
 sion, during which time an Englishman 
 named Turnbull planted a colony of 
 Minorcans at New Smyrna ; but on the 
 recession to Spain the colony was broken 
 up. In 1819 Spain ceded Florida to 
 the United States, and in 1821 the 
 latter took formal possession. 
 
DR. RIOBY'S PAPERS ON FLORIDA. 
 
 During tlie time of nearly Jhree cen- 
 turies of Spanish claim and possession, 
 but a few small settlements had been 
 made along the coast, the principal of 
 ■which was Pensacola. With the deca- 
 dence of the Spanish power in Europe 
 that of the colonies kept pace, and no 
 efforts appear to have been made either 
 to possess and cultivate the soil or to 
 civilize the aborigines. On the other 
 hand it seems that her Indian population 
 received some considerable recessions 
 from those of Georgia and Alabama, so 
 that when Florida was ceded to the 
 United States, it is estimated that there 
 were not exceeding six hundred whites 
 in the territory, while occupied by 
 a tolerably dense Indian popvilation 
 throughout. The number of refugee 
 Indians was so great and preponderating 
 so as to attach the name Seminoles, 
 (meaning refugee, or runaway), to the 
 whole of the Florida Indians. 
 
 It is highly probable that the Span- 
 iards made some efforts to establish a 
 settlement in the extreme southern part 
 of the peninsula, as being nearest and 
 most accessible to Cuba. And there 
 are strong probabilities that they pro- 
 jected and undertook to drain Lake 
 Okechobee, as various completed sec- 
 tions of canal from the Lake to the 
 Caloosahatchie Kiver are still to be 
 seen. In relation to this there is a 
 legend that they had a penal establish- 
 ment on an island in the lake, and that 
 it was with convict labor that this effort 
 to drain the lake Avas made. 
 
 In 1845 Florida was admitted into 
 the Union, and thence on, her political 
 history has been that of the other 
 States, and particularly those of the 
 South. From her cession to the United 
 States to within two years of her seces- 
 sion, Florida was continually the thear 
 ter of hostilities between the General 
 Government and the Seminole Indians. 
 
 The latter were easily driven into the 
 peninsula, but here, with Spartan cour- 
 age and Roman firmness, they resisted 
 alternate coercion and persuasion to go 
 West, and a feeble remnant still re- 
 mains, evincing the instinctive love of 
 country even in the savage breast. The 
 presence of so large a tribe of Indians, 
 together with their frequent and pro- 
 tracted hostilities, retarded the settle- 
 ment of the peninsula for nearly forty 
 years. 
 
 Since the late war the State has at- 
 tracted considerable attention on ac- 
 count of the mildness of its winter cli- 
 mate and fruit growing. But, so far, 
 the eastern part, because of its gi'eater 
 accessibility, has been the only portion 
 much visited or settled. The whole 
 State is generally judged in both soil 
 and climate by what the tourist experi- 
 ences and sees along the St. John's, and 
 thus he fails to arrive at anything like 
 a correct estimate of these two impor- 
 tant features of the State. 
 
 Florida is a much larger State than 
 Iowa or Illinois, containing an area of 
 59,868 square miles, or 37,931,520 
 acres. Very large concessions of these 
 lands have been made to the State by 
 Congress for works of internal improve- 
 ment. The population by census of 
 1870 was 187,748, and Governor Reid, 
 in his message to the Legislature in 
 1872, estimated the increase of the two 
 years at 40,000, and the ratio of in- 
 crease is much higher at present, for a 
 knowledge of the inducements wliich 
 the State offers to settlers have been 
 widely diffused. The mildness of the 
 climate, the productions of the soil, and 
 the cheapness of the land have induced 
 many to emigrate from the Northern 
 States and from Europe, who have in- 
 vested capital in agriculture or lumber- 
 ing, which, at present, are the the lead- 
 ing pursuits of the people and the chief 
 
DR. RIGBY'S PAPERS ON FLORIDA 
 
 sources of wealth. Cotton, corn, sugar- 
 corn, rice, sweet and Irish potatoes, 
 oranges, lemons, pine-apples, bananas, 
 indigo, &c., are the principal crops. 
 The raising of vegetables and fruits for 
 the Northern markets has proved profit- 
 able, and will in a few years add 
 materially to the trade and wealth of 
 the State. 
 
 Comparing the Great West with 
 Florida, I would say: "Having lived 
 in Ohio before the war, and in Indiana 
 since the war, and having traveled ex- 
 tensively over the principal Western 
 States between that time and this, I 
 am able to state, confidently, that there 
 is not anywhere else on earth so vast a 
 body of extremely fertile land as that 
 between the Great Lakes and the 
 Rocky Mountains. As a food-produc- 
 ing region it so for excels Florida 
 that that whole State is not equal to 
 one county in some of the most fertile 
 portions of the Great'West. It will al- 
 ways -have an immense agricultural 
 population, producing a great super- 
 abundance of food and wealth, support- 
 ing great cities, and numerous railways 
 and steamers to transport its surplus 
 produce. Some of it now even reaches 
 Florida, to feed the settlers on its soil. 
 But, with all the great abundance of 
 the \V"est, I would rather live in 
 Florida, than upon the best farm in any 
 of a dozen of those extremely rich 
 States. And for this simple reason : 
 'What profiteth it a man to gain the 
 whole wealth of all the West and lose 
 the enjoyment of this delightful cli- 
 mate ? ' 
 
 "In point of health none of the Wes- 
 tern States can show a record that will 
 compare at all favorably with Florida. 
 Here, it is true, you are subject to 
 malarious diseases ; show me a State in 
 the West that can boast of freedom 
 from such ; and some of them have 
 
 them in greater extent than this, and 
 in a more malignant type. Here, con- 
 sumption, the North's most dreaded 
 enemy, is almost unknown, except 
 when imported. Here, diptheria, an- 
 other scourge of all the Northern and 
 Western States, scarcely, if ever pre- 
 vails. So of pneumonia, scarlet fever, 
 typhus fever and other diseases that 
 are inherent to cold climates. It is 
 true people must and will die there, 
 but while they live they can anticipate 
 a longer life and can live healthier and 
 far more comfortably there than in 
 Northern climates, particularly in old 
 age, or feeble constitutions. 
 
 "Of crops, it is true that Florida will 
 never produce such as grow in the 
 West. I have traveled there forty 
 miles upon a straight line through what 
 appeared as one corn field. I have 
 bought and sold corn there for ten cents 
 a bushel, and I have known it sold for 
 less; and so have I known it used 
 extensively for fuel on account of its 
 depreciated value. 
 
 "It is not at all likely that Florida 
 will ever compete with the West in 
 corn, oats, wheat, and many other food 
 crops, nor in the production of beef, 
 pork, mutton, wool, nor domestic ani- 
 mals ; and I fear it will be a long, long 
 time before I shall see in Florida such 
 a continued succession of handsome 
 farms and farm houses, mills, factories, 
 cities, villages, school houses, churches, 
 and other public and private buildings, 
 as a traveler may see upon every hand 
 as he goes westward of Lake Erie a 
 thousand miles. 
 
 "In the West, apples can be grown 
 for about the same price per bushel as 
 corn ; yet there are many farms without 
 orchards, because it is useless to grow 
 only for the owner's private use, just as 
 it was in Florida a few years ago to 
 grow an abundance of oranges. Now, 
 
DU. RIGBY'S PAPERS ON FLORIDA. 
 
 anywhere within reach of ea$y transpor- 
 tation oranges find a ready market, and 
 the greater the production the better 
 will be the market, and the sales at home 
 or abroad will always be double the price 
 of apples, where they grow almost spon- 
 taneously. Yet the growing of oranges 
 will cost no more than the growing of 
 apples, and very much less than peaches 
 when they are produced in the largest 
 quantities. The locality where they 
 have been grown most abundantly, and 
 at the least cost, is upon the eastern 
 coast of Lake Michigan. 
 
 "Will the market become overstocked 
 if the cultivation of orange trees and 
 the production of other tropical fruits 
 is greatly increased in Florida? This 
 question is often asked, and sometimes 
 in a manner that indicates a belief in 
 the questioner that it certainly will be, 
 and California and other fruit-producing 
 regions are instanced in proof of that 
 belief It is very easy to overstock the 
 market when the fruit is produced 
 solely for home supply, and .so far from 
 the great centres of consumption that it 
 will not bear transportation. That is 
 the reason why fruit culture is not 
 profitable in California. 
 
 "The Florida orange-grower will al- 
 ways have an advantage over all the 
 rest of the world, owing to his geograph- 
 ical position and ability to put his fruit 
 into a score of great cities by cheap water 
 conveyance, in less than a week from 
 the gathering from his trees. Can such 
 a market be overstocked ? Not if there 
 was a sea-going steamer leaving the St. 
 John's every day, and a train of orange- 
 loaded cars leaving Jacksonville every 
 hour. Whoevever has witnessed the 
 arrival of peaches in New York and 
 Chicago, as I have done, and seen how 
 quickly the freight of a large steamer or 
 a long train of cars is absorbed by the 
 dealers to be consumed by a hungry 
 
 multitude, can readily believe this state- 
 ment about the future of the orange 
 trade of Florida. I have no shadow of 
 a doubt but that I shall live to see the 
 Great Southern Railway completed 
 through that State and see it become 
 the greatest carrier in the world of 
 oranges and other semi-tropical fruits 
 to the vast region of consumers North, 
 East and West of Florida, which can- 
 not produce, but will consume these 
 cultivated fruits in such quantities that 
 its extensive area of fruit soil, if every 
 acre was devoted to its production, 
 can never overstock the market. Am 
 I over-sanguine ? Let us reason from 
 analogy. Some persons may remem- 
 ber the first settlements of fruit-growers 
 upon what was called the Barrens of 
 New Jersey, — a vast, flat, sandy and 
 wooded region in the south-eastern part 
 of that State, Fruit-growers traveled 
 extensively through the woods and 
 scrubby oak bushes, and examined the 
 soil, if sand can be called soil, — just such 
 soil as we frequently have in Florida, — 
 and convinced themselves that sandy 
 surface does not always indicate barren- 
 ness. It does, when combined with 
 calcareous matter, and covered with 
 forests and other growth, indicate fit- 
 ness for some profitable products, al- 
 though it may not be adapted to several 
 crops, and may need more artificial fer- 
 tilization than the great Western prair- 
 ies. For the opinion and advocacy of 
 utilizing the Jersey barrens, these fruit- 
 groAvers were laughed at, ridiculed and 
 abused by the press, but it did not stop 
 their determination, nor the influx of 
 settlers upon those Jersey barrens, and 
 the building of some of the most beauti- 
 ful villages in the State, and the es- 
 tablishing of numbers of the most profit- 
 able farms and fruit-gardens. And I 
 have seen at one of those villages, of a 
 fine summer evening, a whole train of 
 
DR. RIOBY'S PAPERS ON FLORIDA. 
 
 railway cars loaded with strawberries to 
 be sent off during the night to that insa- 
 tiable monster, the New York market. 
 And this from a village that had not a 
 business habitation, nor an acre in culti- 
 vation ten years before that time. Did 
 such a train glut the market? No, nor 
 half a dozen others arriving the same 
 day ; nor will a dozen of orange trains 
 glut it; for in this the orange-grower 
 has the great advantage of durability. 
 Strawberries and other small fruit so ex- 
 tensively cultivated in the Northern and 
 Western States, are so perishable that 
 they mus tbe consumed in fewer hours 
 and days than oranges will keep sound 
 for weeks. Besides, the small fruit sea- 
 son lasts fewer weeks than the orange 
 season does months ; and out of season 
 the small fruits are unsaleable, while the 
 oranges are never out of season or out 
 of place upon any table. I grant that 
 fact also applies to apples and pears, 
 which Florida does not produce to any 
 extent, in comparison to the Northern 
 and Western States ; but I contend that 
 oranges can be produced in Florida at 
 the same price per bushel that apples 
 are in Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, 
 Wisconsin, Iowa and Missouri, where 
 they grow to such perfection. I grant, 
 too, that apples are the superior fruit, 
 of far more value in a family than 
 oranges, yet I must also acknowledge, 
 that oranges, in the greatest fruit 
 markets of the country will always 
 outsell apples. 
 
 "At the same time I must admit that 
 the West has advantages over Florida 
 for a person disposed to devote his 
 attention to fruit culture. This is trans- 
 portation. Whatever brings the pro- 
 ducer and consumer together solves the 
 question of profit to whoever tills the 
 soil. In Florida, on the other hand, 
 out of an area larger than New York, 
 where land can be bought for a fraction 
 
 over a dollar per acre, suitable for the 
 cultivation of oranges and other semi- 
 tropical fruits, there are only a few 
 thousand acres available, owing to lack 
 of means of transportation. Of course 
 time will bring this necessity, as the 
 State is more developed. In mere rich- 
 ness of soil the West is incomparably 
 superior to Florida. But that very 
 richness makes production so easy and 
 abundant that farmers reap but small 
 profits from their abundant means of 
 transportation. That is why corn is 
 burned for fuel. Corn in the West is 
 a cheap product and won't bear long 
 transportation. Apples would, but they 
 are perishable, particularly in an atmos- 
 phere that sometimes marks twenty-five 
 degrees below Zero. Still, the inex- 
 haustible richness of soil in the West, 
 and its vast extent of lines of easy 
 transportation, and its great and rapidly 
 increasing population, give it immense 
 advantages to all who can endure its 
 intolerable climate and sea of mud and 
 melting snow. For myself, after what 
 I have experienced in my acquaintance 
 with the West, and having tasted of 
 the sweet fruits of Florida's climate, I 
 have no desire to seek further acquain- 
 tance with any of the Western States, 
 notwithstanding their richness of soil 
 and agricultural products. 
 
 "Winter in the North and West is 
 simply a state of torment, and the heat 
 of summer exceeds the heat of Florida, 
 and the night air is so close and 
 stagnant to often prevent comfortable 
 sleep, — not so in Florida, the nights 
 are cool and refreshing there Avinter 
 and summer. In every point of view, 
 so far as nature is concerned, Florida is 
 far more preferable for human residence 
 to any portion of the Western States. 
 In all artificial respects, Florida must 
 wait patiently on time and work to 
 accomplish improvements, which will 
 
10 
 
 DE. RIOBY'S PAPERS ON FLORIDA. 
 
 follow, of course, an increase of popula- 
 tion. As compared with the AVest, my 
 conclusion, after eight years' knowledge 
 of the State, and traveling over it dur- 
 ing this period pretty thoroughly, is 
 simply this: That in all that makes 
 life desirable, so far as nature has made 
 it, Florida is not only the peer, but the 
 superior, of any of those great mines of 
 agricultural wealth in the States which 
 we have familiarly denominated the 
 Great West, and that the day is not far 
 distant, when the State will compete in 
 population and wealth with any State 
 of the Union." 
 
 The means of transportation are 
 rapidly increasing, new tracts, of coun- 
 try being laid out, extensive saw-mills 
 being erected, and every thing indicating 
 prosperity for the State. Out of thirty- 
 nine counties, twenty-two of them have 
 a seashore border, while the St. John's, 
 the St. Mary's, the Suwannee, the 
 Ocklocknee, the Indian, the Hillsbor- 
 ough, the Halifax, the Chocktuwachie, 
 and the Apalachicola Rivers are na- 
 tural channels of approach to the most 
 interior parts of the State. There are 
 four lines of railroads already esta- 
 blished in the State, one extending 
 from Fernandina, on the Atlantic coast, 
 to Cedar Keys, on the Gulf coast, con- 
 necting at Baldwin with the Jackson- 
 ville, Pensacola and Mobile Railroad, 
 which extends from Jacksonville through 
 the northern tier of counties to the 
 Chattahoochee, at its point of junction 
 with the Apalachicola. The latter line 
 is connected at Live Oak with the Sa- 
 vannah line. Pensacola is connected 
 with Montgomery by the Pensacola and 
 Louisville Railroad. Tallahassee is con- 
 nected with the Gulf by a branch of the 
 Jacksonville, Pensacola and Mobile 
 Railroad ; while St. Augustine is con- 
 i>ected with the St. John's by the St. 
 Aujiustine and Tocoi Railroad. The 
 
 New Orleans, Florida and Havana 
 Steamship Company have a weekly line 
 connecting with the Atlantic and Gulf 
 Railroad at Cedar Keys, and steamers 
 connect with the Jacksonville, Pensacola 
 and Mobile Railroad at Chattahoochee, 
 for Eufula, Montgomery, St. Louis and 
 the Great West. Steamers connect 
 with the New York and Baltimore 
 steamers at Charleston, S. C, and Sa- 
 vannah, Ga., for Jacksonville, Florida, 
 where steamers run daily to the upper 
 St. John's. 
 
 Among the many causes operating 
 favorably in increasing the population 
 and wealth of Florida, has been the 
 confidence universally felt by settlers 
 that every family coming into the State 
 will be protected in life and property, 
 and will not encounter that anarchy 
 and disorder which have convulsed 
 many of the other Southern States. 
 There is nothing that has operated so 
 disastrously to the cause of Southern 
 immigration, as the disorders that have 
 grown out of the late war, and which, 
 in some sister States, still distract socie- 
 ty. It is a matter for profound con- 
 gratulation, that, while the bitterest 
 passions of prejudice and hate have held 
 uncontrolled sway in other 'portions of 
 the South, Florida reposes in absolute 
 peace and forgetfulness of the past, ex- 
 tending the right' hand of fellowship to 
 all, and inviting them ungrudgingly to 
 share the honors equally with the duties 
 of citizenship. The history of late elec- 
 tions furnish a forcible proof of the 
 restoration of that social peace and tran- 
 quility essential to the welftire of any 
 State. Nothing is known of white 
 leagues or those numerous political or- 
 ganizations which flourish through the 
 South, and the existence of which is so 
 repugnant to the spirit of Southern in- 
 stitutions and inimical to the well-being 
 of society. Forbearance and modera- 
 
DR. BIGBY'S PAPERS ON FLORIDA. 
 
 11 
 
 tion have characterized the actions of 
 both races iu that State. As to voting, 
 the Governor, in his last annual mes- 
 sage, says : "Elections have passed with 
 unprecedented order and quiet, and it 
 is believed a fair expression of the peo- 
 ple's will has been had. I have yet to 
 learn of a single collision or disturbance 
 at the polls, between races or opposing 
 parties, growing out of political contest. 
 Freedom of political opinion and action 
 has been accorded alike to all and recog- 
 nized as an essential principle of free 
 government. Equal civil and political 
 rights are denied to none, and the most 
 cordial good-will prevails among all 
 classes of our people. The citizens of 
 Florida are loyal to the Government, 
 and would cheerfully render any assis- 
 tance in their power to uphold and 
 defend it. A patriotism as broad and 
 comprehensive as the American Union 
 possesses their hearts, and I doubt if 
 any State has a more loyal, patriotic 
 and hospitable class of citizens than the 
 people of Florida." 
 
 Governor Stearns is a Republican, 
 and a one-armed veteran of a Maine 
 regiment. He is a model Executive, 
 and his Cabinet is hard to beat (morally 
 and physically). 
 
 SOIL. 
 
 Perhaps in no State of the Union can 
 there be found so great a variety of soil as 
 in Florida. This is at once apparent to 
 agriculturalists, when they take into con- 
 sideration the fact that there is scarcely 
 a vegetable product of any portion of 
 the country that is not to be found 
 flourishing here ; besides, a very long 
 list in which Florida enjoys a monopoly. 
 It has been the practice of ill-informed 
 writers and tourists who have "done 
 the State" to the extent of visiting Jack- 
 sonville or seeing the St. John's bar, to 
 speak of the State as an immense sand- 
 bar. If Florida is nothing but a sand- 
 
 bar, whence all the splendor of vege- 
 table life which is the theme of every 
 traveler who has really examined and 
 traversed the State ? There never Avas 
 a greater mistake. Even in its diluvial 
 formation it differs widely from all other 
 sections of the country, for the greater 
 portion of it is clay intermixed with a 
 calcareous formation. By far the larger 
 portion, however, is a rich alluvium, 
 from which spring the most majestic 
 forms and prodigal display of vegetable 
 life. The immense forests of live oak, 
 water oak, hickory and magnolia, which 
 are to be found iu all parts of the State, 
 and tlie magnificent savannas which 
 cover the southern portions of the State 
 as with an ocean of perpetual verdure, 
 are not the products of sand-bars. When 
 discovered by the Spaniards, centuries 
 ago, it was reported to Spain as a wide- 
 spread sea of vegetation, the splendor of 
 which filled them, with amazement. 
 Probably since the time of its emergence 
 from the ocean it has exhibited just such 
 a scene of luxuriance ; and year after 
 year has the accumulation of decomposed 
 vegetable matter been going on, the 
 result being the formation of some of 
 the richest lands on the continent. Even 
 much of what is called sand is not sand, 
 but soil, which, encouraged by a little 
 fertilization, brings forth abundantly. 
 Most of the poor lands are to be met 
 with in the eastern portion of the State, 
 and those who have made a trip up the 
 St. Johns imagine they have received 
 while going up the river a proper im- 
 pression concerning the soil of the entire 
 State. It is far from being correct, 
 however, for it is not until the stranger 
 has extended his visit to the middle and 
 western counties that he gets a glimpse 
 of the rich lands of Florida. IMadisou, 
 Jeft'erson, Marion, Alachua, Leon, Gads- 
 den, Wakulla, Liberty, Franklin, Tay- 
 lor, Lafayette, Levy and Hernando 
 
12 
 
 DE. RIGBY'S PAPERS ON FLORIDA. 
 
 Counties, embracing what is called 
 Middle Florida, a portion of East 
 Florida and a strip of land along the 
 Gulf coast, can not be excelled anywhere 
 for variety and richness of soil. There 
 is, of course, in every State and Terri- 
 tory of the Union a very large propor- 
 tion of poor lands ; but the ratio of these 
 lands differ greatly in different States. 
 Florida has a due proportion of poor 
 and even worthless lands, but compared 
 with other States, the ratio of her barren 
 and worthless lands is very small. With 
 the exception of the Everglades and 
 some portions of irreclaimable swamp 
 lands, there is scarcely an acre in the 
 State which can not be made tributary 
 to some agricultural production. Recent 
 experiments made with the very poorest 
 quality of pine lands have shown that 
 they are not so worthless as was sup- 
 posed, but can be made, in the hands of 
 industrious and intelligent settlers, to 
 yield abundant crops. 
 
 The bulk of the lands in the State is 
 what is denominated "pine lands", and 
 is divided into first, second and third 
 rate. The soil of the first rate pine land 
 rests upon a substratum of clay or marl, 
 overtoj)ped by a dark mould of decom- 
 posed vegetable matter. This land is 
 exceedingly fertile, producing splendid 
 yields of the most exhausting crops for 
 several years in succession without any 
 need of fertilization. There are large 
 bodies of this class of land scattered 
 throughout the northern tier of counties 
 and along the Gulf coast. 
 
 The second class of pine lands is 
 only a trifle less productive than those 
 of the first class. Generally speaking, 
 these lands are high and rolling, and 
 are characterized by a heavy growth of 
 pitch and yellow pine timber. They 
 rest upon a basis similar to that of the 
 first class, but the mould is lighter, and 
 they show signs of exhaustion, if not 
 
 fertilized, after a few years. A little 
 fertilization, however, restores their vi- 
 gor. Cow-2:)enning is the favorite mode 
 of restoration, and treated in this way, 
 they will yield 300 pounds of cotton to 
 the acre. 
 
 The third class of pine lands is distin- 
 guished by being covered with a growth 
 of saw -palmetto, black jack and a shrub 
 called the gall-berry. The presence of 
 the latter is a certain test of poor soil. 
 Another feature of this land is the pres- 
 ence of "hard" or "slush" pine, the roots 
 of which are to be found running very 
 near the surface. These lands are not 
 worthless, but can only be made to 
 yield remuneratively after much labor 
 and heavy fertilization. Sisal hemp can 
 be grown very successfully on them, 
 and with proper machinery to crush 
 and prepare the fibre for market, their 
 value would be equal to that of any 
 other class of pine lands. 
 
 Thei'e is another species of pine land 
 called by the natives "flat-woods." 
 About four feet from the surface of this 
 land a stratum of w^hat is called sand- 
 rock is found. This is composed of com- 
 mon fine sand, and cemented by sul- 
 phate of iron and aluminum; and a 
 subsoil thus formed is almost impene- 
 trable to moisture. As a consequence, 
 it holds up all the rain-falls, so that the 
 land becomes packed, and is known to 
 the natives as "sobbed land." Such soil 
 is of very inferior quality, and is scarce- 
 ly fit for profitable agriculture. 
 
 But by far the finest lands in the 
 State are known as "swamp", "low 
 hammock" and "high hammock" lands. 
 
 The swamp lands are the richest in 
 the State. They are formed entirely of 
 humus or decayed vegetable matter, of 
 an extraordinary depth, and when i-en- 
 dered fit for cultivation, by drainage 
 and ditching, give evidence of an inex- 
 haustible fertility. It has been demon- 
 
DR. BIGBY'S PAPERS ON FLORIDA. 
 
 13 
 
 strated that these lands will yield four 
 hogsheads of sugar to the acre, — a most 
 convincing proof of their great value, 
 especially when it is borne in mind that 
 sugar-cane is one of the most exhausting 
 crops known. Immense bodies of these 
 lands are located in central and South- 
 ern Florida, Drainage is necessary, 
 however, to render the greater portion 
 available for purposes of agriculture. 
 There are perhaps over a million acres 
 of these lands in the State which can be 
 purchased at from seventy-five cents to 
 a dollar and a quarter an acre. 
 
 The lands denominated "low ham- 
 mock" rank next to the swamp lands in 
 fertility. They are generally moist, 
 and some ditching is required for suc- 
 cessful cultivation. They will sustain a 
 succession of the most exhausting crops 
 for several years with as much apparent 
 vigor as the swamp lands, but are not 
 so durably rich, and need fertilization 
 after some time. 
 
 High hammocks are the most desir- 
 able lands in the State for general pur- 
 poses of agriculture. They are covered 
 with a growth of live oak, hickory and 
 magnolia; and the surface is for the 
 most part high, and gently undulating. 
 The soil is exceedingly rich, and Avill 
 produce all the crops of the country in 
 a highly remunerative degree. Their 
 productiveness is apparent from the fact 
 that three hogsheads of sugar per acre 
 have been made from them. The chief 
 labor connected with their cultivation is 
 the clearing. Once cleared, however, 
 they are free from pernicious weeds and 
 grasses, and but little labor is required 
 in working them. These lands are very 
 abundant. In Levy County alone there 
 are over one hundred thousand acres of 
 first-class hammock land; while in Leon, 
 Gadsden, Jefierson, Jackson, Marion 
 and Alachua Counties, they form the 
 great bulk of the land, and can be pur- 
 
 chased at from two to ten dollars per 
 acre, according to the difierent stages of 
 improvement. 
 
 From this it will be clearly seen that 
 the variety of soil in the State is amply 
 sufficient to meet the preferences of all, 
 and supply the requirements for nearly 
 every character of husbandry. From 
 the very wide scope which vegetation 
 takes in the State, there is every oppor- 
 tunity for selection of croj), and an 
 abundance of the best land can be se- 
 cured to meet such selection. The ham- 
 mock lands produce abundantly of all 
 crops adapted to this climate. Natur- 
 ally, the first settlers select these lands 
 that promise the greatest return for the 
 least labor, and decry the high pine 
 lands. It is underrating too much the 
 resources of modern scientific agricul- 
 ture not to believe these lands capable 
 of producmg a fair profit in return for 
 thorough cultivation. We know of re- 
 peated instances where ordinary pine 
 lands have been fertilized and cultivated 
 in the manner that good farming is 
 practised in other sections of the coun- 
 try, and the returns have far exceeded 
 that of any of the staple productions 
 of the North. 
 
 But the agricultural element of Flor- 
 ida is as yet but a handful of men in an 
 unbroken wilderness. They need help 
 and co-oj^eration. There, beneath a 
 summer sky, where food and warmth 
 and shelter may be had at a minimum 
 expenditure of labor, I would say to the 
 hundreds of idle men in Northern cities, 
 who are vainly seeking to bar the wolf 
 of famine from one door, while trying to 
 close the other against the rigors of an 
 unsparing winter ; and to the thousands 
 of farmers over the broad Territories of 
 the West, who often brood over a deso- 
 lation unequalled by the plagues of 
 Egypt, what you most desire, Florida 
 possesses abundantly. The labor that 
 
14 
 
 DR. EIGBY'S PAPERS ON FLORIDA. 
 
 you can not utilize is her sorest need. 
 But do not be deceived. I paint no 
 Utopia. Though nature is beneficient 
 in her genial climate, she will not open 
 her treasures to the hand of idleness. 
 Here, as elsewhere, the sturdy arm of 
 labor is required to wrest from her grasp 
 the riches of hidden harvests. 
 
 The settler in Florida, particularly if 
 from a Northern State, must remember 
 that the conditions of agriculture there, 
 are as different from those he has left as 
 heat from cold. Many accede to this 
 fact without realizing it. Because they 
 do not find everywhere fields of grain 
 and grass, they come to the conclusion 
 that this is a poor country. It does not 
 seem to occur to them that, because he 
 has to buy his sugar and cotton cloth, 
 he lives in a poor country. They do 
 not think it strange that a man in Mas- 
 sachusetts warms himself by a fire of 
 coal from Pennsylvania, or that the 
 shingles on his house were brought from 
 the forests of Maine or Minnesota, and 
 that the greater part of his grain and 
 grass crop has to be exchanged for 
 these things.' They look upon a field of 
 sugar-cane or a grove of oranges as 
 a curiosity, and not as so much money 
 value return for labor. A cotton field 
 is truly a novelty, but it does not 
 appear to them in the light of a bill of 
 exchange, which the Southern farmer 
 turns at the nearest store for cash, or 
 articles of need or luxury. With plenty 
 of excellent fish in every water course; 
 beef, venison, bear and small game, such 
 as turkey, quail, curlew, snipe and ducks 
 in their season in abundance, also oysters 
 on the sea coast, and a climate fast be- 
 coming recognized as unequalled by that 
 of any other portion of the country, and 
 is not surpassed by delicious Italy, what 
 can man want under the sun else to 
 make him happy, if he will surely exert 
 himself to attain such blessings. 
 
 ; THE CLIMATE. 
 
 The climate is the principal attraction 
 to settlers and visitors ; it is in fact 
 an insular climate ; the Atlantic Ocean 
 on the east and the Gulf of Mexico 
 on the west modify the air that blows 
 over the peninsula, making it cooler 
 in summer and warmer in winter; 
 even in mid -summer the heat never 
 reaches that extreme which is felt 
 in higher latitudes, and during the 
 year round it is the most agreeable and 
 salubrious climate to be found on the 
 Globe. The thermometer rarely falls 
 below 30° in winter, or rises above 
 90° in summer. During the winter 
 the atmosphere is dry and elastic ; 
 nearly six out of seven days are cloud- 
 less ; and during the summer the nights 
 are agreeably cool, it being rarely 
 when one can sleep without the use of 
 slight covering. 
 
 Florida extends from the 25° to the 
 31° north latitude, and lies within 80° 
 and 88° west longitude from Green- 
 wich ; thus comprising about six degrees 
 of latitude and nearly eight of longitude. 
 The State has been likened in shape to 
 a boot, the peninsula constituting the 
 leg, and the continental portion the foot, 
 with the toe to the West. The middle 
 and western divisions of the State, ex- 
 cept near the coast, are elevated and 
 generally rolling ; and this character of 
 the country extends eastward beyond 
 Lake City to the Little St. Mary's 
 River. The country is also elevated 
 and rolling down the middle and wes- 
 tern slope of the peninsula to the 28° of 
 latitude for the latter, and a little fur- 
 ther south for the central ridge. From 
 the St. Mary's River on the north, all 
 along the eastern part of the State, the 
 country is low and level beyond the 
 head waters of the St. John's, and thus 
 continues down the peninsula. The en- 
 tire lower third of the peninsula is low 
 
DR. BIGBY'S PAPERS ON FLORIDA. 
 
 15 
 
 and level, and covered with extensive 
 savannahs, lakes and everglades. A 
 slightly more elevated ridge near the 
 coast, on each side, is to be found in this 
 latter portion. 
 
 Florida has no mountains, nor are 
 there any in Georgia and Alabama of 
 sufficient proximity to her borders to 
 exercise any influence on her climate. 
 In comparison with the St. John's, the 
 other rivers wholly within her borders 
 are small ; and while the majority, like 
 the St. John's, have their sources in 
 lakes and swamps, others appear to be 
 entirely of subterranean origin. This 
 latter feature is peculiarly characteristic 
 of many short but bold and voluminous 
 rivers along the gulf coast of the penin- 
 sula, between the mouth of the Withla- 
 coochie and Tampa Bay. Some smaller 
 streams of a similar subterranean origin 
 are to be found on the western side of 
 the St. John's, into v/hich they empty. 
 In the elevated and rolling sections, 
 most of the rain water escapes through 
 subterranean passages found in sink- 
 holes, into which lead one or more 
 ditch-like ravines with numerous tribu- 
 taries. The soil is mostly a silicious 
 sand, loose and porous in elevated sec- 
 tions, fine and compact in those low and 
 level. In some localities in Middle and 
 West Florida there is some clay soil. 
 
 Exposed as Florida is on the east to 
 the Atlantic and on the south and west 
 to the Gulf of IMexico, and having a 
 large area of level country on the north, 
 her climate, owing to frequent changes 
 in the direction of the wind, may be 
 considered rather variable during winter 
 and spring as regards transitions of tem- 
 perature. During March, 1873, the 
 minimum temperature at Punta Rossa 
 was 38°, a degree of cold sufficient for 
 light frost in the interior elevated dis- 
 tricts. At the same place in December, 
 1872, the minimum was 35°, which 
 
 may be considered as fully representino- 
 a light frost in the interior. A tempera- 
 ture of freezing, 32°, for March has oc- 
 casionally occurred at Tampa, and light 
 frosts for the same month are almost an 
 annual occurrence. The average mini- 
 mum temperature at Tampa, for winter, 
 for a period of twelve years, is 34° 4'; 
 though the thermometer may some win- 
 ters fall even below 30°. It was down 
 to 30° in 1843, 1849 and 1852. In 
 1857 the thermometer fell to 26° at 
 Tampa, 32° at Fort Myers, 29° at 
 Fort Pierce on Indian River, and to 
 30° at Fort Dallas on the Miami. In 
 1835 the thermometer is said to have 
 fallen at Fort King, near Beala, one 
 degree north of Tampa, to 11°, or 
 21° below freezing. At the same date 
 it is reputed to have fallen to 7° in the 
 latitude of St. Augustine, and that all 
 kinds of fruit trees were killed in the 
 ground and extensive orange groves 
 destroyed; 
 
 Remembering that Fort Dallas is 
 low down on the eastern coast of the 
 peninsula, below the 26th degree of 
 latitude, it becomes very questionable 
 whether there is any part of the penin- 
 sula universally exempt from frost, 
 though still of not sufficient intensity to 
 materially affect tropical plants. Such 
 depressions are never of much intensity, 
 however, south of the 29th degree of 
 latitude as to jeopardize bearing sweet 
 orange trees, though sometimes fatal to 
 those of only a few years' growth, and 
 such perennial tropical plants as the 
 banana, pineapple, etc. In these un- 
 usual depressions, however, this climate 
 forms no exception, as the same thing 
 does occur in the milder temperate lati- 
 tudes of the eastern hemisphere. 
 
 The maximum temperature of summer 
 generally ranges from 92° to 95°, rarely 
 exceeding the latter except in the north- 
 ern part of the State. This fact is so 
 
16 
 
 DR. BIOBY'S PAPERS ON FLORIDA. 
 
 contrary to the impression generally en- 
 tertained by the public outside of the 
 State, that to many the statement ap- 
 pears at first incredible. It need not 
 appear so strange, however, when it is 
 remembered that in the north temperate 
 zone the days are longer and the nights 
 shorter during summer as we advance 
 from the lower to the higher latitudes, 
 and that consequently the rays of heat 
 from the sun are longer concentrated on 
 the earth's surface with a proportionately 
 shorter night for cooling by radiation. 
 The reverse being the case in winter, it 
 is thus that an equal distribution of heat 
 for the year in the lower and higher 
 latitudes of the same zone is insured, the 
 ■winter deficiency being compensated by 
 the summer excess. 
 
 The regular alternation of the land 
 and sea breezes, the latter being the 
 cooler by several degrees, greatly amel- 
 iorates also the summer heat of Florida, 
 and marked so all along her extensive 
 coast. The climate of Florida is re- 
 markably equable and proverbially 
 agreeable, being subject to fewer atmo- 
 spheric variations, and its thermometric 
 ranges much less than any other part of 
 the United States, except a portion of 
 the coast of California. 
 
 Another element to be considered is 
 humidity of the atmosphere, and the 
 amount of rainfill. Regarding the hu- 
 midit}'- of the atmosphere, the amount 
 of data is so imperfect, and the positions 
 of the few signal stations too unlike and 
 peculiar individually to allow of any at- 
 tempt at generalization. Yet their gen- 
 eral tendency is to correct an erroneous 
 impression entertained by some, that 
 there is greater humidity for the winter 
 the lower the peninsula is descended. 
 The mean monthly percentage of rela- 
 tive humidity gives pretty nearly tlie 
 same for all four signal stations. But it 
 must be evident that that for Puuta 
 
 liossa— from its littoral position — can 
 not be considered as fairly representing 
 the interior of the peninsula, from the 
 greater humidity of the atmosphere al- 
 ways present on the coast. While there 
 is no great variation from the annual 
 mean for any season, yet spring shows 
 the least percentage. The relative per- 
 centage of humidity is, however, not in 
 excess of that of the Atlantic States, nor 
 of California during winter, as observed 
 at San Francisco and San Diego, so far 
 as a cursory examination enables me to 
 judge. The saline impregnation of this 
 moisture, arising from the Atlantic and 
 the Gulf, doubtless' imparts to it also 
 antiseptic and salubrious properties. 
 
 The rainfall in Florida is not charac- 
 terized by uniformity as to amount for 
 different years and same seasons, nor as 
 regards sections and localities. This var- 
 iation from the mean is greater in excess 
 than deficiency. In 1840 the rainfall 
 at Tampa was 89 inches, and in 1854, 
 G9 inches, yet the minimum rainfall has 
 never been below 40 inches during the 
 same period of observation. Again, at 
 Pensacola, in 1875, it amounted to 77 
 inches. The exposed position of St. 
 Augustine immediately on the Atlantic, 
 accovuits to some extent for the smaller 
 average rainfall at that place as com- 
 pared with other points in the State. 
 The same applies to Punta Rossa as a 
 signal station, though hardly with equal 
 force, as the latter is not quite so ex- 
 posed to the open sea. The well-known 
 fact that there is less rain on the coast 
 than in the interior is a sufficient explan- 
 ation. The rain is not equally distribu- 
 ted through the year, but is so much 
 frequenter in summer as to specially 
 denominate that the rainy season. 
 
 From a close comparison of data, I 
 find that as a rule the summer rain in 
 Florida is three times more than that of 
 winter. This, taken in connection with 
 
DR. EIGBY'S PAPERS ON FLORIDA. 
 
 the mean annual rainliall of the Atlantic 
 Gulf States and the ■winter rainfall of 
 the Pacific States, demonstrates the win- 
 ter climate of Florida to be a compara- 
 tively dry one, especially that of the 
 peninsula. As nearly all the ports 
 where meteorological observations were 
 made are on the peninsula, it is presum- 
 able that this estimate more fully repre- 
 sents that section than it does the north- 
 ern portions of the State. It is only the 
 peninsular portion of the State that has 
 a climate of its own, markedly different 
 and distinct from that of the northern 
 portions of the State, which possess no 
 distinctive features from similar sec- 
 tions, contiguous to the coast, of the 
 other Gulf States. The winter climate 
 of the peninsula is dry, and this dryness 
 becomes more marked as the peninsula 
 is descended. 
 
 When the climate of Florida is com- 
 pared with that of any other of the 
 United States, its superiority becomes 
 apparent. As to dryness of winter cli- 
 mate, the peninsula compares favorably 
 with Lower California. If compared to 
 the drier ones of Arizona, New Mex- 
 ico and the lower Rio Grande, we find 
 there a greater thermometric range, 
 a less equable temperature with a lower 
 mean, and much greater summer heat. 
 And considering the soil of those wes- 
 tern dry sections, it is evident that this 
 arid condition of their atmosj)here must, 
 of itself, be a very serious drawback. 
 The soil being sandy, and in many 
 places alkaline, can not fail to charge 
 the air with fine particles of dust, which 
 would prove more or less injurious to 
 the lungs. 
 
 The climate of Florida may really be 
 classed as comprising two seasons, — 
 eight months of summer and four of 
 warm weather. But it must be borne in 
 mind that, with the summer in Florida 
 is not to be associated the extreme heat 
 2 
 
 which characterizes not only the other 
 Southern States, but the Northern 
 States also. At no time within a period 
 extending back for twenty years, has 
 the thermometer thus indicated an ex- 
 treme of heat as great by several de- 
 grees as that of any other of the South- 
 ern States, and many of the Northern 
 States. During the memorable hot sea- 
 son of 1872, when the thermometer in 
 New York, Boston, and other places 
 farther north showed occasionally a tem- 
 perature of 104 degrees, the highest 
 range attained in Florida was only 96 ; 
 and only twice was it observed at this 
 hight. Then, if we take the mean 
 average range throughout the entire 
 summer, it will be found that it is only 
 a few degrees higher than that of the 
 Northern States. 
 
 The northern tier of counties are visi- 
 ted by frost occasionally in the winter, 
 but it is generally very slight. It ap- 
 pears there usually in December, and 
 seldom shows itself later than the middle 
 of February. The central counties are 
 visited also by frost, but its presence is 
 rather Avelcome than otherwise. The 
 southern counties however, are entirely 
 exempt from it, and tropical fruits, the 
 most sensitive to cold, flourish there 
 unmolested. A dish of strawberries, or 
 a plate of green peas grown in the open 
 air in the month of January, can not 
 but present evidence, as convincing as 
 it is agreeable, of the salubrity of the 
 climate, while the presence of trees and 
 shrubs in full foliage, and gardens filled 
 with thrifty vegetables at a time when 
 all nature is wrapped at the North in a 
 winding sheet of snow, bespeak climatic 
 conditions understood by all. To those 
 who have become tired of the rigors of 
 the northern winters, or seek an escape 
 from the extremes of both heat and cold, 
 Florida ofiers a geniality and grateful- 
 ness of climate that is unsurpassed. 
 
18 
 
 DR. BIGBY'S PAPEBS ON FLORIDA. 
 
 HEALTHFULNESS. 
 
 The healthfulness of Florida is one of 
 its chief characteristics, ami its sanative 
 influences are so well recop-nized, that it 
 has become of late yeai-s a kind of 
 asylum for invalids from all parts of the 
 country. Nowhere in the State do you 
 meet among the native population, or 
 those who have resided in the State any 
 length of time, those violent forms of 
 disease which are met with in all the 
 other States. It is true you meet the 
 consumptive, the rheumatic, the dys- 
 peptic and the debilitated, but in almost 
 every instance they are strangers to the 
 soil, and have sought the State to bask 
 in its sunshine and drink in the life- 
 giving influences with which its air is 
 laden. Of course in a country exhibit- 
 ing such an exuberance of vegetation 
 as Florida, and where the breath of 
 winter is scarcely felt, the presence of 
 malaria is to be expected ; but the di- 
 seases arising from malarial influences 
 are limited to the very mildest forms of 
 fevers and bilious complaints. There 
 are no such uncomfortable and danger- 
 ous symptons of malarial poisoning met 
 with in Florida as manifest themselves 
 in various parts of the States of New 
 York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Illinois and 
 Indiana, Bilious fever of a remittent 
 character is prevalent, but it yields 
 readily to proper treatment. Intermit- 
 tent fever is also common, but it is 
 rarely attended with dangerous results, 
 as the mode of treatment is well under- 
 stood. But in many parts of the State 
 even these forms of fever are unknown. 
 St. Augustine has long enjoyed an ex- 
 emption from all malarial fevers. Jack- 
 sonville is equally favored. In Pensa- 
 cola malarial fevers are seldom met 
 with in the practice of the city physi- 
 cians. In fact, at scarcely any point 
 along the Atlantic coast are malarial 
 fevers troublesome. In many parts, too, 
 
 of the interior the inhabitants enjoy the 
 same exemption. In any case, from my 
 observation, the tourist or settler may 
 rely on it that he is no more liable to 
 suffer from fever in Florida than in any 
 other section of the country. 
 
 For consumptives, or those suflfering 
 from chronic disorders of the mucous 
 membranes, whether of the air passages 
 or of the digestive organs, Florida pre- 
 sents an asylum such as no other part of 
 the United States can furnish. There is 
 not a case in which a warm, moist air is 
 needed to soothe and quiet the lungs 
 and throat, in which the climate of 
 Florida will not prove a specific, — and 
 in nine-tenths of the cases this is what is 
 demanded. There are some cases in 
 which a dry atmosphere is preferable, 
 but even in these the interior part of 
 the State — Gainesville for instance — 
 oflfers every possible chance for a cure of 
 the disease. The curative, or at least, 
 palliative properties of certain prepara- 
 tions of the pine tree, so well known to 
 resident physicians, assisting in a great 
 measure the entire recovery. Here are 
 vast forests of pines, breathing forth 
 their balm till the whole air is fragrant 
 with it, and if there is a possibility of 
 relief for the unfortunate victim of con- 
 sumption, this, in conjunction with the 
 genial sunshine and soft, balmy atmos- 
 phere, will effect it. Any amount of 
 testimony could be given as to the cura- 
 tive effects of the climate here on con- 
 sumptives. There are thousands of in- 
 dividuals throughout the State enjoying 
 excellent health, and the prospect of 
 long lives, who were the most un- 
 doubted victims of the disease, and 
 who would have been in their graves 
 had they not changed their Northern 
 homes for homes in the State. Of 
 course there are a great many Avho go 
 only to find their graves. They have 
 lingered at the North until the disease 
 
DR. RIGBY'S PAPERS ON FLORIDA. 
 
 19 
 
 has fostered itself upon their vitals 
 beyond the possibility of recovery. 
 Their skeleton forms may be seen every 
 day. They go to that State expecting 
 the climate to work a miracle upon them 
 — a miracle no less stupendous than life 
 from the dead. To such I have only a 
 few words to say — stay at home. 
 
 To the invalid I would further say, 
 there is danger, however, in this balmy 
 climate — you may feel too well, and, 
 forgetting the almanac, come home too 
 soon. And this is the true reason why 
 many are rather injured than benefitted 
 by a winter in Florida — they come home 
 too soon. One really becomes confused 
 about the seasons ; summer and winter 
 are so jumbled together that, between 
 the almanac and the weather, you are 
 completely confused. You date your 
 letters "January," and yet you are sit- 
 ting by an open window without a fire, 
 and feel as though May had come ; you 
 have had so long a spring that you 
 think it must surely be midsummer; 
 feeling well, you start homeward, and 
 find that at your journey's end you have 
 left May behind and gotten into Jan- 
 uary. Your frame rendered more 
 susceptible to cold by the winter's 
 warmth which you have been enjoying, 
 is easily affected, and -you suffer by the 
 change, and suffer severely. Go to 
 Florida as fast as you choose — but, if 
 you value life, come away slowly ; it is 
 a dangerous climate for the invahd to 
 leave. Feel your way home gradually ; 
 judge by your sensation, and journey 
 accordingly; go to Savannah, then to 
 Charleston, then to Aiken ; then halt, 
 and read the papers to learn whether 
 there has been snow about the lakes. 
 If there has, wait until the snow melts, 
 and the blue birds begin to sing, then 
 proceed leisurely, and let June find you 
 in your, northern home. A better plan 
 perhaps would be to follow the straw- 
 
 berries. In early April you will find 
 them abundant in Tallahassee, march 
 with their ripening, and come slowly 
 North, eating as you go. By the Avay, 
 no fruit is better for the invalid ; and 
 although God could assuredly make a 
 better berry, yet he certainly never did. 
 Travelers, invalids especially, should 
 have an almanac of leaves, flowers and 
 fruits as guides and regulators of tem- 
 perature. 
 
 The climate of Florida is also well 
 adapted for the cure of rheumatism ; in 
 fact it may be regarded as a specific for 
 this disease. By a regular warmth of 
 the body, the skin is kept in a continual 
 moisture, and the pores are thus ren- 
 dered active, and the disease is elim- 
 inated and the pains lessened. Again, 
 under this condition the fibrine in the 
 blood is diminished, and the secretions 
 of all the organs of the body are in- 
 creased. Add to these influences the 
 bathing in the tepid Sulphur Springs, 
 and the cure is complete. 
 
 I will conclude this topic with the 
 following extract fi-om Surgeon-General 
 Lawson's late report of the health of 
 Florida compared with other States : 
 
 "The statistics collected by this Bu- 
 reau demonstrate fully the fact that the 
 diseases resulting from malaria are of a 
 much milder type in the peninsula of 
 Florida than in any other State of the 
 Union. These records show that the 
 ratio of deaths to the number of cases 
 has been much less than among the 
 troops serving in any other portion of 
 the United States. In the Middle Di- 
 vision of the United States the propor- 
 tion is one death in thirty-six cases ; in 
 the Northern Division, one to fifty-two; 
 in the Southern Division, one to fifty- 
 four ; in Texas, one to seventy-eight ; 
 in California, one to one hundred and 
 twenty-two ; in New Mexico, one to 
 one hundred and forty-eight ; while in 
 
20 
 
 DB. RIGBY'S PAPERS ON FLORIDA. 
 
 Florida it is but one to two hundied 
 and eighty-seven. The general health- 
 fulness of Florida, particularly on its 
 coast, is proverbial. The average an- 
 nual mortality of the whole peninsula, 
 from returns in this office, is found to 
 be 2.0G per cent., while in the other 
 divisions of the United States it is 3.05 
 per cent. In short, it may be asserted 
 without fear of refutation, that Florida 
 possesses a much more healthy, agree- 
 able and salubrious climate than any 
 other state or Territory in the Union." 
 
 AREA AND DISPOSITION OF LANDS. 
 
 Florida contains an area of 59,268 
 square miles, or 37,931,520 acres. Very 
 large concessions of these lands have 
 been made to the State by Congress for 
 works of internal improvement. Ac- 
 cording to the record of the Land 
 Office, there have been sold 1,832,431 
 acres ; entered under the homestead law, 
 389,147 acres; granted for military ser- 
 vices, 465,942 acres ; officially approved 
 under railroad grants, 1,760,468 acres ; 
 approved as lands given to the State, 
 10,901,207 acres ; granted for internal 
 improvements, 500,000 acres ; granted 
 for schools and universities, 1,000,663 
 acres ; granted to individuals and com- 
 panies; 52,114 acres; granted for deaf 
 and dumb asylums, 20,954 acres; and 
 confirmed private land claims, 3,784,303 
 acres. The quantity of land remaining 
 unsold. 17,202,459 acres. 
 
 PRICES OF LAND, HOMESTEAD LANDS, &C. 
 
 Lands can be purchased in the State 
 at from seventy -five cents to one hun- 
 dred dollars per acre. Of course, where 
 land commands the latter price, it is lo- 
 cated near cities or towns, is highly im- 
 proved, or is particularly desirable for 
 orange culture. The State has nearly 
 seven millions of acres of what are 
 known as swamp lands. (See under 
 article on soil.) These lands are intrin- 
 sically the most valuable in the State, 
 
 and can be purchased for seventy cents 
 per acre, and can be had in quantities 
 to suit the purchaser. In addition, the 
 State has 220,000 acres of land known 
 as internal improvement land, which 
 can be bought at from ^1.25 to S^S.OO 
 per acre. Then there are 600,000 acres 
 of school and seminary land, subject to 
 sale at $1.25 per acre. The number of 
 acres belonging to the General Govern- 
 ment is over seventeen millions. This 
 land can only be secured by homestead 
 entry. It is nearly all first-class land, 
 and as the immigrant can get possession 
 of 160 acres by paying the sum of 
 $14.00 at the time of entry, it is ex- 
 ceedingly desirable to all whose avail- 
 able resources may be limited. Im- 
 proved lands, that is, those having 
 buildings and farms erected thereon, 
 can be purchased in almost any part of 
 the State at from $2 to $10 per acre, 
 and there is a vast quantity of unim- 
 proved lands in the hands of individuals 
 which are held at prices varying from 
 fifty cents to $10 per acre. The rail- 
 road lands, given by the State and 
 the United States to aid in their con- 
 struction, are held at $1.00 to $1.50 per 
 acre. 
 
 Much of the finest lands in the State 
 are in the hands of parties, or their heirs, 
 who obtained them from the Spanish 
 and English Governments. They are 
 known as Spanish and English grants, 
 the validity of the titles to which has 
 been recognized by the Courts of the 
 United States. The land covered by 
 these grants, is held at from $1 to $10 
 per acre. 
 
 Thus it will be seen that land can be 
 had at almost any price to suit the re- 
 sources of the immigrant. There need 
 be no drawback on this account, for in 
 no other sections of the country can 
 land be purchased at more reasonable 
 rates. 
 
DR. BIGBY'S PAPERS ON FLORIDA. 
 
 21 
 
 TAXATION, AND THE FINANCIAL CONDI- 
 TION OF THE STATE. 
 
 Of course these are topics of great im- 
 portance. Florida is not exempt from 
 taxes. There, as almost everywhere 
 else, taxes are complained of as heavy, 
 but a careful comparison between the 
 rate of taxation there and in the other 
 States of the Union, places the State in 
 a very favorable light. From the most 
 reliable statistics it is seen that the rate 
 of taxation per capita is higher in thirty 
 States of the Union than Florida. As 
 a consequence, the share of the burden 
 imposed by taxation, which falls to each 
 individual, is lighter there than in most 
 of the other States ; and it is not lighter 
 by a fraction of a dollar merely, but com- 
 pared with three-fourths of the States it 
 is a great deal lighter. For instance : 
 The rate of taxation per capita in New 
 York is seventeen dollars ; in Connecti- 
 cut, eleven ; in New Hampshire, ten ; 
 in Rhode Island, nine ; in Ohio, eight ; 
 in Iowa, seven ; in Pennsylvania, six ; 
 in Kentucky and Missouri, four ; while 
 in Florida it is only two dollars and 
 sixty cents. 
 
 According to the statistics of the 
 State, the property-holder has the priv- 
 ilege of fixing the value of his pro- 
 perty. The amount levied as the State 
 tax for the past year was about thirteen 
 mills on the dollar, — $1.30 on every 
 $100. 00. Besides this, property in the 
 State is liable to a school and county tax 
 of one cent on the dollar. This would 
 make an aggregate tax of $2.30 on 
 every §100.00. This compares favora- 
 bly Avith other States. 
 
 Much has been said, and much has 
 got abroad, which is false concerning 
 the financial standing of Florida. The 
 State has been represented as hopelessly 
 bankrupt, without credit, and without 
 a dollar in her treasury. This has been 
 entirely the work of partisanship, and 
 
 has no foundation in fact. The follow- 
 ing items from the late Comptroller's 
 report, will exhibit the true financial 
 condition of the State : 
 
 There are outstanding $220,506.77 of 
 Comptroller's warrants and Treasurer's 
 certificates, bearing no interest, receiv- 
 able for taxes, which will be absorbed 
 by the taxes collected this year. 
 
 The act of 1873 authorized the issue 
 of $1,000,000 of bonds, bearing 6 per 
 cent, gold interest, and maturing in 
 thirty years, $500,000 to be sold at not 
 less than 80 cents net. Of these, the 
 $265,000 mentioned above have been 
 sold, and 379 of the hypothecated bonds 
 of 1868 and 1869 have been redeemed 
 and cancelled, and the rest under hy- 
 pothecation will be redeemed Avhen 
 presented. 
 
 There remains $235,000 of the gold 
 bonds to be sold. When this is accom- 
 plished, and the other $500,000 of these 
 bonds are applied to the redemption of 
 the outstanding bonds named in the act, 
 then the debt will be as follows : 
 
 Bonds of 1871, $350,000. 
 
 Bonds of 1873, 1,000,000. 
 
 School and seminary debt, 262,045. 
 
 Total, $1,612,045. 
 
 A tax of four mills upon the dollar is 
 levied upon the real and personal pro- 
 perty of the State to pay interest upon 
 and form a sinking fund for the re- 
 demption of the bonds of 1873, and this 
 tax can be applied to no other purpose. 
 The valuation of taxable property 
 being $30,000,000, there will be levied 
 a tax of $120,000 for this purpose; 
 allowing very liberally for delinquency. 
 This will pay the interest and form 
 a sinking fund of at least two per cent, 
 upon the principal of the bonds, and at 
 the present increase in improvements 
 throughout the State, with the constant 
 increase of taxable improvements, will 
 
22 
 
 DE. EIGBY'S PAPERS OX FLORIDA. 
 
 swell this amount so that the sinking 
 fund will bo sufficient to call in bonds 
 before maturity. 
 
 The Comptroller is directed by law of 
 1871 to apportion annually among the 
 several counties such an amount as will 
 pay the interest and one per cent, of the 
 principal of the bonds of 1871. 
 
 One hundred and thirty-two thousand 
 dollars of the bonds known as "out- 
 standing bonds," are held by the Indian 
 Trust Funds in Washington, and the 
 claims of the State of Florida against 
 the United States during the Indian 
 war will be sufficient to extinguish this 
 amount at maturity. 
 
 In 1870 the State loaned its credit to 
 the Jacksonville, Pensacola and Mobile 
 Railroad Company by the issue of bonds 
 to the amount of $4,000,000, taking a 
 first mortgage for a similar amount 
 upon the road as security, of which 
 amount about $3,000,000 have been 
 sold. 
 
 No other bonds in aid of railroads are 
 oustanding, and no more will be issued, 
 as an act entitled "An act relating to 
 the indebtedness of the State" prohibits 
 the further issuing of bonds for any 
 purpose whatever. 
 
 There is no State on a sounder basis 
 than Florida is at present, and with the 
 high standard of the incoming popula- 
 tion, it is probable that she may become 
 in future a pattern for sister States. 
 
 COLORED LABOR. 
 
 To those who are seeking an oppor- 
 tunity to invest capital in the South, 
 and who may have their eyes turned 
 toward the advantages offered in Flor- 
 ida, the character of the labor available 
 must be a matter of no little importance. 
 As throughout most of the other South- 
 ern States, the labor on which the 
 capitalist must depend for the develop- 
 ment of his schemes is colored labor. In 
 
 spite of the slanders of his enemies, time 
 and experience, which prove, all things, 
 have demonstrated that the South will 
 have to rely on the colored man to sup- 
 ply the bone and sinew for the develop- 
 ment of her resources. No other char- 
 acter of labor has yet been found to take 
 the place of colored labor, and the num- 
 erous expei'iments which have been 
 made in white labor of different nation- 
 alities, though hailed at first as giving 
 great promise of success, have not met 
 the expectations of the experimenters, 
 but have in every instance operated to 
 render more clear and incontestible the 
 superiority of colored labor there and 
 throughout the South. His habits, his 
 nature, his temperament, his training, 
 and the conditions of climate are all in 
 favor of the colored man, and give him 
 the advantage over all other competitors. 
 It has been said flippantly by politi- 
 cians and detractors of the colored man 
 that he will not work, that he is hope- 
 lessly lazy, and that his conception of 
 freedom is exemption from toil. This 
 has been said in a general way ; but un- 
 fortunately for the truth of the reproach, 
 his culminators have never been able to 
 bring their assertions under the dominion 
 of facts to prove that it is so. There are 
 thousands of lazy white persons in the 
 Southern States, who loaf about the 
 corners of the streets, drinking whiskey 
 and talking perpetually of enterprise 
 coming down South — as if enterprise 
 were something to be brought in a box 
 and opened in their midst — and who are 
 ever ready to declaim on the laziness of 
 the "cussed niggers." But this charge 
 has never assumed a more specific form, 
 and is never made by any only known 
 opponents of the political equality of the 
 colored man. The fact is, that notwith- 
 standing all the disadvantages he lias 
 had to contend with, the colored man 
 has given since his emancipation the 
 
DE. RIGBY'S PAPERS ON FLORIDA. 
 
 23 
 
 most positive and surprising proof of his 
 industry— an industry that is constantly 
 increasing, and that has supplied him 
 with comforts, enabled him to build 
 churches, found charitable institutions 
 of his own, and exhibits itself to-day in 
 the vast bulk of the agricultural pro- 
 ducts of the South. Nothing was heard 
 of laziness of the colored man before his 
 emancipation. He was then made to 
 work ; but if he is lazy now, how is it 
 that there has been no falling off in the 
 productions of the South, but on the 
 contrary a vast increase under many 
 heads ? Two of the pet-theories of the 
 pro-slavery advocates during the war 
 were the degeneracy of the colored man, 
 upon gaining his freedom, into a lazy, 
 good-for-nothing vagabond, and, as a 
 necessary sequence, the extinction of his 
 race. Are there any so dishonest or ig- 
 norant who will not say that never have 
 theories received such a signal refutation 
 by facts as these ? I do not contend 
 that the colored man is a model of indus- 
 try, but I contend that he is not lazy, 
 and that the true and highest interest 
 of the South lies in fostering his assist- 
 ance, and in the spirit of justice and 
 humanity enabling him to work out the 
 problem of his progress. 
 
 Where it is found that the colored 
 man will not work, if pains are taken to 
 inquire into the circumstances, it will 
 very generally be found also that his 
 unwillingness proceeds from a suspicion 
 that his wages are precarious or a con- 
 viction that they are insufficient. There 
 are few white laborers who would mani- 
 fest great alacrity in going to work 
 under such impressions. Where wages 
 are in a fair degree remunerative and 
 certain, the colored man is ready to do 
 what he can do, and do it with all his 
 might. How he nerves himself to such 
 ill-paid labor as falls to his lot is a 
 matter for surprise ; and surprise be- 
 
 comes astonishment when we think of 
 the results which he achieves out of his 
 scanty earnings. He pays doctor's bills, 
 provides clothing for himself and wife, 
 supports the non-producing members of 
 his family, gives to his church and 
 to charitable institutions, and, in short, 
 manifests a careful and exacting econ- 
 omy entirely at variance with habits of 
 indolence or laziness. This thriiliness 
 on the part of the colored man has been 
 one of the greatest boons to the South. 
 It has enabled him to exist on the 
 smallest possible allowance ; and at no 
 time since the war have the resources of 
 planters been much more than equal to 
 discharge the minimum of expense, and 
 must have fallen far short of meeting 
 their obligations if the work done had 
 been performed at the prices demanded 
 for white labor. Colored labor is the 
 cheapest, and therefore just the kind 
 suited to the South, especially in its 
 present condition. This fact must 
 weight also with capitalists, for other 
 things being equal, the returns from an 
 investment must increase in proportion 
 to the cheapness of the labor employed. 
 The day is not far distant Avhen a 
 proper value will be put on colored 
 labor throughout the South, and when 
 it will meet with a much better reward 
 than at present. Instead of degenera- 
 ting into a vagabond or a barbarian, 
 according to the speculations of his de- 
 tractors, the colored man is to-day ful- 
 filling the expectations of his friends, 
 surprising those who, wishing him well, 
 had yet pitifully distrusted him in his 
 new career, and is giving the very best 
 answer to his culminators by his indus- 
 try, self-reliance, and other great proofs 
 of progress, against which no misrepre- 
 sentation can long prevail. 
 
 THE LUMBER TRADE. 
 
 First in the list of Florida's produc- 
 tions I place lumber, as it holds at 
 
24 
 
 DE. RIGBY'S PAPERS ON FLORIDA. 
 
 present the first rank among the indus- 
 tries of the State, whether v,e consider 
 the amount of capital involved, the 
 value of the material produced, or the 
 extent of the resources from which it is 
 drawn. It can be asserted with confi- 
 dence that over, no other State in the 
 Union is valuable timber so extensively 
 and uniformly distributed, and ere long, 
 the lumber business of that State, with- 
 out the slightest doubt, will rival in ex- 
 tent that of any other. Within the last 
 few years the manufacture of lumber 
 has received an enormous impetus in 
 that State, consequent upon a more 
 thorough knowledge and recognition of 
 her vast timber resources, and now the 
 trade assumes gigantic proportions, with 
 an almost unlimited power of expansion. 
 When any one contemplates, in the light 
 of knowledge, the astonishing wealth of 
 that State in timber, the question at once 
 arises : Why has it remained so long 
 almost untouched, and less favored por- 
 tions of the country sought after for the 
 supply of lumber? Hitherto, nearly all 
 the yellow-pine flooring consumed in the 
 great cities of the North has been ob- 
 tained from South and North Carolina. 
 But at no time in their history have 
 these States contained a tithe of the 
 pine lumber of superior quality to be 
 found in Florida. It is by no means an 
 exaggeration when I put the estimate of 
 heavy pine forests in the State as cover- 
 ing an area of thirty to forty thousand 
 square miles. The resources of the State 
 in this may be said to be almost inex- 
 haustible, and the superior quality of 
 the lumber is attested by the fact that 
 it commands in market ten per cent, 
 advance over that of any other section. 
 The highly deserved reputation of the 
 pine lumber furnished by the forests of 
 that State is attracting the attention of 
 capitalists in all parts of the country ; 
 and besides those already established. 
 
 some of the most gigantic enterprises, 
 designed to take advantage of the re- 
 sources of the State in this, are in con- 
 templation. Some idea of the present 
 magnitude of the trade may be had 
 from two facts, which we will state. 
 The saw-mills in the vicinity of Jack- 
 sonville, and those at Ellaville on the 
 line of the Jacksonville, Pensacola and 
 Mobile Railroad, manufacture annually 
 over one hundred million feet of lum- 
 ber ; while the mills in the vicinity of 
 Pensacola manufacture close on to three 
 hundred million superficial feet. The 
 value of the lumber and timber ex- 
 ported at Pensacola annually is esti- 
 mated at over $3,000,000, and the 
 amount of capital employed $5,000,000. 
 Kecently very large mills have been 
 erected at Aj^alachicola, which promise 
 to do a business in a short time equal to 
 that of either of the ports named, while 
 on every navigable water-course and 
 line of railroad, saw-mills are springing 
 up with every prospect of yielding im- 
 mense revenues to the i:>roprietors. But 
 notwithstanding these facts, the trade 
 may be regarded as still in its infancy, 
 for, by far the finest and most eligible 
 lumbering sites remain unnoticed and 
 untouched. 
 
 The finest pine forests are to be found 
 in West Florida. Santa Rosa, Walton, 
 Washington and Holmes Counties are 
 covered with a growth of the best 
 yellow-pine timber to be found on the 
 continent. In 1867 Mi-. Judah, a well 
 known and highly competent engineer, 
 was employed by the Jacksonville, Pen- 
 sacola and Mobile Railroad Company to 
 survey the route for the extension of 
 their line of road from the Apalachicola 
 River to Pensacola. Under their char- 
 ter, the completion of the road to the 
 latter point would entitle the company 
 to 500,000 acres of. United States lands 
 and 100,000 acres of State lands, and 
 
DR. BIGBY'S PAPEBS ON FLOBIDA. 
 
 25 
 
 Mr. Judah, in estimating the resources 
 of the road, of course includes the value 
 of the timber on the 600,000 acres of 
 land, and from his report we can get a 
 very clear idea of this section in this re- 
 spect. He says nearly the entire body of 
 these lands is covered with a dense 
 growth of yellow-pine timber of a quality 
 unsurpassed by that of any other State in 
 the Union. The principal lumber trade 
 of this section is carried on from Santa 
 Rosa County, (and in fact the principal 
 lumber trade of Florida), nearly the en- 
 tire population of which is engaged in and 
 dependent upon this trade for their sup- 
 port. Some of the largest and finest 
 saw-mills anywhere to be found in the 
 United States are in operation in this 
 county, the principal among which are 
 located upon the Blackwater River, in 
 the vicinity of the town of Milton, which 
 is situated near the mouth of the Black- 
 water and at. the head of the navigable 
 waters of Pensacola Bay. 
 
 The amount of lumber shipped from 
 this district is over 50,000,000 feet per 
 annum, yielding upward of $500,000 
 to the manufacturers, and costing the 
 mill-owners, delivered in the log, up- 
 wards of §40,000. The logs to supply 
 their lumber are principally cut upon 
 the margins of the Blackwater and Yel- 
 lowwater Rivers and their tributaries. 
 , The cutters seldom go further than one 
 and a half miles back from the margins 
 of the rivers. The timber on the mar- 
 gins of the rivers is smaller than that 
 growing further back. 
 
 These logs contain an average of 
 about 200 feet when cut into lumber. 
 The minimum limit of size is that the 
 logs be large enough to square one foot. 
 It is estimated that the logs at a distance 
 of six to ten miles from the river will 
 average about 250 B. M. feet. 
 
 Trees will furnish from two to three 
 logs per tree, but for purposes of this 
 
 estimate, they are considered to yield 
 two logs per tree. The mills generally 
 buy their logs by contract, paying $4 
 per M. feet for them delivered. Those 
 mills cutting their own logs from lands 
 owned by themselves find that it costs 
 them about the same price. The timber 
 on these lands seems inexhaustible. 
 The average number of trees per acre 
 fit for saw-logs is estimated at twenty. 
 Now if you cut one tree per acre every 
 year on the route of this road, it will 
 afford an annual yield of 300,000,000 
 feet, or about 1,000,000 feet per day, 
 which would tax this railroad to its ut- 
 most capacity, giving about 3,000 tons 
 per day, or nearly 1,000,000 tons per 
 year. 
 
 It is also the fact that timber makes 
 anew again in from twenty to twenty- 
 five years ; or that after going over a 
 body of timber, cutting off" that large 
 enough for saw-logs, leaving the smaller 
 timber ; this smaller timber will have 
 grown sufficiently in from twenty to 
 twenty-five years to yield another supply 
 equal to the first. 
 
 Spar timber exists nowhere in greater 
 abundance, or of better quality than 
 upon these lands. Heavy European 
 contracts have been filled from this 
 locality, and contracts can be obtained 
 to any extent that can be filled. Good 
 spars bring from $100 to S300 each. 
 Reliable parties who have traversed 
 these lands have asserted that they have 
 seen lands where twelve timber spars 
 could be cut from an acre. 
 
 But besides the pine, great varieties 
 of the most valuable timber are to be 
 found distributed all over the State, and 
 capable of being worked up and put 
 upon the market with highly remuner- 
 ative results. The live and water-oaks 
 of the State have a world-wide reputa- 
 tion, and though the demand of ship- 
 building throughout the entire country 
 
26 
 
 DR. BIGBY'S PAPERS ON FLORIDA. 
 
 and ia many parts of Europe have for 
 many years been supplied from the for- 
 ests of that State, its resources in this 
 are apparently untouched. The cedar 
 swamps of Florida are at the present 
 time supplying most of the pencil man- 
 ufactories of this continent, and the de- 
 mand is greater than the amount brought 
 into market ; while the immense quanti- 
 ties of cypress to be found scattered all 
 over the peninsula promise to furnish 
 the most desirable railroad ties that can 
 be found. Then, for the manufacture of 
 furniture, sashes, blinds, wagons and 
 woodenware of every description, there 
 is an unlimited amount of red bay, 
 cherry, white oak, ash, birch, hickory, 
 gum, elm, and a number of other 
 equally valuable species of timber. No 
 other State is as well timbered as Flor- 
 ida, and nowhere else can the lumber- 
 man look for an opportunity to invest 
 capital with as fair prospects of realizing 
 a fortune. 
 
 AGRICULTURE & HORTICULTURE. 
 
 There is no State in the Union with 
 resources so varied ; none presenting 
 such a field for new and promising 
 enterprise. Competition is possible with 
 the sea-islands in oranges, bananas and 
 other fruits, and with New York and 
 Michigan in apples and other fruits on 
 the tablelands of the Alleghanies. More 
 than half the value of all cotton exports 
 is paid for imports of sugar, which could 
 and all should be grown in that State. 
 The demand of the world for oils — cot- 
 ton, rape, Palma Christi and many 
 other oils — is large, and prices are re- 
 munerative, and this State is peculiarly 
 adapted to their production. A million 
 pounds of cheese, to compete with an 
 equal quantity in New York without 
 danger of glutting the market, could be 
 made from grass of the glades that grow 
 on lands costing one-twentieth the value 
 of Empire State pastures. Ev^en the 
 
 forest lands — certainly those of the coast 
 belt — are covered with wild grass, only 
 partly utilized, which, in connection 
 with the herbage of the prairie sections, 
 are worth, in flesh and wool, at a 
 meagre estimate half of the cotton crop. 
 The soil and climate of Florida, taking 
 the difi'erent portions of the State into 
 consideration, will produce abundant 
 crops of almost every variety of the 
 vegetable kingdom raised throughout 
 the world, but the principal crops are 
 sugar-corn, corn, sweet potatoes, Irish 
 potatoes, oranges and lemons. Of 
 course, garden truck can not be ex- 
 celled, and in most instances a second 
 crop can be raised the same year. 
 
 With the introduction of improved 
 agricultural machinery, and well-di- 
 rected and persistent labor, this is a 
 large field for agricultural industry. 
 
 SOUTHERN MANUFACTURING. 
 
 I have hitherto spoken only of agri- 
 cultural industry. The suggestions rel- 
 ative to the necessity of other produc- 
 tive industries in the West apply with 
 augmented force to the South. While 
 the population engaged in them ranges 
 from fourteen per cent, in Iowa to 
 twenty-four in Ohio, it runs from three 
 per cent, in Mississippi to six per cent, 
 in Georgia. The intelligent planter of 
 Georgia knows perfectly well, by the 
 test of local experience, that the manu- 
 facture of cotton in his State is far 
 more remunerative than the same busi- 
 ness in Massachusetts, not only on ac- 
 count of saving freight and commission 
 both on raw material and manufactured 
 goods, but in the great abundance and 
 cheapness of labor. It might be con- 
 sidered a fair division of the crop, and 
 certainly a generous one on the part of 
 the South, to keep one-third for home 
 manufacture, to send a third to the 
 North for the manufacture of finer 
 goods, and the remaining third to 
 
DR. EIGBY'S PAPERS ON FLORIDA. 
 
 27 
 
 Europe. This would insure a steady 
 and imperative demand, and 'a great 
 enlargement of net profits. If they could 
 do this without a tariff, they can afford 
 ,to let the tariff slide ; if not, far better 
 for twenty years a tariff utterly prohibi- 
 ting of all cottons than to forego so 
 great an opportunity to make the coun- 
 try rich and prosperous beyond its pres- 
 ent imaginings. 
 
 There is no good reason why Virginia 
 should not equal Pennsylvania in man- 
 ufacturing and mining productions, as 
 she ever does in resources of mine and 
 forest. There is no sufficient cause why 
 25 per cent, of the people of Pennsyl- 
 vania should produce in agriculture a 
 value of ^52 annually for each inhabi- 
 tant of the State, while 59 per cent, of 
 the people of Virginia should only 
 divide 842 per head of total population. 
 The influence of home markets on prices, 
 with the reflex influence of prices on 
 fertilization and culture, is sufficient to 
 answer for all this difference. 
 
 This path of progress has been equally 
 open to all ; laws supposed to favor a 
 diversified industry have been applicable 
 to all States alike ; the best water-power 
 and the cheapest coal are in the States 
 that make no extensive use of either ; 
 milder climates and superior fecilities 
 for cheap transportation have furnished 
 advantages that have not been trans- 
 mitted into net profits ; and yet such 
 communities, daily inflicting irreparable 
 injuries upon themselves by neglecting 
 the gifts of Providence and spurning the 
 labor of man, ai'e wont to deem them- 
 selves injured by the prosperity flowing 
 from superior industry and practical 
 political economy. 
 
 It is with no purpose of instituting 
 invidious comparisons that these refer- 
 ences are made to neglected opportuni- 
 ties of agricultural or manufacturing 
 development. The convulsions and de- 
 
 vastations of war ; the civil disturbances 
 and State burdens which followed ; the 
 climate disability which modifies per- 
 formance of exacting labors ; the paucity 
 of artisans skilled by long experience for 
 direction in new enterprises; all these 
 and many other obstructions in untried 
 paths of industry conspire to hinder pro- 
 gress in converting the wonderful abund- 
 ance of nature's wealth to the uses and 
 enrichment of man. Considering these 
 difficulties as they really exist, it is 
 marvelous that so much has been accom- 
 plished complimentary to the Spirit and 
 industry, and honorable to the people of 
 the South. Yet I maintain that this 
 ideal of possible accomplishment, un- 
 doubtedly to be fulfilled in the future, 
 is not too high. The rich beneficence 
 of the climate in the variety and rare 
 value of productions which it renders 
 possible more than compensates for its 
 disadvantages ; and the greatest boon of 
 these new industries will be the relief 
 afforded from severer labor of primitive 
 industry and a supply of congenial and 
 profitable occupation in accordance with 
 the strength, the tastes, and peculiar 
 capacities of all. 
 
 It has been said disparagingly that 
 Florida can never become the scene of 
 diversified industrial activity, owing to 
 the absence of mineral wealth and manu- 
 facturing opportunities, and that, as a 
 consequence, it can never rise to the 
 same plane of wealth and prosperity with 
 those States favored in these particu- 
 lars. To a superficial observer this 
 might appear true, but it is in reality a 
 great mistake. In the absence of any 
 geological survey, the mineral wealth 
 of the State is unknown. It is possible, 
 however, that the western portion may 
 yet be found rich in carboniferous de- 
 posits, and may dispute with Alabama 
 the possession of those immense beds of 
 coal which geological science has pointed 
 
28 
 
 DR. RIGBY'S PAPERS ON FLORIDA. 
 
 out as lying within her borders. Be 
 this as it may, I know of no valuable 
 metaliferous or mineral deposits there, 
 and such deposits have never entered 
 into any calculation of the natural wealth 
 of Florida. She has, however, in the 
 extensive pine forests which clothe her 
 State, mines of wealth as valuable and 
 far more accessible than that of most of 
 the States of the Union. 
 
 NAVAL STORES. 
 
 It will be readily seen that a State 
 having such an immense area in pine 
 forests as Florida, offers opportunities 
 for the production of naval stores that 
 are unsurpassed. This important in- 
 dustry, which embraces the production 
 of turpentine, resin, pitch and tar, has, 
 like many other mines of wealth in the 
 State, remained, until recently, un- 
 developed, but to-day the State takes 
 the lead in the production of turpentine 
 and resin. Many who have been en- 
 gaged in this industry in other parts of 
 the country have discovered the ad- 
 vantages that State offers, and have 
 transferred thither their capital and 
 energy. The pine trees of that State 
 are much richer in material for the pro- 
 duction of turpentine and resin than 
 those of North and South Carolina, and 
 owing to the continuance of warm 
 weather nearly throughout the year, 
 they have a much larger running season. 
 The trees can be tapped at least six 
 weeks earlier than those of the Carolinas. 
 One hand can take care of twelve thou- 
 sand boxes, which are said to be a crop, 
 and will yield fifty barrels spirits of tur- 
 pentine and two hundred of resin. 
 
 I do not here propose to enter into 
 statistical details, but will remark that 
 in the manufacture of turpentine in 
 North Carolina, an annual rental of 
 6120 to S240 per crop of 12,000 boxes 
 is paid, according to the distance from 
 means of transportation. On the other 
 
 hand, in Florida, lands averaging a 
 crop ori2,000 boxes to every 200 acres, 
 are to be secured, on river or railway, 
 for the low price of 50 to 70 cents per 
 acre. Timbered lands in Michigan are 
 now worth from $10 to SlOO per acre, 
 which, ten years ago were selling, under 
 the Graduation Laws of the United 
 States, at 25 to 75 cents. They were 
 regarded then as almost valueless, and 
 were tresspassed upon just as the Flor- 
 ida pine lands are now. The same 
 history of the appreciation of forest 
 lands will unquestionably, sooner or 
 later, be repeated in this State. 
 
 PRESENT IMMIGRATION. 
 
 The past few years have been marked 
 by the commencement in a new era in 
 the history of this State, in the unex- 
 ampled influx of population which has 
 taken place. The means for ascertain- 
 ing the exact number of new settlers is 
 not at hand : but I am in possession of 
 sufficient data to be able to state that 
 the accessions of wealth and population 
 have been greater during the past year 
 than in any three years previous ; and 
 the consequence is a very perceptible 
 effect on the material property of the 
 State. 
 
 This influx of immigrants has been 
 more apparent in the eastern jx)rtion of 
 the State, and is seen in the extraor- 
 dinary advance in the prices of lands ; 
 in the extensive purchases that have 
 been made for the purposes of tropical 
 fruit culture ; in the springing up of 
 new and enterpising settlements, and 
 the spirit of life and activity which is 
 observable throughout regions where 
 solitude has hitherto reigned supreme. 
 
 There is, perhaps, no State in the 
 Union about which there is so much 
 inquiry at present as Florida. Owing 
 to the financial troubles during the past 
 few years, a great many of the new 
 States of the West have been flooded 
 
DR. RIGBY'S PAPERS ON FLORIDA. 
 
 29 
 
 with people seeking to retrieve their 
 fortunes ; and this, together with the 
 suspension of work in pubHc improve- 
 ments, the protracted seasons of drought, 
 and the grasshopper plague has told 
 disastrously upon the people of Colorado, 
 Kansas, Nebraska and Idaho ; and the 
 eyes of thousands there are turned ear- 
 nestly toward the State as the best solu- 
 tion of their difficulties. Besides this, 
 the thousands who are becoming poorer 
 yearly in the North for want of success- 
 ful employment, together with numbers 
 who are thoroughly disgusted with the 
 slush and mud of intolerable winters, all 
 see in the future of Florida what they 
 find impossible to attam elsewhere. In 
 fact, a spirit of inquiry has been excited 
 which will result in an immediate future 
 of prosperity to the State. 
 
 There is one very desirable feature 
 connected with the immigration of the 
 past year, and that is, it has been volun- 
 tary, and the settlers have brought with 
 them a far larger share of wealth than 
 is usually found with the immigrants 
 to other States. They have not been 
 induced to cast their lot in Florida 
 through the instrumentality of selfish 
 immigrant agencies, land speculators or 
 interested railroad corporations, but have 
 sought homes there after a fair investi- 
 gation and candid consideration of the 
 superior advantages offered by that 
 State. Such a class, undoubtedly, con- 
 tribute more to the advancement of a 
 State than any other. They bring with 
 them not only wealth, but power, and 
 soon become prosperous and prominent 
 members of society. 
 
 To have a more thorough view of the 
 State, I will now give an outline history or 
 description of the different counties, mak- 
 ing a condensed delineation of each, and 
 as Leon leads in importance, we will give 
 it the first in rank of the Northern coun- 
 ties, taking the other counties in order. 
 
 LEON COUNTY. 
 
 I think I may safely say, that this 
 county, taking everything into consider- 
 ation, is unsurpassed by any in the State. 
 The population of the County is about 
 15,000. It contains an area of about 
 936 square miles, and is bounded on the 
 north by Thomas County, Georgia, on 
 the east by Jefferson County, Florida, 
 and on the south by Wakulla County 
 (where its southern boundary is from 
 ten to fifteen miles from the Gulf coast), 
 and on the west by Ocklockouee River, 
 which separates it from Liberty and 
 Gadsden Counties. Tallahassee, the 
 Capitol of the State, is the county seat, 
 and has a population of about 3,000. 
 It is beautifully located, occupying the 
 top and slope of a very high hill, and 
 its commanding position, the number oi 
 large live oaks stretching abroad their 
 strong arms in every direction over its 
 public squares and scattered here and 
 there in the streets, the tall and stately 
 magnolias in the suburbs and every- 
 where in sight, give it an appearance 
 not only pleasing, but decidedly pictur- 
 esque. The gardens are ornamented 
 with lemon and orange trees, — bananas 
 spread their broad foliage to the view 
 in many places, and at any and every 
 season of the year some beauty, in the 
 shape of bud, leaf or blossom, greets the 
 eye. The atmosphere is loaded with 
 the perfume of a thousand flowers, and 
 at every instant the ear is delighted 
 with the musical voices of unnumbered 
 mocking-birds as they discourse their 
 music from every garden. 
 
 The city, in the main, is well built. 
 The stores, mostly on the main street, 
 are constructed of brick, with slate or 
 tin roofs ; they are, as a general thing, 
 very large and well arranged for the 
 purposes of trade. The private resi- 
 dences — some of brick, and some frame 
 — are generally of a fiiir and neat ap- 
 
30 
 
 DR. RIGBY'S PAPERS ON FLORIDA. 
 
 pearance, while many are of magnifi- 
 cient proportions and finished in the 
 very best of style. There is one hotel, 
 and several private boarding houses in 
 the place. There are six churches, 
 three livery stables, two bookstores, 
 quite a number of dry-goods and grocery 
 stores, and shops of various kinds, male 
 and female schools, and last though not 
 least, two newspapers. 
 
 The society of the place is excellent. 
 The cost of living reasonable, and the 
 markets well supplied. In short, I know 
 of no more agreeable place to spend a 
 winter or to locate for life. 
 
 The climate of Leon County, although 
 it is not tropical, is mild and pleasant in 
 winter. Although there is frequently 
 frost, and ice occasionally, yet it is 
 rare for the thermometer to go below 
 40° Fahrenheit, and then only for a 
 short time, w^hile one would feel com- 
 fortable in summer clothing at least one 
 half of the Avinter, and in summer the 
 thermometer rarely indicates a greater 
 heat than 96*^, and the average is about 
 90°. This heat is tempered by the al- 
 most constant sea-breeze, the influence 
 of which is distinctly felt. The nights 
 are invariably pleasant, and even in the 
 hottest part of the season some covering 
 is generally necessary in sleeping. The 
 healtbfulness of the county is rather 
 good, but the regular diseases of more 
 northern climates are found here, such 
 as intermittent and remittent fevers, in 
 summer and fall, and pneumonia and 
 rheumatism in winter and spring, but 
 there is no great fatality attending them. 
 On the other hand, thoi^e laboring under 
 lung diseases, etc., from the North, are 
 frequently entirely restored. 
 
 The surface of the county is varied. 
 Most of the northern half is elevated, 
 gently undulating, and from some of the 
 hilltops beautiful views maybe enjoyed. 
 South of Tallahassee most of the country 
 
 is level, though high and dry. Dotted 
 over the surface are many beautiful 
 lakes, some of which are so extensive as 
 to claim a place on the map, such as 
 lakes Lafayette, Jackson, lamonia, and 
 Miccosukie. They all abound in the most 
 delicious fish, are surrounded by lovely 
 forests, and the most fertile lands. In- 
 deed, they form such a beautiful feature 
 that I do not think it would be out of 
 place to attempt a description of one ol 
 them, and without asserting that it is 
 the most beautiful, I select Lake Mic- 
 cosukie for my purpose. Lake Micco- 
 sukie is nineteen miles northeast from 
 Tallahassee, its length is about fifteen 
 miles, and from three-fourths of a mile 
 to four miles in width. It has two main 
 sources or heads, the one coming from 
 Thomas County, Georgia, called Ward's 
 Creek, empties into the lake at its widest 
 part, and the other. Dry Creek, which 
 flows from the west and empties into 
 what is known as the head of the lake. 
 It widens from this point gradually for 
 half a mile, where it is three-quarters of 
 a mile wide, and forms on the southern 
 side a basin, circular in form and very 
 deep, say from seventy to one hundred 
 feet, while the northern side is shallow, 
 and continues to widen until it reaches 
 the confluence of Ward's Creek, where 
 the lake is full four miles wide. Around 
 three-fourths of the extent of this basin 
 stands a most beautiful and magnificent 
 growth of trees, among which may be 
 seen the walnut, red bay or Florida 
 mahogany, the tall and graceful ash, the 
 red, white, water, Spanish, and live 
 oaks, the beach, the wild cherry, the 
 olive or mock orange, the hickory, and 
 last the stately magnolia, towering above 
 all, a thing of beauty at all seasons, 
 covered as it is at all times with a rich 
 foliage of large, dark green, shining 
 leaves from eight to twelve inches in 
 length, and in May, June and July 
 
DR. RIGBY'S PAPERS ON FLORIDA. 
 
 31 
 
 loading the atmosphere with the delicate 
 perfume of its large white flowers, which 
 expand to eight inches or more. Some 
 of these beautiful trees are festooned 
 with wild grape vines, others with clem- 
 atis, yellow jasmine, woodbine, and 
 trumpet flowers, while at their roots may 
 be seen the sanguinaria canadensis, the 
 spigelia, turkeyberry, daisies, primroses, 
 violets, and other unnamed but delicate 
 and pretty little flowers peeping out from 
 among a variety of grasses, which send up 
 their bolder artificial-looking blossoms. 
 The growth is not fully described till we 
 mention, as between these towering trees 
 and the modest flowers at their feet, the 
 shrubbery "in medio;" the sparkle-berry 
 with its beautiful white drooping bell, 
 the wild plum with its feathery bloom, 
 the dogwood with its staring white blos- 
 soms, the red-bud and the old-man's- 
 beard with its long, white fringe. The 
 long, sombre-looking gray moss, which 
 is pendant from every limb, without de- 
 tracting from the beauty, serves to tone 
 down the otherwise gay and brilliant 
 appearance of the scene, and renders it 
 if possible even more attractive. The 
 banks on which this most beautiful and 
 variegated growth is found are jorecipit- 
 ous and high, at some points rising from 
 the water's edge as boldly and precipit- 
 ously as a rock to the hight of from ten 
 to forty feet, at others looking as if they 
 had been graded, one grade rising above 
 the other to the hight of 100 feet. This 
 is what is known as the* "Bluflf" of the 
 lake; at the northwest of the bluff", 
 where, around a shelving point, the 
 water from the "Head" sweeps into the 
 basin, there is an uninterrupted view 
 of several miles due east to where it is 
 ended by the curve of the lake as it goes 
 southeast. In this direction it goes on 
 seven or eight miles farther, becoming 
 more and more contracted till, forming 
 a bold creek, it empties itself into the 
 
 earth by means of a lime sink and thus 
 loses itself to view, but perhaps to 
 show its waters in the light of open day 
 again where the St. Mark's, a full-gi-own 
 river, rises from the earth without 
 tributary of any kind from the surface. 
 A radius of one mile from this sink Avill 
 reach a circle in which is included Long 
 Pond Sink coming from west southwest, 
 Black Creek Sink from south southwest, 
 and Bailey's Creek Sink, from east 
 southeast. Thus four running streams 
 coming from different directions sink 
 near the same spot. From the vicinity 
 of these sinks there is a valley running 
 in the general direction of the head of 
 the St. Marks, and that river rises from 
 the earth, runs sluggishly for some miles, 
 sinks, forming a natural bridge, and 
 rising again flows uninterruptedly to the 
 Gulf. Thus making it probable that 
 Lake Miccosukie is the principal head 
 of the St. Marks River. Few more 
 romantic spots are to be found anyAvhere 
 than the "Bluff"' of Miccosukie Lake. 
 Above, beneath, and all around is beau- 
 tiful. The merry month of May brings 
 together the neighbors at this delightful 
 spot to enjoy their picnics, and scarcely 
 a day passes that does not witness a 
 merry gathering, large or small, to enjoy 
 the scene, the fishing, and each other's 
 society. In winter innumerably flocks 
 of wild ducks, brent, and sometimes 
 geese, sport upon the broad bosom of 
 the lake, while in summer its surface, 
 where shallow, is covered by maiden 
 cane, flag and bonnets, with their broad 
 white flowers, from eight to ten inches 
 in diameter, floating on the water. 
 Corn and cotton fields of large dimen- 
 sions and unsurpassed fertility surround 
 it on every side, all elevated, forming 
 high hills "with gentle slopes and groves 
 between." So Lake Miccosukie, whether 
 you view it as a sheet of water or 
 turn your gaze upon the beauty and 
 
32 
 
 DR. RIGBY'S PAPERS ON FLORIDA. 
 
 loveliness of its banks, or with a more 
 utilitarian intent survey its surrounding 
 lands, challenge your admiration and 
 justly claims a favorable notice. Besides 
 the lakes mentioned already, there are 
 many others, all abounding in fish; 
 while throughout the county may be 
 seen many beautiful little streams fur- 
 nishing ample water for stock. 
 
 The soil of Leon County is varied. 
 In the northern half of the county, as a 
 general thing, the soil is a sandy loam 
 based upon red clay, and is very pro- 
 ductive. In the southern half most of 
 the soil is sandy and deep to clay, which 
 is of a pale yellow color ; and some of 
 the soil is quite productive. There are 
 all varieties of soil, however, throughout 
 the county, and a less proportion of 
 really poor than any other county in the 
 State. 
 
 The productions of the county are 
 numerous, but the great staple and prin- 
 cipal source of income is cotton. This 
 plant grows well even on the poorer soil 
 within the county if well cultivated. 
 Corn, sugar-cane, sorghum, rice, oats, 
 rye, barley, castor-oil bean, peanuts, 
 Cuba tobacco, sweet potatoes, Irish pota- 
 toes, all yield good crops, and garden 
 vegetables in endles variety and to great 
 perfection. Some persons would be un- 
 charitaljle enough to doubt my veracity 
 were I to mention the weights and 
 measurements which some of these vege- 
 tables have attained, as for instance : 
 A short beet 32 inches in circumference, 
 a flat turnip 11 inches in diameter, rad- 
 ish 27 inches in length, 18 inches in 
 circumference, and weighing G;^ pounds ; 
 a globe turnip weighing, with top, 1-4 
 pounds, and 11^ pounds without top or 
 top root ; a watermelon weighing 70 
 pounds ; and yet I myself weighed and 
 measured every one of them. Fruit, 
 though much neglected, can be raised in 
 great variety ; the climate is rather too 
 
 cold for raising lemons and oranges 
 profitably ; almost every one, however, 
 has orange trees in his garden, and some 
 few have little groves of them ; the crop 
 is always uncertain ; a cold snap when 
 the trees are in bloom always injures 
 and sometimes entirely destroys it. Ba- 
 nanas are also uncertain. But peaches, 
 plums, figs, pomegranates, and all var- 
 ieties of small fruit do well. 
 
 There are many kinds of valuable 
 timber in the county, the principal of 
 which are the oak, hickory, ash, magno- 
 lia, Florida mahogany, cherry, beach, 
 cypress, poplar, and large quantities of 
 the best yellow pine. 
 
 Leon county has easy access to a 
 choice of markets. The Jacksonville, 
 Pensacola and JMobile Railroad runs from 
 east to west twenty -five miles through 
 the county, dividing it almost equally. 
 The Atlantic and Gulf Railroad, from 
 Savannah to Bainbridge, Georgia, runs 
 nearly parallel with the northern line 
 of the county, and distant from ten to 
 twelve miles. The Tallahassee Railroad 
 runs southeast from Tallahassee to the 
 coast at St. Marks. Next in import- 
 ance is 
 
 JEFFERSON COUNTY, 
 
 This county occupies a central position 
 in the tier of counties known as Middle 
 Florida. Chief among its unrivalled 
 attractions is its mild and delightful 
 climate, the variety, magnificence and 
 value of its timber, the fertility of its 
 soil, its accesiBibility to markets, its 
 abundance of pure water, its extreme 
 healthfulness, and lastly the cheapness 
 of its lands. 
 
 Jeflferson County is bounded on the 
 north by the State of Georgia, on the 
 south by the Gulf of Mexico, on the 
 east by Madison County, and on the 
 west by the County of Leon, and con- 
 tains nearly 600 square miles. The face 
 of the county, beginning at the Georgia 
 
DR. RIOBY'S PAPERS ON FLORIDA. 
 
 33 
 
 line find extending south a distance of 
 twenty miles, is beautifully undulating, 
 intersected throughout with branches or 
 streams of water, fed by springs that 
 seldom fail, and dotted here and there 
 with lovely and picturesque lakes. Large 
 scopes of country are to be found cov- 
 ered with forests of yellow pine, and 
 upon the lakes and rivers contiguous to 
 them are, in great variety and abund- 
 ance, the white, red, water, and the 
 statey live oak, also the hickory, the 
 ash, the wild cherry, poplar, green, red 
 bay, walnut, beech, and the magnificent 
 and evergreen magnolia. 
 
 About twelve miles from the Gulf 
 coast the surface of the county is level, 
 and known as the flat-woods. The 
 growth on these lands is mainly pine ; 
 the lands are not well adapted to cotton, 
 but furnish fine ranges for stock, hogs, 
 cattle and sheep, and are famous as 
 hunting and fishing grounds. Deer and 
 wild turkey are plentiful, and small 
 game and fish in abundance ; in fact, it 
 is the paradise of the huntsman and 
 fisherman. 
 
 The soil is varied. In the upper and 
 middle portions of the county, it is 
 highly productive. With a fine rolling 
 country, adapted to the production 
 of almost every crop, clear running 
 streams, and in fact every facility de- 
 sirable for first-class farming, and withal 
 a fine pasture land. The pine lands, 
 while not so fertile naturally as the 
 lands upon the lakes and rivers, are 
 perhaps as desirable to the immigrant, 
 as they are susceptible of high improve- 
 ment at very little expense, and are 
 more easily cleared for cultivation. 
 
 Cotton is the staple crop, and upon 
 which the inhabitants mainly rely 
 for ready cash, although corn, sugar- 
 cane, oats, rice, etc. , yield abundantly. 
 In fact the productions of the county 
 are exceedingly varioas and valuable. 
 3 
 
 As to fruit-growing, what is stated in 
 regard to Leon County is equally appli- 
 cable here. 
 
 Jefferson County, in point of health- 
 fulness, take it the year round, "through 
 summer's heat and winter's cold," will 
 compare favorably with any country in 
 the world. 
 
 Land can be purchased in this county 
 at low rates. But a small fraction of 
 the land in the county is held by the 
 Government ; being very productive, it 
 was eagerly sought after, and well nigh 
 all settled up at an early day. Prior to 
 the late war it was owned, in most part, 
 in large bodies by men of wealth and the 
 owners of slaves. The greater portion 
 of it was then in a high state of cultiva- 
 tion. But things have undergone a 
 change. Owing to a want of capital, 
 the present owners are unable to culti- 
 vate only a portion of these lands ; hence 
 a greater number of acres may be con- 
 sidered in market, and can be had at 
 moderate prices. Plantations, that un- 
 der a proper system of cultivation would 
 produce 400 pounds of lint cotton per 
 acre (worth ^50,000) can now be bought 
 in lots of forty acres or more, at from 
 $4: to $8 per acre, and this on good 
 time ; for cash more advantageous bar- 
 gains can be had. 
 
 Instances have come under my ob- 
 servation in this county, where settlers 
 have purchased farms of forty acres on 
 several years time, but with one man's 
 labor and a mule, have paid from the 
 first year's crop for their farms and raised 
 abundance besides to support their fam- 
 ilies well. 
 
 MADISON COUNTY. 
 
 Madison County is generally level — 
 in some sections, however, it is rolling, 
 and in others slightly undulating ; but 
 the majority of its lands are as level as 
 a plain, and suited well for farming 
 purposes. This county affords fine facil- 
 
34 
 
 DR. EIGBY'S PAPERS ON FLORIDA. 
 
 ities for settlements, and contains the 
 first really rich lands for genernl farm- 
 ing west of the St. John's River in the 
 northern counties. 
 
 Many large plantations, cultivated so 
 flourishingly before the late war, and 
 yielding largely of wealth to their own- 
 ers, are now lying idle for want of capi- 
 tal to work them. I have no doubt, 
 nay, I am sure, that the owners of 
 these vast plantations, containing thou- 
 sands of acres each, would sell on any 
 fair terms to worthy persons who would 
 feel disposed to go there as actual set- 
 tlers. Any price a man may desire, 
 from one dollar to ten, can purchase 
 these lands. Forest lands can be bought, 
 of course, for much less than the im- 
 proved lands. An improved farm might 
 be bought at such figures, as by skillful 
 farming, to be able to pay for itself in 
 one year. Intelligent, industrious set- 
 tlers are sure of cordial welcome by the 
 hospitable people of this county, and 
 soon have everything necessary to make 
 home comfortable. 
 
 Before the war about 12,000 bales 
 was the annual exportation of cotton 
 from this county, more than one-third 
 of which was sea-island or the long staple 
 variety. 
 
 The soil is very productive ; a large 
 portion very rich, with a loamy soil, or 
 gray and black hammock land. The 
 poorest quality of pine land, with a 
 sandy soil and clay substratum or foun- 
 dation in its natural state, will produce 
 600 pounds seed cotton per acre ; while 
 the rich oak or hammock lands, with 
 gray, black, red or chocolate-colored 
 soil, of which Madison has, perhaps, 
 more than any other county in the 
 State, will grow twenty or more bushels 
 of corn or 1,000 pounds of cotton to the 
 acre. Madison County is the commence- 
 ment of the rich lands of Middle Flor- 
 ida, producing probably more corn, cot- 
 
 ton and other staple products than any 
 other portion of the State. 
 
 The climate is delightful. Roses bloom 
 and vegetables grow in the gardens 
 throughout the entire winter, while the 
 almost continual and refreshing breezes 
 temper the warmth of summer. 
 
 The productions are varied. The 
 orange and lemon, with a little care and 
 trouble, may be plentifully raised for 
 home use, but everything else that man 
 desires can be produced in abundance. 
 The staple products are corn, upland 
 and sea-island cotton, sugar, syrup, or 
 molasses, rye, oats, peas, sweet potatoes, 
 Irish potatoes, peanuts, and garden veg- 
 etables of every description. Tobacco 
 grows well here, but it is seldom planted. 
 
 This county is well timbered with all 
 varieties of wood, and lumbering is ex- 
 tensive in some portions. 
 
 The Jacksonville, Pensacola and Mo- 
 bile Railroad runs nearly through the 
 centre of the county, giving an outlet 
 both east and west for its productions. 
 
 The health of this county is generally 
 good. There is as a general thing great 
 regularity and evenness of temperature 
 here, and it is not so productive of di- 
 seases common in Southern States. It 
 is true there is sickness, but those of 
 dangerous or malignant types are rare. 
 
 As to fruits, I can say that this is 
 one of the finest counties for the cul- 
 ture of the different varieties of grapes. 
 Peaches, figs, strawberries in profusion. 
 As for watermelons, I couldn't do jus- 
 tice to the subject. 
 
 This county is as large as the State 
 of Delaware. It is situated between 
 the Suwannee and Aucilla Rivers ; its 
 boundary line on the north separates k 
 from the State of Georgia ; on the east 
 the Withlacoochee and Suwannee Rivers 
 divide it from Hamilton and Suwannee 
 Counties, and on the south are the 
 countie.s of Lafayette and Taylor, while 
 
BE. RIGBY'S PATERS ON FLORIDA. 
 
 35 
 
 on the west is Jefferson County. It has 
 an area of about 800 square miles, or 
 512,000 acres. Of this, over 240,000 
 acres are private lands, held by titles 
 from the United States and State 
 governments. The population is about 
 15,000. 
 
 Madison, the county seat, is quite a 
 nice little village. It has a population 
 of about 1,000; has ten or twelve 
 stores, and its citizens are as kind and 
 clever as can be found anywhere. There 
 are other public places in the county at 
 which considerable mercantile and other 
 business is done. But the most import- 
 ant, thorough-going, go-ahead place in 
 the county is Ellaville, in its eastern 
 portion, at the confluence of the With- 
 lacoochee and Suwannee Rivers. There 
 are quite a number of saw-mills here, 
 and one of the largest in the State, and 
 the lumber trade is extensive. There 
 are over five-hundred persons employed 
 in these mills in the management of 
 their various departments. 
 
 Politically this county, like the State, 
 is Republican. Socially, the people are 
 all that could be desired ; courteous 
 and clever, good neighbors, and hospita- 
 ble in the extreme. As to the religious, 
 moral and educational status of the 
 county, it stands high. The villages and 
 towns have churches of the different 
 denominations, while the free-school 
 system is liberally adopted. 
 
 GADSDEN COUNTY. 
 
 This county constitutes one of the 
 subdivisions of the Middle District of 
 Florida. It is bounded on the north by 
 the line separating Georgia from Flor- 
 ida, on the west by Apalachicola River, 
 on the south by Liberty County, and on 
 the east by the Ocklockonee River. 
 
 The county seat is Quincy. The lo- 
 cation of the town is quite elevated, and 
 it enjoys a commanding view of the 
 valley of the Attapulgas and its adjacent 
 
 hills, presenting a panorama of beauty 
 seldom seen. For many years prior to 
 the war there were sustained Avithin the 
 corporate limits of the town two floiu- 
 ishing high schools, male and female, 
 which received a flattering patronage 
 from hundreds of miles around. As a 
 point for permanent residence there are 
 few interior towns that present more 
 pleasant social attractions. The chui-cli 
 privileges are ample ; business houses 
 numerous, and well sustained from the 
 surrounding country. It is located im- 
 mediately on the line of railroad con- 
 necting the Apalachicola with the St. 
 Johns River at Jacksonville, and with 
 Fernandina and Savannah, Georgia, on 
 the Atlantic. It also has direct railroad 
 communication with St. Marks, on the 
 Gulf of Mexico, the principal shipping 
 point in the Middle District. 
 
 Gadsden County embraces a tract of 
 country of an undulating surface, in 
 strong contrast with other sections of 
 the Southern States bordering on the 
 Atlantic and Gulf coasts, and in many 
 localities it may be said to resemble very 
 much the northern portion of Virginia. 
 It abounds in innumerable springs of the 
 purest free-stone water, and is inter- 
 sected by a large number of clear, run- 
 ning streams, which afford ample facil- 
 ities for the erection of grist and saw- 
 mills, and other manufacturing machin- 
 ery — in this respect Gadsden County 
 will compare favorably with any section 
 of the United States. 
 
 The soil is, for the most part, ba.sed 
 upon strong red clay, which gives it 
 great advantage in the retention of such 
 manures and fertilizers as may be ap- 
 plied. The oak and hickory, and culti- 
 vable pine lands invariably have a sub- 
 stratum of clay lying from one to twd 
 feet beneath the surface. In the ham- 
 mock lands the substratum of clay is 
 more remote, but generally sufficiently 
 
36 
 
 DB. RIGBY'S PAPERS ON FLORIDA. 
 
 near to impart a proper consistency to 
 the upper soil. In proportion to its area 
 Gadsden contains as large an amount of 
 cultivable land as any county in the 
 State. 
 
 The forest growth is of very great 
 variety, but the yellow and pitch pine, 
 suitable for fencing and milHng purposes, 
 very largely preponderates. The pine 
 forests afford fine summer pasturage, and 
 the hammocks in winter. 
 
 Owing to the undulating surface of 
 the county the lands were never very 
 attractive to that class of immigrants 
 known as large "cotton planters," and 
 hence the county was settled by men 
 of moderate means and of industrious 
 and frugal habits. This circumstance 
 has stamped upon its population more 
 the character of "farmers" than of 
 "planters." With this characteristic 
 they have always produced their own 
 supplies of provisions, and prior to the 
 close of the war it was a matter of rare 
 occurrence that either meat or bread 
 was imported from abroad. The same 
 spirit of independence is still observable 
 in the tone and bearing of the agricult- 
 ural population of the county, and 
 though somewhat cramped in their pres- 
 ent means, and suffering under the great 
 change which so suddenly and unex- 
 pectedly occurred in their system of 
 labor, it is a cheering augury that they 
 are rapidly conforming to their altered 
 circumstances, and fast returning to 
 their former thrift. Li a word, the soil, 
 climate, and habits of the population 
 combine all the elements of a successful 
 farming community. 
 
 Among the staple products of the 
 county are cotton and Cuba tobacco. 
 Although all other farming products are 
 extremely varied. 
 
 Peaches, apples, cherries, figs, or- 
 anges, and the smaller fruits or berries, 
 such an strawberries and raspberries, are 
 
 cultivated to great perfection ; and the 
 dew and blackberries are in great 
 abundance, wild in every part of the 
 county. It would exhaust the entire 
 catalogue to enumerate the kinds of 
 vegetables grown here to the greatest 
 perfection. There is not a month in the 
 year in which the tables of the fixrmers 
 are not supplied with an abundance of 
 fresh vegetables. Cabbages weighing 
 over twenty pounds to the head ; toma- 
 toes weighing two pounds each, and 
 Irish potatoes weighing twenty-three 
 ounces and averaging over 300 bushels 
 to the acre give an idea of what is to be 
 expected in this line. 
 
 Gadsden has always been esteemed 
 one of the most healthy counties in 
 the State. The undulating surface of 
 the county prevents the accumulation 
 of stagnant water, and hence is ex- 
 empted from the miasmatic diseases 
 usually prevalent in low latitudes. 
 
 Stock raising, bee husbandry and silk 
 culture do well. 
 
 In consequence of the recent change 
 in agricultural labor, most farmers find 
 themselves with much more land than 
 they can successfully cultivate. There 
 are good opportunities for the purchase 
 of divided farms, with good improve- 
 ments, at figures to suit the purchaser. 
 
 WAKULLA COUNTY. 
 
 What has been said in regard to the 
 last two counties, as to soil, products, 
 etc., is equally applicable to Wakulla. 
 This is called the banner sugar and 
 sweet-potato county of the State ; 4,000 
 pounds of sugar has been produced in 
 one season from a single acre ; of sweet- 
 potatoes 415 bushels have been raised 
 to a single acre. The traveler in pass- 
 ing over the county by rail from Talla- 
 hassee to St. Marks, or in the saddle 
 from Tallahassee to Crawfordsville, or 
 over any of the public roads of the 
 county, would not be very favorably 
 
DR. RIGBY'S PAPERS ON FLORIDA. 
 
 37 
 
 impressed with the fertility of the soil, 
 nor the monotonous smoothness of the 
 surface. The hammocks are very thickly 
 timbered, the trees are large, the shrub- 
 bery is dense, and it requires much 
 labor to open roads through them ; 
 and those whose province it is to locate 
 public roads studiously avoid large ham- 
 mocks, and the public roads are, there- 
 fore, mainly opened through the pine 
 woods and upon the poorest land ; and 
 the wayfarer has no knowledge of the 
 vast and various resources of the county; 
 of its superabundant and magnificent 
 timber and alluvial soil. The soil of 
 much of the pine lands is very produc- 
 tive, the scrub, and oak, and hickory is 
 better, and of many of the large ham- 
 mocks it is wonderfully prolific ; it is 
 deep and dark, loose and loamy, and 
 well adapted to every variety of crops 
 or vegetables. Under proper cultiva- 
 tion the productions of corn, cotton and 
 sweet-potatoes would be prodigious. 
 
 The prices of land in this county, like 
 the majority of those of the State, is 
 exceedingly diflicult to come at any- 
 thing like a standard rate, as there is 
 yet very little demand and very few 
 sales ; but I believe it will average 
 from seventy-five cents to five dollars 
 per acre. 
 
 The procuration of salt was a question 
 of momentous magnitude during the 
 late war, and hundreds of salt-works 
 were erected upon the ''salt-flats" along 
 the sea-shore within the limits of Wa- 
 kulla, and from which thousands of 
 bushels of salt were daily manufactured. 
 
 With desirable homesteads at unpre- 
 cedently low prices, a productive soil, a 
 healthy and delightful climate, the Gulf 
 nearly at their doors, and from which 
 can be obtained supplies of fish, oysters 
 and salt ; convenience to markets ; 
 schools and churches in almost every 
 neighborhood, and an encouraging wel- 
 
 come from hospitable people, Wakulla 
 compares fiivorably with other counties 
 in Florida. 
 
 DUVAL COUNTY. 
 
 Duval county has for its boundaries 
 the Atlantic ocean on the east, Nassau 
 County on the north. Baker County on 
 the west, and Clay and St. John's Coun- 
 ties on the south. It contains about 
 500,000 acres of tillable land, on which 
 can be grown all the productions of 
 Northern Florida. It excels, however, 
 in its adaptation for the growth of all 
 kinds of market vegetables, and will, 
 undoubtedly, at no distant day, become 
 a vast garden from whence the cities of 
 the North and Atlantic coast will obtain 
 their supplies of early vegetables. It is 
 more advantageously situated Avith re- 
 spect to facilities for communication 
 than any other county of the State at 
 the present time ; and has an abundance 
 of means at hand for the disposition of 
 its products. The St. John's River, 
 with its multitudinous creeks and rami- 
 fications, occupies nearly one-tenth of 
 the surface of the county. Its waters 
 are navigable for vessels of all sizes, and 
 the connection of the county with the 
 markets of Savannah, Charleston and 
 New York is, therefore, of a close and 
 intimate character. 
 
 Jacksonville is the chief point of in- 
 terest in Duval County ; it is situated 
 on the St. John's River, about twenty- 
 five miles from its mouth. It is the 
 most populous city in the State, and in 
 wealth, commerce and industry, is rap- 
 idly taking a front position among the 
 cities of the Atlantic seaboard. 
 
 The principal business at present in 
 this county, is the manufacture of lum- 
 ber. There are eight to a dozen steam 
 saw-mills scattered up and down the 
 river in the space of four or five mile?. 
 These manufacture about 50,000,000 
 feet of lumber annually. 
 
38 
 
 DB, RIGBY'S PAPERS ON FLOBTDA. 
 
 Keal estate is low now, but the ten- 
 dency is upward, and with a prosperous 
 country above, it must continue to 
 advance under the present rapid and 
 healthy growth of the State. 
 
 ESCAMBIA COUNTY. 
 
 The surface of the land in this county 
 is undulating, the central portion rising 
 into high ridge?:, sometimes reaching an 
 elevation of from 150 to 200 feet above 
 the level of the sea. The soil is what is 
 generally characteristic of "pine woods"; 
 it is quite sandy along the coast, becom- 
 ing less and less so as you advance into 
 the interior, and generally resting upon 
 a subsoil of farinaceous clay, easily cul- 
 tivated, and susceptible of being rend- 
 ered highly productive — peaches, nect- 
 arines, apricots, figs, plums, and grapes 
 requiring but little attention, and still 
 bearing bountifully, and being entirely 
 exempt from disease or worm. All the 
 grasses, including clover, timothy, blue 
 grass and Bermuda, do well in different 
 portions of the county, yielding good 
 crops. With regard to other crops, the 
 yield is abundant. Garden vegetables 
 of every description can be produced 
 abundantly. 
 
 The greater bulk of the people of this 
 county are engaged in some capacity 
 connected with the lumber trade, or else 
 are upon the waters, so that the soil 
 and farm industry in general are com- 
 paratively neglected. The few, there- 
 fore, who do cultivate the soil and en- 
 gage in the various pursuits incident to 
 it, find a ready home market, and real- 
 ize the best of profits as a reward for 
 their industry. 
 
 Pensacola is the port of entry for the 
 county, as well as for almost the entire 
 portion of West Florida, and is the 
 county seat of Escambia. It has a popu- 
 lation of 4,000, while the population of 
 the county is about G,000. 
 
 This county is well timbered with all 
 the varieties of growth, and lumbering 
 is extensively carried on. 
 
 The climate of this part of Florida is 
 unequalled for its mildness and salubrity, 
 and is rapidly being sought by invalids 
 from the Northern States. This county 
 has one great want, and that is agricult- 
 ural labor. This tends to keep back the 
 consequent enhancement in value of 
 lands which is inevitable when farming 
 is a ruling interest. Thousands of acres 
 which should be blooming with life and 
 beauty, are now lying idle and neglected, 
 and from this cause, after being denuded 
 of their timber, are considered by their 
 owners scarcely worth the tax assessed 
 upon them. 
 
 SANTA ROSA COUNTY 
 
 Is bounded by W alton County on the 
 east, Escambia on the west, by Ala- 
 bama on the north, and the Gulf on the 
 south. The Blackwater and Escambia 
 are the principal rivers. The county 
 has an area of about 1,140 square miles. 
 The population of the county is about 
 6,000. The population has increased 
 over fifty per cent, since the close of the 
 war. 
 
 The surface is slightly undulating, 
 and broken by numerous small streams 
 and rivers. The soil is light but very 
 productive, particularly the lands known 
 as swamp lands. The climate is exceed- 
 ingly equable and healthy, and epidem- 
 ics are unknown in the county. 
 
 Corn, sugar-cane, potatoes, and all 
 the garden vegetables are raised abund- 
 antly. Every variety of fruit does well, 
 and under cultivation yield extensively. 
 
 There are immense quantities of every 
 variety of timber throughout the county, 
 such as pine, juniper, cypress, cedar, 
 live and water oak, cherry, bay and 
 magnolia. 
 
 The average price of land is §1.25 for 
 
DB. RIGJSY'S PAPERS ON FLORIDA. 
 
 39 
 
 unimproved, and from ^4 to $10 for 
 improved. 
 
 Milton and Bagdad offer a convenient 
 and ready market for all Qountry pro- 
 duce, and the numerous steam vessels 
 plying between these places and Pensa- 
 cola, New Orleans and other ports on 
 the Gulf, afford every facility for get- 
 ting produce to market. 
 
 Stock raising is carried on to some 
 extent in this county. Sheep do ex- 
 ceedingly well. 
 
 SUWANNEE COUNTY. 
 
 The general topography of Suwann^ 
 County is rolling in the south and north 
 and ai^proaching to hilly in the middle, 
 with but little low or swampy land. 
 The quality of the soil is mostly sandy ; 
 sand being a part of nearly all the land 
 in the county. The soil is light, easily 
 cultivated, and very much improved by 
 proper fertilizing. There is a very small 
 amount of land in the county, but that 
 with proper attention would not repay 
 labor. 
 
 The Suwannee River is the boundary 
 line of the county from the northeast to 
 the southeast corner, a distance of over 
 100 miles. The J., P. and M. Raiboad 
 enters the county at Welborn, and runs 
 across the county to the Suwannee River 
 at EUaville. The A. and G. Railroad 
 enters the county on the north side and 
 runs to Live Oak, connecting with the 
 J., P. and M. Railroad to Jacksonville 
 on the east and Tallahassee on the west. 
 
 Com and cotton are the principal 
 crops, but all other varieties are raised 
 abundantly in different parts of the 
 county. The raising of cattle, horses, 
 hogs and mules is receiving a great deal 
 of attention. 
 
 There is a rapid advance in fruit 
 culture in this county, even oranges do 
 well. There are numbers of vineyards 
 of the Scuppernogg grape, and quite a 
 large amount of wine made yearly. 
 
 In my opinion there is no place in 
 Florida that a poor man, or a man Avith 
 moderate means, can do better than in 
 this county. Land-holders seem Avilliug 
 to divide their large farms with new- 
 comers, and at the most reasonable rates. 
 The people are hospitable. Any person 
 going there, that will work, buy a home 
 and become one of the people, make his 
 interest the interest of all, will find 
 every kindness and assistance requisite 
 to success and haiipiness. 
 
 The climate is delightful. The nights 
 are beautifully cool, and the hard-work- 
 ing farmer can enjoy sweet sleep and rest. 
 The healthfulness could not be better. 
 
 The county is well timbered with all 
 varieties, and small lakes of pure water 
 and running streams on almost every 
 plantation for stock and farm purposes — 
 in fact there are few parts of the State 
 better supplied with pure, clear water. 
 
 TAYLOR COUNTY. 
 
 Taylor County is as yet a frontier 
 county, and has not had its resources 
 developed, even in a primitive manner. 
 The surface of the county is level, and 
 presents a beautiful appearance to the 
 traveler; is interspersed with small 
 streams or creeks, which abound in fish. 
 There is game in abundance, such as 
 deer, bear, wild turkeys, etc. 
 
 The soil is rich and generous, and 
 there is an abundance of as good ham- 
 mock land here as in any other portion 
 of the State. The climate is salubrious 
 and genial. 
 
 This county has been a splendid 
 range for cattle and hogs. Thousands of 
 heads of cattle o^vned by non-residents 
 constantly range this county, and are 
 under the care of residents who are re- 
 munerated for overseeing stock, by 
 owners, and the consequence has been 
 that agriculture has been neglected. 
 But this state of things is now in a 
 measure broken, as new settlers are com- 
 
40 
 
 DR. RIGBY'S PAPERS ON FLORIDA. 
 
 iiig in, and the people are turning their 
 attention more to agriculture and the 
 proper developement of the county, and 
 a higher future is everywhere indicated. 
 
 As to products, grapes, etc., what has 
 been said of Suwannee County is equally 
 applicable here, but not to so great an 
 extent, principally on account of the 
 primitive nature of general improve- 
 ments. But with fair cultivation there 
 is no reason why the land of this county 
 should not yield abundantly of the gen- 
 eral products, fruit, etc., of the adjacent 
 counties. 
 
 Wild pine land can be bought at from 
 one to two dollars per acre according to 
 location. Land with improvements is 
 worth from two to five dollars per acre. 
 But when I speak of improvements, the 
 reader must not anticipate much, as the 
 houses are all log-houses, and very sorry 
 ones at that. The chief value of the im- 
 provements is in the cleared land. The 
 improvements in this county compare 
 very poorly, in a great many instances, 
 with what the traveler meets in numer- 
 ous other counties in the State. 
 
 This county is bounded on the north 
 by Madison county, on the east by La- 
 fayette County, on the south by the 
 Gulf of Mexico, and on the west by 
 Jefierson County. It has a coast line 
 of 120 miles, indented by several bays and 
 harbors, on which are some of the best 
 fisheries along the coast of Florida. 
 
 The turpentine and lumber business 
 of this county, at no distant day, is des- 
 tined to be of vast proportions, and men 
 of capital would make a good investment 
 to buy lands for turpentine orchards in 
 this county. But the strength of a 
 county lays in the hardy yeomanry, 
 and to such the county offers superior 
 advantages. Here land is cheap, plenty, 
 easy to clear, easy to cultivate, and 
 gives a good yield ; and there is good 
 pasturage for stock raising. 
 
 With what has come under my im- 
 mediate observation in other counties 
 equally good, I can't see w^hat is to pre- 
 vent an industrious farmer from suc- 
 ceeding here, and in the course of a few 
 years having a competency with all he 
 wants around him. 
 
 NASSAU COUNTY. 
 
 Nassau County, in the northeastern 
 corner of the State, contains about 700 
 square miles, including the island of 
 Amelia; population, 4,500, Is bounded 
 on the north and west by the St. Mary's 
 River, on the east by the Atlantic, and 
 on the south by the Nassau Eiver and 
 its tributaries. These natural water 
 boundaries consist for one half of their 
 extent of estuaries and streams navi- 
 gable for ocean vessels. The Florida 
 Railroad traverses its length nearly mid- 
 way between these water courses. Ac- 
 cessibility to its natural resources is one 
 of the leading features of this county. 
 On its sea coast it has an excellent har- 
 bor, sjiacious enough to shelter the fleets 
 of the United States. Its port, Fernan- 
 dina, is a town of 2000 inhabitants. It is 
 the shipping point for a large share of 
 the products of the Gulf States. Steam- 
 ers leave twice a week for Savannah 
 and Charleston, and twice for the South; 
 while it has daily connections per rail- 
 road Avith the Gulf coast, with Jackson- 
 ville, and the railroads leading into 
 Georgia, and thence North and West. 
 Sailing vessels in the lumber trade de- 
 part constantly for Northern ports, the 
 West Indies, South America and Europe. 
 From its insular position (Fernandina), 
 fanned by constant see-breezes, cool in 
 summer and mild in winter, is desirable 
 for residence, and offers to the far-seeing 
 capitalist the chance for building up a 
 widespread and lucrative trade ; to the 
 invalid in search of health, a mild and 
 salubrious climate ; and the pleasure- 
 seeker will find in the chance for 
 
DR. RIGBY'S PAPERS ON FLORIDA. 
 
 41 
 
 boating and duck-shooting offered by 
 her harbor, in the shell road and in her 
 unrivalled beach, with its invigorating 
 surf baths and its fifteen miles of smooth, 
 unbroken race track, sufficient attrac- 
 tion for a lengthy stay. With a liberal 
 policy pursued by those who control her 
 destiny, Fernandina's future must be 
 great and bright. 
 
 The soil of Nassau County varies from 
 the light mulatto soils of the coast 
 through all the intermediate gradations 
 to the stiff clays and marls in the low 
 lands of her rivers ; and its range of 
 productions is as varied as the soil. On 
 Amelia Island, the edge of the mainland, 
 and scattered along her rivers are soils 
 of calcarious sand that are adapted for 
 the finest qualities of long staple cotton, 
 to the culture of the grape and olive, 
 while the branch, fresh marsh and black 
 rush lands attached to them are especially 
 suitable for gardening. These lands are 
 easily reclaimed, rich, moist, and close 
 to shipping opportunities, so that the 
 shipping of early vegetables to northern 
 markets must soon form a considerable 
 item in the list of profitable investments. 
 In this connection I will call attention to 
 the many fertile swamp lands near the 
 coast, that have been drained and 
 brought under partial cultivation before 
 the war, but are now lying idle for 
 want of capital and enterprise, such as 
 the "Three Rivers," "O'Neal's Fields," 
 the " Vaughn Tract," etc., and to the 
 large abandoned rice plantations along 
 the St. Mary's River, where a compara- 
 tively small outlay of capital would re- 
 claim hundreds of acres of alluvial soil 
 on a clay foundation, the very best for 
 Irish and sweet potatoes, for forage and 
 grain crops. The stiff clay soils of 
 Thomas, Boggy, Funks, Mills, and 
 Lafton, tributaries of the Nassau River, 
 and of Little St. Mary's River, as well 
 iis the marl lands near Callahan, and 
 
 the big savanna on Cabbage Creek, are 
 lands suitable for the cultivation of the 
 sugar-cane, and in many instances a 
 small capital laid out at the present time 
 will purchase some of the most valuable 
 lands. 
 
 The clay bluffs along the St. Marys 
 River, and the so-called sand hills in the 
 northwestern corner of the county, form 
 a third distinct body of agricultural 
 lands. The former, in detached groups, 
 offer soils retentive of manures, and cap- 
 able of producing in perfection all the 
 products of the region, and there are 
 pleasant residences on the banks of this 
 remarkable stream, where sixty miles 
 from the coast the tall masts of vessels 
 drawing sixteen feet of water surprise 
 the traveller as he approaches its banks, 
 dense with the moss-fringed cypress and 
 the towering pine. The latter, sand 
 islands of an older formation among the 
 marshes and lagoons that early surround- 
 ed them, and from which the present 
 flat-woods arose, are the favorite choice 
 for settlement of the herdsmen, who till 
 the upland, manured by the somewhat 
 antiquated system of cow-penning the 
 herd that graze on the adjacent almost 
 evergreen pastures of the flat woods. 
 Both of these classes of lands are, best 
 of all, adapted to the culture of the early 
 peach, apple, pear and grape— samples 
 of which, raised without system, care 
 or culture, will astonish the northern 
 tourist, two months in advance of the 
 season he is accustomed to look for them, 
 and of a quality that will compete with 
 the best productions of the ^tiddle 
 States. And there is this deep, quiet 
 river right at the door of the cultivator 
 of these highly prized luxuries to con- 
 vey them to the steamboat wharves in 
 Fernandina. Besides this stream, that 
 deserves much more of the attention of 
 the incoming settlers than it has received 
 heretofore, offers on its clay bluffs the 
 
42 
 
 DR. RIGBY'S PAPERS ON FLORIDA. 
 
 chances of locating further south than it 
 is possible elsewhere, and on a deep 
 outlet to the sea, brick-yards for the 
 supply of the growing towns and Gov- 
 ernment works in Florida, and of the 
 West India markets. 
 
 The balance of the lands of Nassau 
 County are pine barrens, mostly sandy, 
 and interspersed with numerous "bay- 
 galls," cypress ponds, savannas, some 
 of them marl-beds, all of them mines of 
 muck, that best basis for all farm man- 
 ures. The higher portion of these lands 
 are cultivated by cow-penning, and 
 yield a fair return in corn, sweet pota- 
 toes, cotton and sugar-cane ; the lower 
 portions furnish pasture for large herds 
 of cattle. But it is in the natural 
 growth in which rests the main wealth 
 of this section. The yellow pine with 
 which these flat woods are covered, fur- 
 nishes a ready supply of ship and building 
 material, and is an inexhaustible source 
 for naval stores ; while the extreme ac- 
 cessibility of every acre of land, makes 
 these sources of wealth immediately 
 available. To make an investment in 
 such lands would not alone be profitable 
 at first, but permanently so. 
 
 In proof of these assertions numerous 
 instances can be shown where persons, 
 recently starting there with a very lim- 
 ited capital, have amassed wealth in a 
 few years, some by gardening, some by 
 milling, some by logging, some with 
 cattle raising, and others by the manu- 
 facture of naval stores. 
 
 Many of the lands described here can 
 stUl be had from the United States un- 
 der the Homestead Law. But by far 
 the greater majority are held by the 
 Florida liailrcjad and by the Trustees of 
 the Internal Improvement Fund of 
 the State. 
 
 COLUMBIA COUNTY. 
 
 This County, in geographical position, 
 is advantageously and pleasantly located. 
 
 It is bounded on the north by the State 
 of Georgia, on the west by Hamilton 
 and Suwannee Counties, on the south 
 by Alachua County, and on the east by 
 Bradford and Baker Counties. A large 
 portion of this county is comprised of 
 pine lands, but of superior quality. 
 There are many fine hammocks, which 
 abound in timber of almost every va- 
 riety. It contains many lakes, Avhich 
 abound in fish of superior quality. 
 
 This county contains an area of about 
 600 square miles, or about 380,000 
 acres ; of this there are about 42,000 
 acres cleared and under cultivation. The 
 soil is mostly level, of a fertile, dark, 
 sandy loam, with a subsoil of clay, very 
 easy to clear, and retains fertilizers 
 when applied as well as any land. 
 Laud ranges in price according to the 
 quality, etc., from one to twenty dol- 
 lars per acre. 
 
 Lake City, the county site, is a town 
 of about 1,500 inhabitants, situated 
 near the center of the county, and is as 
 healthy a location as can be found. 
 
 The industrial resources are cotton, 
 corn, oats, wheat, rye, sugar-cane, 
 potatoes, and all varieties of vegetables. 
 Turpentine is extensively manufactured 
 in some portions of the county. The 
 timber business is not so extensively 
 carried on as heretofore, but is an item 
 of some importance. 
 
 All varieties of fruit do well in this 
 county, even oranges. Grape culture 
 is destined to become one of the leading 
 industrial pursuits — all varieties are 
 successful. 
 
 The population of the county is about 
 9,000, and settlei's coming in are swell- 
 ing the quota. Landholders are dis- 
 posed to sell off portions of their farms on 
 the most reasonable terms to settlers. 
 Instances have come under my observa- 
 tion, where farmers have given alternate 
 farms of forty acres to worthy settlers. 
 
DR. RIGBY'S PAPERS ON FLORIDA. 
 
 43 
 
 CLAY COUNTY. 
 
 This County is bounded on the north 
 by Duval, on the west by Bradford, on 
 the east by St. Johns, on the south by 
 Putnam County. The Land is nearly 
 all pine. There are small bodies of 
 swamp and hammock lands along Black 
 Creek and other streams which are very 
 productive. Land can be purchased at 
 from 50 cents to $1 per acre. The St. 
 Johns River flows along the eastern 
 border of the county, the Black Creek 
 is navigable for steamers to a point near 
 the center of the county, and the rail- 
 road from Cedar Keys to Fernandina 
 passes along the western border. Good 
 access is had to market for all kinds of 
 produce. 
 
 The county seat is at Green Cove 
 Spring. It is situated on the St. Johns 
 River, a short distance from Jackson- 
 ville. 
 
 Lands fertilized yield fairly to com- 
 pensate labor ; corn, cotton, sugar-cane, 
 etc., doing well. Grapes, oranges, 
 peaches, plums, and all the smaller var- 
 ieties of fruit can be raised abundantly. 
 
 HAMILTON COUNTY. 
 
 The people of Hamilton County are 
 principally farmers. Their crops are 
 remunerative in the extreme, and every 
 variety of staple products are successful. 
 Sixty bushels of corn per acre will give 
 an idea of what has been raised in this 
 county under fair fertilization. Almost 
 every grade and quality of soil can be 
 found. 
 
 Along the streams there is a consider- 
 able quantity of timber of almost every 
 kind. On the Suwannee River alone 
 there is enough to build a United States 
 navy. The yellow pine is the most 
 abundant timber, and is found almost 
 all over the county. 
 
 Land can be bought at prices to suit 
 purchasers. Many settlers are buying 
 and paying by installments on long time. 
 
 The climate and health of this county 
 can be boasted of. It is a great resort 
 for invalids from the Northern cities. 
 
 Fruit of every variety does well. Al- 
 though fruit raising is a new thing here, 
 still it instances success wherever tried. 
 
 LIBERTY AND FRANKLIN COUNTIES. 
 
 Liberty County is situated directly 
 north of Franklin County, and adjoins 
 Gadsden County toward the same point 
 of the compass. Both counties are 
 separated from Calhoun County on the 
 north by the Apalachicola River, and 
 from Leon and Wakulla Counties on 
 the east by the Ocklochonee River. 
 Liberty is very sparsely populated, and 
 the inhabitants give very little attention 
 to agriculture. It is an immense cattle 
 range, but possesses as fine land as can be 
 found in the State. The State has only 
 about 600 acres of laud for sale in this 
 county, as almost the entire county be- 
 longs to what is known as the "Forbis 
 Purchase." This land can be bought at 
 from one to three dollars per acre. 
 
 Apalachicola, the county seat, situ- 
 ated at the mouth of the Apalachicola 
 River, was, before the war, a point of 
 great commercial interest. Within the 
 last year some fine saw-mills were erected 
 at Apalachicola, and are doing an im- 
 mense business. The city is every way 
 indicating a bright future. The popu- 
 lation is about 2,000, and are all of the 
 most industrious class. The oyster trade 
 amounts to about 150,000 annually. 
 
 Franklin County contains about 326,- 
 000 acres of land, of which 164,000 are 
 improved. The principal products are 
 sweet and Irish potatoes, vegetables of 
 every variety, sugar-cane, etc. Fruits 
 of all kinds, oranges, lemons, figs, 
 grapes, etc. 
 
 Good fish and oysters all along the 
 coast, and game of every kind in abund- 
 ance. 
 
' 44 
 
 DR. RIGBY'S PAPERS ON FLORIDA. 
 
 The county is well timbered, and no 
 county presents a finer field for lumber- 
 men. 
 
 BAKER COUNTY. 
 
 This county is situated in the north- 
 western portion of the State, being 
 separated from Georgia on the north by 
 the St. Marys River ; it adjoins Nassau 
 County on the east, Bradford on the 
 south, and Columbia on the west. Its 
 surface is generally level and overgrown 
 with saw-palmetto and wire grass. It 
 is one continuous forest of yellow and 
 pitch pine and cypress. 
 
 The J., P. and M. Railroad passes 
 through the center of the county from 
 east to west, affording ample facilities 
 for transportation of timber. 
 
 The manufacture of turpentine is a 
 lucrative business in the county. 
 
 The soil is generally very productive, 
 and the climate is peculiarly adapted to 
 grape culture. 
 
 There is no healthier portion of the 
 State than Baker County. 
 
 Fruits and vegetables grow well, and 
 can be made very profitable. 
 
 BRADFORD COUNTY 
 
 Is bounded on the north by Baker, on 
 the south by Alachua, on the west by 
 Columbia, and on the east by Clay 
 County. The railway from Fernandina 
 to Cedar Keys passing through its south- 
 eastern end, gives transportation for tim- 
 ber and agricultural products. The sur- 
 face is like Baker County. The pine 
 forests are its greatest wealth, and the 
 manufacture of naval stores is extens- 
 ively carried on along the line of railroad. 
 
 The agricultural products of the 
 county are similar to those of Alachua, 
 Columbia and Baker. 
 
 Grapes, peaches, strawberries, etc., 
 grow in great quantities, and their cul- 
 ture can be engaged in profitably. Land 
 can be purchased at from 70 cents to $5 
 per acre. 
 
 JACKSON COUNTY. 
 
 Jackson County is the gem of West 
 Florida. It has within its boundaries 
 the largest area of hammock land to be 
 found in any county in the State, and 
 offers inducements to the farmer, the 
 fruit grower, the manufacturer, the 
 lumberman, the tourist, and the invalid, 
 which are not surpassed by those of any 
 other section of the State. 
 
 In climate it is similar to that of the 
 range of counties stretched along the 
 northern portion of the State, and is 
 salubrious and healthy. 
 
 Marina is the county seat, and is 
 noted for the refinement and intelligence 
 of its inhabitants. It is located near the 
 center of the county. Greenwood is a 
 thrifty village, nine miles north of Ma- 
 rina, and located in the center of a 
 large area of fertile and productive 
 lands. Campbelltou is about eighteen 
 miles north of Marina, and is a posper- 
 ous village. Neal's Landing, Port 
 Jackson, Hay wood's Landing, and Belle- 
 vue are on the Chattahoochee River, 
 and are points for reception and trans- 
 portation of freight, and are thriving 
 places. 
 
 The soil is fertile, and every variety 
 of pi'oduce yields bountifully. Oranges, 
 grapes, lemons, peaches, figs, and in 
 fact all varieties of fruit are prolific. 
 
 Land can be purchased at from 12 to 
 $10 per acre; and hospitality is every- 
 where extended to the stranger. 
 
 WASHINGTON COUNTY. 
 
 The greater portion of the lands of 
 this county are pine, and the surface is 
 generally level. It constitutes an excel- 
 lent range for cattle, and when culti- 
 vated yields well. It is well timbered 
 and there are several saw-mills operated 
 successfully in the county. 
 
 The greatest drawback to the county 
 is the want of railroad transportation. 
 
DB. BIOBY'S PAPEBS ON FLO BID A. 
 
 45 
 
 Fruits of all varieties and the difi'erent 
 kinds of produce do well. 
 
 As to the people, they are hearty and 
 hospitable, honest and industrious. The 
 population of the county is about 1,000. 
 
 CALHOUK COUNTY. 
 
 This county is bounded on the north 
 by Jackson, on the east by Gadsden, 
 Liberty and Franklin, on the south by 
 St. Joseph's Bay and the Gulf, and on 
 the west by Washington County. The 
 land is for the most part pine land, cov- 
 ered with a very heavy growth of yel- 
 low pine timber. Some of the most eli- 
 gible mill sites are to be found in this 
 county. The Apalachicola River run- 
 ning along its entire eastern border, of- 
 fers every facility for the transportation 
 of produce and timber to the Gulf coast. 
 The population is very small, and the 
 resources of the county are but little 
 developed. Land can be purchased at 
 from 75 cents to f 10 per acre. All the 
 productions of Gadsden, Franklin and 
 Liberty Counties can be grown in this. 
 
 WALTON AND HOLMES COUNTIES. 
 
 These counties lie between Santa 
 Rosa and Washington Counties in the 
 western part of the State, and partake 
 largely of the characteristics of those 
 counties. Their lands are principally 
 pine, and their wealth is to be found in 
 the timber with which they are covered. 
 The Choctawhatchie Bay extends along 
 the entire southern part of Walton, and 
 presents some unsurpassed milling sites. 
 The population of these counties is ex- 
 ceedingly small. 
 
 We will next introduce the reader to 
 the counties of Central Florida. 
 
 ALACPIUA COUNTY. 
 
 Geographically, this is the central 
 county of the State. The population of 
 the county is about 17,000. We find 
 all varieties of soil and surface in this 
 county, from the poorest pine to the 
 richest hammock. There is direct com. 
 
 munication by rail with Cedar Keys on 
 the Gulf, and Fernandina on the At- 
 lantic, giving good outlets for shipping. 
 Cotton, corn, sugar-cane, rice, oats, 
 etc., yield heavy crops. Grapes in 
 every variety, also all fruits, as well as 
 oranges are raised t« perfection. 
 
 MARION COUNTY. 
 
 Marion County is situated in the cen- 
 tral and narrowest part of the State. It 
 is one of the largest, most fertile and 
 productive counties in Florida. The 
 Ochlawaha River passes nearly through 
 its center, and is navigated by numbers 
 of steamers. 
 
 Ocala, the county seat, is a growing 
 town in the interior of the county. 
 
 Few counties in the State have a 
 more varied soil. It contains fifty-two 
 townships, making 1,872 square miles. 
 Twelve hundred homesteads have been 
 located in this county, by actual settlers, 
 in the past few years. 
 
 The highness and dryness of this sec- 
 tion of the State is remarkable, and it is 
 almost needless to say that such a county 
 is healthy in the extreme. There is very 
 little wet or marshy land to be found in 
 this county. The lands, both high and 
 low, are well timbered. 
 
 The people of this county were slow 
 in engaging in tropical fruit culture, 
 but now Marion bids fair to be the 
 largest fruit-growing county in this 
 State. Oranges, pine-apples, lemons, 
 bananas, etc., are produced in extreme 
 excellence. Population, 10,000. 
 
 PUTNAM COUNTY. 
 
 The western portion of the county is 
 undulating and interspersed with num- 
 erous lakes, which add variety and 
 beauty to the scenery. The larger por- 
 tion of this section consists of pine land, 
 but there is also good hammock. Here 
 are the cotton plantations of the olden 
 time, some of them now successfully 
 
46 
 
 DR. RJGBY'S PAPERS ON FLORIDA. 
 
 cultivated, while others are lying idle. 
 For cotton and general farming this is 
 the richest and best part of the state. 
 Nearer the St. John's River, the land is 
 low, flat pinoy woods, valuable princi- 
 pally for its timber and as a feeding 
 range for cattle. On the east side of 
 the St. John's River the land is ham- 
 mock, rising back into flat pine land. 
 
 Palatka, the county seat, is on the 
 St. John's River, seventy-five miles 
 south of Jacksonville. Population, 
 1,500. It is a thriving town, shipping 
 large quantities of cotton, oranges, 
 sugar, and other productions. It is a fav- 
 orite resort for invalids. 
 
 Some of the finest orange groves in 
 the State are in this county. 
 
 The price of land varies from 70 cts. 
 to $100 jicr acre. Improved farms in 
 the western part of the county can be 
 bought at $10 per acre. 
 
 This county has the usual varieties of 
 wood, and numbers of persons are en- 
 gaged along the St. John's in the logging 
 business. 
 
 Putnam County has an area of nOO 
 square miles, of which about 15,000 
 acres are improved. Population of 
 county about 4,500. As a whole it is 
 as healthy as any other part of the 
 State. Every agricultural production 
 is raised in this county, besides numer- 
 ous tropical fruits not matured in other 
 counties farther north. 
 
 ST. John's county. 
 
 This county is bounded on the north 
 by Duval County, on the south by 
 Volusia, on the west by the St. John's 
 River, which divides it from Clay and 
 Putnam Counties, and on the east by 
 the Atlantic; Ocean. The soil is mostly 
 sandy, and the bulk is of an inferior 
 quality. There is a great deal of what 
 is called "scrub land" in this county, 
 and is scarcely available for agricultural 
 purposes. The county for miles around 
 
 St. Augustine is made up almost entirely 
 of this land. 
 
 St. Augustine is the chief point of 
 interest. The city is fifteen miles dis- 
 tant from the St. John's River, with 
 which it is connected by railroad. 
 
 Orange culture was the principal in- 
 dustry at one time in the history of the 
 county. A grove of twenty-five or 
 thirty trees in full bearing enabled the 
 fortunate possessor to live without labor 
 and in comparative affluence. 
 
 Market gardening can be made very 
 profitable in St. John's County. The 
 hotels and boarding-houses of St. Aug- 
 ustine are crowded with visitors during 
 the winter, and a ready market is at 
 hand for a much larger supply than is 
 now furnished. 
 
 LAFAYETTE & LEVY COUNTIES. 
 
 What has been said concerning 
 Alachua County is true of both these 
 adjoining counties. Some of the finest 
 hammoc4i. land in the State is to be 
 found in Levy County. This land will 
 yield, without any attempt at fertiliza- 
 tion, 1,500 to 2,000 pounds of sugar per 
 acre. It is all in the market and can be 
 purchased at a very low figure. 
 
 The railroad from Fernandina passes 
 through the centre of the county and 
 terminates at Cedar Keys. The Su- 
 wannee River passes along its western 
 boundary, separating it from Lafayette 
 County, so that the products have a 
 ready access to market. This is also 
 true of Lafayette County. The Su- 
 wannee sweeps along its entire eastern 
 border, separating it from Levy, Alachua 
 and Suwannee Counties, and the Stein- 
 hatchee River divides it from Taylor 
 County on the west. It has, besides, a 
 Gulf coast of forty or fifty miles in 
 extent. 
 
 VALUSIA COUNTY. 
 
 There is no county in the State offer- 
 ing greater inducements to the traveler 
 
DR. RIGBY'S PAPERS ON FLORIDA. 
 
 47 
 
 or permanent settler. The climate from 
 November to May is a perpetual com- 
 mingling of the Indian Summer of au- 
 tumn and the balmiest days of spring. 
 Most of the time there is a gentle breeze 
 coming inland from the even-tempered 
 waters of the Gulf Stream, or seaward 
 from the pine forests and orange groves. 
 The nights are pleasantly cool, sleep-in- 
 viting and refreshing. The dawn and 
 sunrise open a scene of splendor and 
 loveliness to the stranger's eye, and na- 
 ture greets with a jubilee abandon of 
 sound, in every pitch and variety, let 
 loose from myriad throats of birds gath- 
 ered from every clime. There is no 
 county in the State, or on the Atlantic 
 coast, where Nature has provided supe- 
 rior sources of natural beauty and en- 
 joyment. 
 
 Fish of the finest quality and great 
 variety crowd the waters. Oysters, ex- 
 cellent in flavor and size. Curlew, 
 cranes, quails, turkeys, deer, bears, and 
 other game, range under the pines, in 
 the savannas, and through the dense 
 hammocks, thrilling the sportsman with 
 new excitement at every nook and turn. 
 
 A sea-beach, hard as a plank road, 
 smooth and clean, where a walk or bath, 
 or drive is always pleasant, invigorating 
 and exciting. 
 
 The climate and soil are favorable to 
 winter-gardening, which, properly con- 
 . ducted, will bring rich returns of fruits 
 and vegetables for home consumption and 
 foreign markets. Everywhere the soil 
 and climate are warm enough for vigor- 
 ous winter-growth. Pineapples, bana- 
 nas, guavas and other tropical fruits 
 mature, and oranges are raised in abund- 
 ance and in the highest degree of super- 
 ior excellence. 
 
 The lands of this county are variable 
 like most others in the State, but the 
 majority are rich and desirable. In 
 many places the lands are rolling, then 
 
 drop off into valleys well sheltered, and 
 adapted to orange and other fruit cul- 
 ture. Fertilizers are everywhere abun- 
 dant and accessible, and with their use 
 the lightest soils become extremely pro- 
 ductive. The water is pure and good. 
 Here can be seen men directly from the 
 North, working in the field every sum- 
 mer day, enjoying perfect health. 
 There are instances on record in which 
 4,000 pounds of sugar have been pro- 
 duced from a single acre in this county. 
 
 There are several thriving settlements 
 and villages on its eastern border, among 
 which we will name Port Orange, Day- 
 tona, New Smyrna and Halifax City. 
 These are promising places, and will no 
 doubt be the center of commercial inter- 
 est as the State developes. This portion 
 of the State is now attracting the atten- 
 tion of permanent settlers, and Valusia 
 having desirable seaboard points and 
 harbors, will develop moi-e rapidly 
 than the more inland counties. Any 
 man who is willing to work, can make a 
 good living, start an orange grove, and 
 in a few years become independent in 
 this county. I do not say this from 
 mere speculation ; but there are numer- 
 ous instances here, where settlers have 
 come to this county a few years back 
 without anything, and by industry are 
 to-day wealthy. 
 
 Halifax River, on the Atlantic coast, 
 is a sheet of pure tidal water half a mile 
 wide, extending from the inlet north- 
 ward thirty-six miles, and navigable the 
 whole distance. North of Port Orange 
 the river is free from islands or marsh, 
 bounded by shores clean and beautiful, 
 from which, in many places, the main- 
 lands gradually rise for a quarter of a 
 mile, thus affording the most delightful 
 location for residences and villages. 
 
 The Hillsborough Kiver extends 
 southward about thirty-five miles. It 
 has the same advantages of inlet and 
 
48 
 
 DR. RIGBY'S PAPERS ON FLORIDA. 
 
 navigation throughout as Halifax, ex- 
 cept that in some places its channel is 
 less straight and its water a little more 
 shallow. 
 
 Unimproved land can be had at from 
 one to five dollars per acre. Private, 
 improved lands can be purchased at from 
 three to one hundred dollars per acre^ 
 according to improvements, etc. 
 
 Pasturage is good all the year. Flow- 
 ers bloom every day in the year. The 
 honey-bee finds an abundance of mater- 
 ial at all seasons, and is very profitably 
 raised. Stock-raising and dairying will 
 amply reward investment, and sheep 
 and poultry are easily kept and do well. 
 
 All the staple crops do exceedingly 
 well. Corn has yielded forty to sixty 
 bushels to the acre ; potatoes 2C0 to 300 
 bushels to the acre. Melons ripen by 
 the middle of May, and garden vege- 
 tables are on the tables of settlers all the 
 
 year. 
 
 ORANGE COUNTY. 
 
 This county lies directly west of Va- 
 lusia, and compares favorably in soil, 
 climate, productions, etc. There seems 
 to be a rapid improvement extending all 
 over .this county. AVithiu a few years 
 small settlements have grown to respect- 
 able-sized towns, containing many 
 stores doing a good business, and neat, 
 commodious residences and houses of 
 worship. The peculiar adaptability of 
 this county to the successful raising of 
 the orange, lemon, and all tropical 
 fruits, is attracting the stream of immi- 
 gration to this section, and each year 
 there is a large increase in permanent 
 settlers. 
 
 The county is now studded with or- 
 ange groves varying in extent from one 
 to one hundred acres, and during the 
 past year new groves are springing up 
 everywhere. This county bids fair to 
 become one vast orange grove, and that 
 without any fear of overstocking the 
 
 market, as the supply of Florida oranges 
 will never exceed the demand. 
 
 The most remunerative field crop is 
 sugar-cane, and can be raised on land 
 that is not suitable for orange trees. It 
 requires rich land, or that which has 
 been highly manured. It will not pay 
 to attempt to raise it upon poor land, as 
 it is an exceedingly exhausting crop. 
 Swamp muck, which is readily access- 
 ible to most lands of the county, has 
 proved to be one of the best manures 
 for it, especially when composted with 
 lime or ashes. The cane, when planted 
 upon rich land, and the proper mode of 
 cultivation pursued, can be relied on to 
 rattoon for five or six years without re- 
 planting, and yields from 300 to 400 
 gallons of beautiful golden syrup, or 
 from 1,200 to 2,000 pounds of sugar per 
 acre, besides the molasses from the drip. 
 Seed cane sufficient to plant an acre will 
 cost $50, and this will produce seed 
 enough to plant five acres the next year. 
 
 Orange County cotton has a high 
 rej^utation in market for fineness and 
 length of fibre. The usual yield is a 
 333 pound bale from three acres of pine 
 land. Short staple cotton, where tried, 
 has done well, producing on good land 
 an average bale per acre, and will prove 
 the best paying cotton for this county. 
 
 Tobacco, both Virginia and Cuba 
 varieties, succeed here. As high as 
 1,G00 pounds have been raised upon one 
 acre. The climate is so mild that three 
 cuttings can be made a year. The plant, 
 generally continues to gi-ow throughout 
 the winter. 
 
 Upland rice will pay to raise for fam- 
 ily use. When planted on low, rather 
 moist land, the plant will sucker and 
 yield a second cutting, often amounting 
 to half a crop. Twenty to thirty bushels 
 of rough rice is the usual average per 
 acre. 
 
 Sweet Potatoes yield from 150 to 400 
 
DR. RIGBY'S PAPERS ON FLORIDA. 
 
 49 
 
 bushels per acre, depending very much 
 on the variety planted, character of soil, 
 etc. It is a crop that pays well, and 
 requires but little labor. 
 
 Corn does well, and garden vegetables 
 in great profusion and variety all the 
 year round. In fact all vegetation can 
 be raised successfully. 
 
 Mellonville, Fort Keed, and Sanford 
 on Lake Monroe are thriving places. 
 There are numbers of saw-mills through- 
 out the county. Everywhere enterprise 
 and future wealth and success are ap- 
 parent. 
 
 Situated as it is in a low southern 
 latitude, the natural supposition would 
 be that Orange County must be a hot 
 place ; almost unendurable. The fact is, 
 however, entirely the reverse ; the ther- 
 mometer rarely getting higher than 92° 
 in the shade during summer, and seldom 
 as low as the freezing point in the win- 
 ter. The nights are almost uniformly 
 cool enough to require some bed cover- 
 ing. Being near the center of the pen- 
 insula, which will average ninety miles 
 in width, the inhabitants enjoy a con- 
 stant succession of sea breezes, both 
 from the Atlantic Ocean on the east and 
 the Gulf of Mexico on the west, giving 
 them a climate unsurpassed, and a salu- 
 brity of atmosphere that insures good 
 health. 
 
 Orange County has all varieties of 
 land, from the low savannas of the St. 
 Johns River to the high, rolling lands of 
 the interior ; from the pine land to the 
 rich hammock. The majority of the 
 lands are pine, and often of good qual- 
 ity. The cost of clearing is about 31.50 
 per acre. If there is undergrowth to be 
 cut off it will cost more. To clear ham- 
 mock land, it will cost $15 to $20 per 
 acre ; shrubbing off the undergrowth 
 and cutting off all trees under ten inches 
 in diameter. 
 
 Lands vary in price according to loca- 
 4 
 
 tion, quality, etc, between the ex- 
 tremes of seventy cents to SlOO per acre. 
 
 HERNANDO COUNTY. 
 
 This county has some characteristics 
 which are peculiar to it alone. It lies south 
 and west of the Withlacoochee River, 
 has a front on the Gulf of Mexico of 
 nearly sixty miles, and there is nowhere 
 a sea-coast more inviting to the immi- 
 grant than that from the mouth of the 
 Withlacoochee to the Anclote, a slope 
 of country containing not less than six 
 harbors, where steamers of ordinary 
 draft and coasting vessels can always 
 enter. The numerous bays and chan- 
 nels contain myriads of fish and oysters 
 of superior quality. The coast has little 
 or no surf, and consequently no beach. 
 For this reason it is well-timbered and 
 fertile to the very water's edge. Where 
 there is a rolling surf there is always a 
 wide beach of sand and shell. Along 
 this coast this is prevented by the St. 
 Martin's Reef, which runs parallel with 
 the coast, some ten or fifteen miles from 
 the shore. This forms a perfect break- 
 water to this section, and however rough 
 the Gulf may be, its effects are not felt 
 between the reef and shore. Along this 
 reef there is an extensive sponging busi- 
 ness done. At times 60 or 80 vessels 
 may be seen collecting sponges. 
 
 This coast section is well suited to the 
 growing of most of the tropical fruits, 
 sugar-cane and nearly all kinds of gar- 
 den vegetables. It has also the ad- 
 vantage of a shipping port at every five 
 or six miles. It has a healthy and salu- 
 brious climate, with bracing sea air, and 
 deer, fowl, fish and oysters in great 
 abundance. 
 
 This beautiful county, with as rich 
 lands as any in the world, and as finely 
 timbered, with an admirable climate 
 and average health, has remained almo.st 
 a wilderness. This, no doubt, i ; owiiig 
 
50 
 
 DR. EIGBY'S PAPERS ON FLORIDA. 
 
 chiefly to its being isolated from the 
 Atlantic. It needs a railroad, or some 
 other communication, to connect it with 
 the cities on the Atlantic seaboard. The 
 county, however, has taken a step in 
 the right direction, and orange culture, 
 and stock raising are indicating success. 
 There are some of the richest lands in 
 the State in this county, and every var- 
 iety of surface is to be met. Fruit 
 growing, and general agriculture are 
 successful. There are some of the finest 
 pasturages for cattle in this county that 
 can be found in the State, and will 
 compare favorably with the blue grass 
 regions of Kentucky. Few counties 
 have a better climate for the production 
 of tropical fruits. And I believe I never 
 tasted finer oranges than those grown in 
 the neighborhood of Brookville. 
 
 Brookville is about eighteen miles 
 from the coast, and is surrounded by 
 some of the richest and most elevated 
 lands of the State. It is near the bor- 
 der of Annuttehlaga Hammock, the 
 largest and most compact body of rich 
 land to be found in Florida. This ham- 
 mock extends fourteen miles in length 
 and from four to seven miles in width, 
 and adjoining it is Chicichatta and many 
 other detached hammocks of the same 
 quality of soil. There may be as good 
 lands in other parts of the State, but 
 there is certainly not so large a quantity 
 in so compact a body. Taking Brook- 
 ville as the center, and within a radius 
 of ten miles there is not less than 100,- 
 000 acres of first-class hammock lands, 
 and perhaps as much or more of first- 
 class pine land, amounting probably to 
 more than 200,000 acres of the best 
 quality of land in the above compass. 
 
 Land is reasonable in price, and settlers 
 can purchase well-improved farms at 
 low figures. A few years will change 
 matters, for residents are beginning to 
 see the county's wants, and at no very 
 
 distant day this section will have the 
 proper communication with the Atlantic. 
 
 SUMTER COUNTY. 
 
 Sumter County, with Orange County 
 on the east and Hernando on the west, 
 compares favorably with the other 
 counties of Central Florida, in richness 
 of soil, fruit growing and general agri- 
 culture. As to fruit growing, perhaps 
 no portion of Florida has shown more 
 interest, energy and zeal, according to 
 its means, in propagating the difierent 
 kinds of fruit suitable to be grown in 
 this latitude. So general is the inter- 
 est, that in every portion of the county 
 can be seen thrifty orange groves. 
 
 Leesburg, situated at the head of 
 navigation on Lake Griftin, is a thriving 
 town. A few years ago this was quite 
 a small place, but to-day is evidencing 
 the future prosperity of the surrounding 
 country. 
 
 There are some fine farming lands 
 among the rich hammocks of the With- 
 lacoochee River, and on Lakes Pansoff"- 
 kee, Harris and Griffin, and other 
 smaller bodies of both hammock and 
 pine land are scattered throughout the 
 county. On these lands fine crops of 
 sugar-cane and corn can be successfully 
 cultivated, while the lighter or sandy 
 hammocks, and the better grades of 
 pine land, make excellent crops of long 
 cotton, peas, and potatoes in great 
 abundance, and frequently good crops 
 of cane and com. These crops are gen- 
 erally certain, scarcely any falling below 
 a good average, unless some casualty 
 should occur, which is not often the case. 
 
 In addition to the crops mentioned, 
 tobacco could undoubtedly be made a 
 profitable portion of almost every farm. 
 Experiments in difierent sections of the 
 county have proven the adaptation of 
 its soil and climate to the production of 
 this article, which, if cultivated to a 
 proper extent, would in a great degree 
 
DR. RIGBY'S PAPERS ON FLORIDA. 
 
 51 
 
 diversify our crops, curtail the acreage 
 of cotton (so universally ruinous to the 
 farming interest), and retain within the 
 county thousands of dollars annually 
 drained from it to enrich other sections 
 of the country. The arrowroot and 
 cassava, both rich with starch of the 
 finest quality, especially the former, can 
 be raised here in great abundance, and 
 if properly cultivated and prepared for 
 market, would add much to the farming 
 interest of this county. 
 
 On Lake Griffin are some very fine 
 and promising orange groves, which al- 
 ready begin to fringe the borders of this 
 pretty lake and to mark the spot where 
 some enterprising settler has dotted the 
 shore with his residence. On Lake 
 Harris are some magnificent young 
 groves just coming into bearing. The 
 rapid growth of these trees is not ex- 
 celled by any in the country, and fully 
 demonstrates the adaptation of these 
 hammock lands to the growth of the 
 orange and all kindred fruits. 
 
 In addition to the orange, attention is 
 also directed to the cultivation of vari- 
 ous other fruits — the citron, grapes, 
 bananas, pine-apples, guavas, shaddock 
 and lemons, — all of which are success- 
 fully raised. 
 
 We will next take up the counties of 
 Southern Florida. Of these, the most 
 important is 
 
 MANATEE COUNTY. 
 
 This county is situated in the south- 
 western portion of the State, and em- 
 braces within its limits about 4,000 
 square miles, scarcely one-twentieth of 
 which is fit for cultivation, being mostly 
 of a low, flat, swampy nature, subject 
 to overflow in the wet season. There is 
 about 15,000 acres of land owned by 
 actual settlers, and only 3,000 under 
 cultivation. 
 
 The principal pursuit in this county 
 
 is stock raising — some men owning as 
 many as 10,000 head of cattle. Cuba 
 and Key West aflbrd a ready market 
 for stock at good prices. Hogs are also 
 raised to some extent, and some horses. 
 There are but few sheep in the county, 
 but the raising of them could be made 
 very profitable. Farming is not carried 
 on to any greater extent than what is 
 necessary for home consumption. 
 
 What is wanted here is a railroad, 
 extending from Charlotte Harbor to the 
 St. Johns River ; then agriculture and 
 fruit-raising would receive the attention 
 they deserve, and Northern markets in 
 mid-winter would be supplied with an 
 abundance of fresh vegetables and fruit. 
 
 This whole section of country abounds 
 in game — in fact deer are so numerous 
 that they are troublesome, frequently 
 destroying whole crops of sweet-potatoes 
 many men supporting their families by 
 the sale of venison and deer skins. It 
 is no uncommon thing for a man to kill 
 a dozen deer in a single short hunt. 
 Expert hunters finding a herd of deer 
 at feed, easily detect which is the leader 
 — he shot down, the rest play around 
 until all successively fall victims to his 
 unerring rifle. The water courses all 
 abound in fish, and on the coast particu- 
 larly mullet, sheephead, redfish, etc., are 
 caught in great quantities. The coast 
 also abounds in the finest of oysters. 
 
 A large number of settlers have re- 
 cently located on the Manatee River, 
 from which point connection is had by 
 steamer to Cedar Keys and Key West, 
 thus affording ready shipment for fruit, 
 etc. These settlers are turning their 
 attention especially to fruit-raising, some 
 of them being Northern men of intelli- 
 gence and means. 
 
 Sarasota, a point on the west coast, 
 selected as a site for a large sanitarium, 
 is settling up very rapidly with men of 
 this class ; and there is not a particle of 
 
52 
 
 DB. RIGBY'S PAPEBS ON FLOBIDA. 
 
 doubt that were facilities for transporta- 
 tion afforded, this county would soon be 
 populated by a desirable class of settlers. 
 Extend the Southern Railway through 
 to Charlotte Harbor, and then will be 
 opened up to the county, through the 
 influence of the energetic, intelligent 
 class of settlers, with capital at their 
 command, who will locate here, the vast 
 resources of this county ; its timber — 
 pine, live oak, cedar, hickory, cypress, 
 maple, etc. ; the products of its soil ; all 
 the tropical fruits ; its beef, the sweetest 
 and finest in the world ; its fisheries, etc. 
 
 As it is, the county is almost a barren 
 wilderness, save here and there, at in- 
 tervals of three or four miles apart, a 
 squatter on the public lands, cultivating 
 a potato patch and tending his cattle. 
 
 It is impossible to give the exact pop- 
 ulation of the county, but 2,000 is a 
 fair estimate. 
 
 HIIXSBOROUGH COUNTY. 
 
 The resources of this county have 
 hardly as yet, been touched. Its great- 
 est drawback, like most of the Gulf 
 counties, is transportation. At no dis- 
 tant day a railroad must run down 
 through South Florida, and settlers will 
 find in this section as desirable locations 
 as can be found elsewhere. 
 
 Oranges and other fruits are raised 
 successfully. In fact what has been 
 said of surrounding counties, in regard 
 to agriculture, can be said of this. 
 
 Tampa is one of the most important 
 places in Southern Florida ; population, 
 2,000. It is situated on Tampa Bay. 
 Population of countj'^, 4,000. 
 
 The county has its present drawbacks, 
 Mke all unsettled counties, but I am 
 fully persuaded, from what I have seen, 
 that this section has as great resources, 
 and offers as many inducements to set- 
 tlers, as any other part of the State. 
 
 Clear Water Harbor is situated in 
 
 the west part of Hillsborough County, 
 and five or six miles west of Tampa Bay. 
 The harbor is from twelve to fifteen miles 
 in length, and about two in width. 
 There are two inlets into the bay. The 
 northwest affords about eight or nine 
 feet of water on the bar, and the west 
 about five feet of water. The bay is 
 well situated for business and pleasure, 
 affording an abundance of fish, clams 
 and oysters. The region of Clear Water 
 is noted for its beauty and health. The 
 beach is high, from which can be had a 
 full view of the great Gulf of Mexico, 
 and vessels can be seen passing far out 
 at sea. There is a narrow peninsula 
 extending down between Tampa Bay 
 and Clear Water Harbor that is about 
 thirty miles in length, and from eight to 
 twelve miles in breadth, with a popula- 
 tion of some 1,200. 
 
 This is a decidedly healthy portion of 
 the State. The stranger will be sur- 
 prised with meeting numerous persons 
 who have passed over one hundred 
 years of age. The mortality is very 
 slight in this section, and epedemic sick- 
 nesses are almost unknown. The deaths 
 mostly occurring among the aged. 
 
 The climate is so mild that the farmer 
 can plant and gather something every 
 month in the year. The advantages of 
 such a climate as this to a poor man is 
 considerable. His winter clothing is a 
 trifle, hLs fuel is nothing — he loses no 
 time from labor for cold Aveather. The 
 range is good and stock requires no feed 
 in winter. A great variety, and the 
 finest quality of garden vegetables can 
 be raised all the year ; in fact no part 
 of the United States can produce any 
 better than are raised here. 
 
 BREVARD COUNTY. 
 
 This county has many natural attrac- 
 tions. The great Okeechobee Lake lies 
 in the southern portion of this county. 
 
DR. RIGBY'S PAPERS ON FLORIDA. 
 
 63 
 
 as likewise the Valley of the Kissimmee. | 
 This region is as yet undeveloped, but ! 
 when the State is better populated, and 
 the proper system of drainage adapted, 
 this will be the great sugar region of j 
 Florida. Indian River lies in this I 
 county. This river gives from its head, 
 in connection with the St. Lucie, an 
 uninterrupted navigation to Jupiter In- 
 let, 175 miles, and is nowhere so much 
 as a mile from the sea. At the head of 
 Indian River there is a large, low ham- 
 mock, regarded as very rich sugar land. 
 After leaving this hammock, the land 
 upon the banks of the river is mostly 
 third-rate pine ; the banks are high and 
 in many places very beautiful. The 
 orange can be cultivated here with great 
 success. There are small bodies of ham- 
 mock at many places upon the river. 
 AVhenever of easy access, this section 
 will be the great resort for invalids and 
 pleasure-seekers, and will have in a few 
 years some of the largest hotels for the 
 accommodation of visitors in the State. 
 The fisheries here will some day be of 
 great value. It is almost impossible to 
 exaggerate the quantity of fish to be 
 caught at many places upon this river. 
 
 It has been long thought that the 
 mosquitoes of this section were an effect- 
 ual barrier to its settlement and cultiva- 
 tion, but this is a mistake. Mosquitoes 
 are indigenous along the whole Atlantic 
 coast from Maine southward, and Flor- 
 ida has her proportionate share of them ; 
 but when the length of her coast, and 
 her numerous inland lakes, rivers, 
 creeks and swamps are considered, to- 
 gether with her mild winters and super- 
 abundant summer rains, the wonder is 
 to me that they are not more numerous 
 and troublesome, and "that in many lo- 
 calities the inhabitants enjoy almost en- 
 tire exemption from them throughout 
 the year. 
 
 It is generally believed that the 
 
 species of mosquito infecting the Indian 
 River country is propagated in the de- 
 caying grass, and the humus which the 
 absence of fires for years has allowed to 
 accumulate ; and this opinion seems to 
 be confirmed by the fact that just in 
 proportion as the burning of the woods 
 takes place, the insects are found to 
 decrease in number. 
 
 The Indian River mosquitoes are 
 smaller, and more frail and clumsy than 
 those found in Georgia. The gallinip- 
 pers and blind mosquitoes of the St. 
 John's River are never seen here. The 
 mosquito season commences about the 
 1st of June, with the showers, and fre- 
 quently lasts but a few weeks, when the 
 insects disappear as suddenly as they 
 come. They are to be found in the 
 humid atmosphere of densely shaded 
 swamps, and never in the day-time to 
 transcend their shady limits. 
 
 Along the entire length of Indian 
 River, the parallel coast is mainly a 
 deep one. Large wrecks are thrown 
 ashore, and damaged cargoes strew the 
 land. The beach is narrow, and the 
 bluffs high and abrupt, with no swamps 
 or marshes, except toward the southern 
 extremity. The prevailing southeast 
 winds are constantly and gently sweep- 
 ing the banks of the river, driving the 
 mosquitoes into the country beyond. 
 They cannot stand light, wind or smoke, 
 and are easily excluded by a bar. 
 
 The many fabulous stories which have 
 been told of the insects of the Indian 
 River country are mainly the result of 
 the wonderful growth which such 
 "hearsay" tales are wont to make in the 
 fertile minds of imaginative narrators, 
 as they pass from lip to lip. I was so 
 dismayed by these exaggerations as I 
 first passed up the St. John's River, on 
 my way to Indian River, that had I not 
 been ashamed to turn back, I should 
 have probably never seen what I con- 
 
54 
 
 DR. ItlGBY'S PAPERS ON FLORIDA. 
 
 sider the most beautiful, healthy and 
 fertile country of which I have any 
 knowledge, and am satisfied that the in- 
 sects will not interfere with the comfort 
 of anybody. 
 
 This county is fast showing the effects 
 of energy and capital, and it is being 
 demonstrated that not only the wild 
 l)ea.<t, the Indian and the settler can 
 i^tand the insects, but the delicate women 
 and children are happy and contented 
 in their new homes, and hopeful in pro- 
 spect of the golden harvest of the future. 
 
 POLK COUNTY. 
 
 The surface of this county is what 
 may be termed gradually undulating. 
 The lands are hammock, pine and 
 prairie. The prairie lands are vast 
 plains or beautiful savannas — dressed in 
 luxuriant verdure and living green — 
 dotted ever and anon with clusters of 
 trees, oasis-like, giving a romantic view 
 to the eye, if "distance lends enchant- 
 ment to the view." The prairies are the 
 favorite-resort for herds of cattle, with 
 deer and other game, which roam and 
 feed on its fragrant herbage. The ham- 
 mock and pine lands are rich. 
 
 The rivers and lakes afford innumer- 
 able quantities of fish and water-fowl, 
 such as duck, snipe, crane, water-tur- 
 key, marsh-hen, and a variety of others, 
 of beautiful plumage. The forests 
 abound in enough of game to tempt the 
 cupidity of any hunter, such as deer, 
 bear, panther, wild-cat, racoon, opos- 
 sum, foxes, rabbits and squirrels, with 
 thousands of turkeys, partridges, etc., 
 and during the periodical inundation of 
 the flats and prairies of this section, 
 which occur from June 15th to Septem- 
 ber 15th, if any one wished to embark 
 in the business, they could gather 100 
 bushels of frogs per acre, and enough 
 alligators to fence them in with. 
 
 The population of the county is 
 3,500. Bartow, the county seat, is 
 
 located in a very fertile and healthy sec- 
 tion. The climate is temperate, serene, 
 and genial as any land beneath the sun. 
 The citizens of the county are ever kind, 
 hospitable and generous. Stock-raising 
 constitutes the principal production of 
 the county, which find a ready market 
 in Cuba and Key West. 
 
 DADE COUNTY. 
 
 This county embraces the greater part 
 of the southern extremity of Florida. 
 It has within its limits most of that por- 
 tion of the State known as the Ever- 
 glades. This singular feature of South- 
 ern Florida, which is world-renowned, 
 and has excited the wonder and aston- 
 ishment of the tourist, is simply a shal- 
 low lake of vast extent. As is indicated 
 by its name, it presents one of the 
 grandest spectacles of semi-tropical rich- 
 ness to be found on the continent of 
 America. It is one of Nature's mag- 
 nificent exhibitions of vegetation, which 
 strikes the eye with wonder and delight. 
 The water is from six inches to six feet 
 in depth, and teems with aquatic and 
 semi-aquatic grasses and plants. Out 
 of the surface of the lake rise innumer- 
 able small islands, containing from one 
 to one hundred acres of land. These 
 islands are covered over with a growth 
 of cypress, sweet-bay, crab-wood, mas- 
 tic, cocoa palms, cabbage palmetto, and 
 live and water oaks ; beneath which 
 morning glories, lilies, and beautiful 
 flowers in almost endless variety bloom, 
 and around which strange pai'asitic 
 plants and vines, like huge serpents, 
 twine themselves ; the whole presenting 
 a scene of surpassing beauty. The 
 water is pure and clear, and abounds in 
 fish, turtle, and that less desirable pro- 
 duction, alligators. Through the islands 
 the deer and black bear roam. The 
 panther makes his lair in the long 
 grass. Wildcats in great numbers hide 
 themselves in the gray moss which 
 
DR. BIGBY'S PAPERS ON FLORIDA. 
 
 55 
 
 drapes and festoons the trees, while the 
 gorgeous colors of the wood-duck, the 
 ibis and the gallinule delight the eye at 
 every turn. 
 
 Around the Everglades is a margin 
 of prairie, from half a mile to a 
 mile in breadth, and comprises some 
 of the richest land to be found in 
 the United States, and has a produc- 
 tive capacity for every variety of vege- 
 table life known in the tropics, that is 
 unsurpassed. 
 
 The soil of Dade County is sandy, and 
 is adapted for the cultivation of Sea 
 Island cotton, which is here perennial, 
 and can be picked at almost all seasons 
 of the year. Along Biscayne Bay, to- 
 bacco, equal to the best grown in Cuba, 
 can be cultivated ; while the banana, 
 plantain, cocoa-nut, guava, sapadilla, 
 pomegi'anate, mammee, tamarind, pine- 
 apple, lime, lemon, citron, orange and 
 every other variety of tropical fruit can 
 be grown here successfully. The pine- 
 apple is certain to become a staple pro- 
 duction of Dade County, not only on 
 account of the superior quality of the 
 fruit raised here, but also from the fact 
 that with proper means of transporta- 
 tion it can be placed in the Northern 
 markets a greal deal earlier than the 
 Cuban or Bahamian fruit. Grapes 
 ripen here in May, and are of superior 
 quality. The finest varieties of figs in 
 great abundance. 
 
 Dade County is the most sparsely 
 populated county in Florida. This has 
 been owing to the fact that until within 
 the last few years but little has been 
 known of this section. Lands are worth 
 from seventy -five cents to one dollar per 
 acre. The climate is exceedingly agree- 
 able and conducive to health. The ther- 
 mometer throughout the year shows a 
 temperature of about 75° — the extremes 
 being 51° and 92°. It is never visited 
 by frost, and the heat of mid-summer is 
 
 much less oppressive than at New York 
 or places farther north. 
 
 Most of the islands or keys of the 
 Florida Reef, extending from Dry Tor- 
 tugas to Virginia Key, properly form a 
 part of this county. Indian Key is one 
 of the few islands of the reef that can be 
 called inhabited. It has been a ren- 
 dezvous of the wreckers for many years. 
 The whole island is under cultivation, 
 and almost every variety of tropical 
 fruit is grown to perfection. 
 
 MONROE COUNTY. 
 
 This county is bounded on the north 
 by Manatee County, on the east by 
 Dade, and on the south and west by 
 the Gulf of Mexico and the Florida 
 Straits. The Caloosahatchie separates 
 it from Manatee County. At the 
 mouth of this river is Punta Rassa, a 
 place of considerable importance during 
 the Indian wars. A fortified block- 
 house and other Government buildings 
 yet remain. A little above the mouth 
 is the garrison of Fort Meyers, a most 
 delightful situation. 
 
 Of the archipelago within the limits 
 of Monroe County, the island of Key 
 West is the most important. This place 
 has long enjoyed a very high reputation 
 as a resort for invalids, and its claims 
 are undoubtedly of the first order. Here 
 the invalid in quest of health, can find a 
 delightful climate, and all the necessaries 
 and comforts of life in abundance. The 
 island is about five miles in length and 
 one in width. The city of Key West is 
 situated at the western extremity, where 
 there is a large and commodious harbor, 
 of great depth, and incalculable import- 
 ance in a commercial point of view. The 
 principal industry is cigar making, al- 
 though all the tropical fruits are raised 
 in abundance. The city is rapidly in- 
 creasing in population and wealth. An- 
 other industry is wrecking. Key West 
 
56 
 
 DR. RIGBY'S PAPERS ON FLORIDA. 
 
 is the principal rendezvous of the wreck- 
 ers along the Florida coast. Besides 
 these industries, it is the principal point 
 for the shipment of cattle from the 
 ranges of the southern portion of the 
 State for Cuba. 
 
 Most of the lands of Monroe County- 
 are worthless for purposes of agriculture 
 at present, but it contains savannas and 
 bodies of hammock land unsurpassed in 
 richness, and which, with a proper sys- 
 tem of drainage, will be held in the 
 highest estimation for the cultivation of 
 tropical fruits. 
 
 Since traveling through Florida, I 
 have received numerous letters from 
 individuals desirous of a more general 
 description of particular counties, etc. 
 Persons wishing any information in re- 
 gard to Florida, as to prices of land, 
 crops raised and profits, desirable loca- 
 tions for visit or settlement, society in 
 each locality, etc., can address me per 
 letter, in care of the publisher, inclosing 
 one dollar as fee for correspondence. 
 
 I will now take the reader through 
 the principal cities and towns of the 
 State, giving a fair idea of each as I 
 proceed. 
 
 JACKSONVILLE. 
 
 Jacksonville is the most populous city 
 in the State, and in commerce, industry 
 and wealth, is taking rapidly a high 
 position among the cities of the Atlantic 
 seaboard. It is in Duval County, about 
 twenty-five miles from the mouth of the 
 St. John's Kiver. Its population proper 
 is about 10,000, but during the winter 
 it often swells to 20,000. From its situ- 
 ation at the mouth of a magnificent 
 river, which, with its tributaries, is 
 navigable a distance of one thousand 
 miles, and draining a region of coun- 
 try unparalleled for the richness of 
 its soil and variety of its produc- 
 tions, with the increasing enterprise 
 of its merchants, and populace, it is 
 
 destined, at no very distant day, to 
 be one of the great commercial marts of 
 the world. 
 
 The principal business at present is the 
 manufacture of lumber, and frequently 
 the river is dotted with a dozen or two 
 of foreign and home vessels awaiting 
 their turn to be supplied. In the space 
 of four miles up and down the river a 
 dozen steam saw-mills are kept con- 
 stantly at work throughout the year, 
 and manufacture about 50,000,000 feet 
 annually. There are also numerous 
 mills on the railroads leading to the in- 
 terior, which send their lumber to Jack- . 
 sonville for shipment. 
 
 There are numbers of good-sized 
 stores, well filled with goods, presenting 
 an appearance of thrift and business, 
 which would do credit to any city of ten 
 times greater population. Most of the 
 buildings in the business part of the city 
 have been erected in the past five years, 
 are mostly nice-looking bricks, and the 
 stores, two or three stories high, have a 
 substantial appearance. 
 
 Bay Street is the principal thorough- 
 fare, and is broad and handsome, run- 
 ning parallel with the river, and straight 
 for about a mile. From the general 
 appearance of the buildings and sur- 
 roundings, this street claims to be, in the 
 future, one of the handsomest streets to 
 be found in any city of the South. 
 Some ten or a dozen streets run parallel 
 to this one, and these are crossed at 
 right angles by twenty others, cutting 
 the city into blocks of a fair size. Many 
 of the private residences are very re- 
 spectable as to size and architecture, 
 and many of the buildings of older date 
 are being altered. Most of the streets 
 are shaded with large and elegant trees, 
 and give a cool and refreshing aspect to 
 the dwellings. Leading out of the city 
 are fine shell roads W'hich present de- • 
 lightful drives. 
 
DR. RIGBY'S PAPERS ON FLORIDA. 
 
 57 
 
 There are ten churches ; none of these 
 are very fine edifices, but the Episco- 
 palians and Catholics are erecting hand- 
 some ones. The schools are good and 
 graded, and are uhder the charge of 
 competent superintendents and teachers, 
 and are doing well. 
 
 There are five large and good hotels, 
 the Grand National Hotel, the St. James, 
 the Metropolitan, the Wav^ly House, 
 and the St. Johns House, with a dozen 
 or more smaller ones and numerous pri- 
 vate boarding houses. The first two 
 accommodate about 300 guests each, 
 and during a season accommodate as 
 much as 5,000 guests each. 
 
 As to newspapers, there are three 
 oflSces — two tri-weeklies, one semi-week- 
 ly, and two weeklies. There are three 
 banks, and are all doing a good business. 
 There is a good supply of doctors, law- 
 yers and ministers, but any number of 
 resolute and business men can find open- 
 ings for success. 
 
 Surrounding the city are three or four 
 suburban towns, which, in the course of 
 time will be united with the city. These 
 are La Villa, Hansontown, East Jack- 
 sonville, Brooklyn, Springfield and 
 Riverside. 
 
 The accommodations for travel are 
 two trains from the west, and two out- 
 going daily. The steamers City Point 
 and Dictator, running between Palatka 
 and Charleston tri-weekly, and the Liz- 
 zie Baker between Palatka and Savan- 
 nah Aveekly. While there are several 
 other steamers plying daily between this 
 point and the upper St. Johns and its 
 tributaries. In fact there is every facil- 
 ity for transportation of freight and 
 passengers necessary that any reasonable 
 community or person could desire. The 
 city possesses telegraphic facilities to all 
 parts of the United States. 
 
 The people of Jacksonville, as a mass, 
 are intelligent, active and hospitable, 
 
 and the church-going proportion is quite 
 large on the Sabbath. 
 
 Real estate is low, but the tendency 
 is upward, and with a prosperous coun- 
 try above, it must continue to have a 
 rapid and healthy growth. 
 
 FERNANDINA 
 
 Is the next city in importance. It is 
 located on Amelia Island and St. Marys 
 Bay, in Nassau County, on the best 
 harbor of the Atlantic south of Norfolk, 
 and about fifty miles nortli of Jackson- 
 ville. Population about 3,500. It is a 
 thriving place, and offers to the far- 
 seeing capitalist the chance of building 
 up a wide-spread and lucrative trade, as 
 its future destiny is the outlet for the 
 products of Florida ; the center for its 
 lumber trade and naval stores ; and the 
 shipping point for a large share of the 
 products of the Gulf States. 
 
 Steamers leave twice a week for Sa- 
 vannah and Charleston, and twice for 
 the South ; while it has daily connec- 
 tions per rail with the Gulf coast, with 
 Jacksonville, and the railroads leading 
 into Georgia, and thence north and 
 west. Sailing vessels supplied with lum- 
 ber by twenty saw-mills depart con- 
 stantly for Northern ports, the West 
 Indies, South America and Europe. 
 
 The visitor can not but recognize the 
 thrift, energy and future prosperity of 
 this place. The buildings and streets 
 are like most Southern cities, but im- 
 provements are everywhere indicated, 
 and in a few years the smaller business 
 houses will be suppbnted with massive 
 edifices. 
 
 The pleasure-seeker will find in the 
 chance for boating and duck-shooting 
 offered by her harbor, in the shell road 
 and unrivalled beach, with its invigora- 
 ting surf baths and its fifteen miles of 
 smooth, unbroken race track, sufficient 
 attraction for a lengthy stay. 
 
58 
 
 DB. lilGBY'S PAPERS ON FLORIDA. 
 
 With a liberal policy pursued by those 
 who control her destiny, Fernaudina's 
 future must be great and bright. 
 
 ST. AUGUSTINE 
 
 In all probabihty is the oldest city in 
 the United States, is in St. John's 
 County, on Mantanzas River, about 
 thirty-five miles south of Jacksonville, 
 and fifteen miles east of the St. John's 
 Kiver. Population about 2,500. Its 
 quaint appearance, its houses — half 
 Moorish, half Christian — the many his- 
 toric associations which cluster around 
 it, its delightful sea-shore situation, and 
 the delicious character of its climate, 
 make it one of the principal places of 
 attraction to the myriads of health and 
 pleasure-seekers who flock to the State 
 from all portions of the Union during 
 the winter months. Opposite the city 
 is Anastansia Island, on the south and 
 west of the city is Sebastian River. 
 
 Strangers visiting the city, generally 
 go by steamers up the St. Johns to 
 Tocoi, and are conveyed thence to St. 
 Augustine by rail, a distance of 15 
 miles in half an hour. On approaching 
 the city the first objects of attraction 
 are the substantial bridge that spans the 
 Sebastian River and the long and nar- 
 row causeway Avhich leads to the city. 
 As the visitor leaves the causeway in 
 the rear, he piisses beneath the dense 
 foliage of the oak, and the Pride of In- 
 dia trees, with the never absent moss 
 adoring their branches in long skeins. 
 On the right we next see the residence 
 of A. Gilbert, Esq., with its handsome 
 surroundings ; on tlie left is the orange 
 grove and residence of Dr. Anderson ; 
 in the rear of his place is the elegant 
 mansion of Henry Ball, Esq., and after 
 this arrives in front of the "Plaza," and 
 is then in the heart of the city. 
 
 There are four principal streets, which 
 extend nearly the length of the city. 
 The first one passed on entering the city 
 
 is Tolmato, upon which the Catholic 
 Cemetery is located. St. George Street 
 is the second, and is called the Fifth 
 Avenue. Charlotte Street is the third, 
 is from 12 to 16 feet in width, and a 
 mile in length. Bay Street is the 
 fourth, and commands a fine view of St. 
 Augustine Bay, Anastansia Island and 
 the Ocean. The streets are all quite 
 narrow, and some very narrow. The 
 old Spanish residences are mostly built 
 of stone from the quarries on Anastansia 
 Island. This stone looks like a mass of 
 small shell ossified. These houses are 
 covered with stucco, and whitcAvashed ; 
 and many have balconies on their second 
 stories overhanging the streets. 
 
 Among the things of note is the sea 
 wall, which extends along the front of 
 the city ; it is one mile in length, and 
 has a coping of granite, four feet wide, 
 which is a delightful promenade in the 
 evening. Near its southern extremity 
 is the Government Barracks. 
 
 At the north-eastern end of the town 
 is Fort Marion, which commands the 
 inlet from the ocean. It is one of the 
 oldest fortifications on this continent, 
 and has accommodations for 1,000 
 soldiers. 
 
 The city gate is at the north end of 
 the city, at the head of St. George 
 Street. This antique object is all that 
 is left of what is supposed to have been 
 a wall surrounding the city. 
 
 There are numerous other attractions 
 for the visitor in this ancient city, some 
 of which we will name : The Catholic 
 Cathedral, in its Moorish style ; the St. 
 Marys Convent, on St. George Street, just 
 west of the Cathedral ; the old convent 
 of the Sisters of St. Joseph, on Charlotte 
 Street, north of the Barracks ; the monu- 
 ment in honor of the Confederate dead, on 
 St. George Street, south of Bridge Street; 
 the Plaza, in the center of the city ; the 
 Governor's Palace, corner of St. George 
 
BR. RIGBY'S PAPERS ON FLORIDA. 
 
 59 
 
 and King Streets ; the Military Ceme- 
 tery, just south of the Barracks; the 
 Catholic Cemetery, on the north end of 
 Tolmato Street; the Hugenot Ceme- 
 tery, on King's Road, just north and 
 west of the City Gate. All these will 
 repay the stranger's visit, and some of 
 them will illustrate the times of old 
 Spanish reign. 
 
 At one time in the olden history of 
 this city, the principal industry of the 
 inhabitants was the orange culture. The 
 fruit of St. Augustine was then es- 
 teemed as the finest in the world, and 
 its culture was exceedingly profitable. 
 But in one night, in the year 1835, the 
 orange groves were swept off by a heavy 
 frost, and St. Augustine has never fully 
 recovered from the blow. There are 
 some small groves in the city and vicin- 
 ity at present, Avhich bear well, but 
 parties engaging in orange culture seek 
 a more southerly situation to insure 
 against frost. 
 
 Before leaving the city, do not fail to 
 visit North Beach, from which a fine 
 view of the Atlantic Ocean can be had. 
 ^here are other points of interest, to 
 which numerous yachts can be hired to 
 convey strangers, and which will repay 
 a visit. 
 
 North of the city is the suburban 
 town of Ravenswood, recently laid out 
 by J. F. Whitney. There are beautiful 
 building sites at this place, and it 
 promises a rapid occupation by superb 
 residences. 
 
 There are many orange groves and 
 beautiful gardens surrounding St. Aug- 
 ustine, and are features of admiration to 
 the Northerner. The semi-tropical fruits 
 are also raised in great profusion, and of 
 such delicious flavor that once tasting 
 will never be forgotten. 
 
 We will now take the reader to the j 
 St. John's River, and leaving Jackson- j 
 \'ille, we will proceed up the river, | 
 
 describing cities and villages to the 
 right and left as we advance on our 
 journey. 
 
 ST. John's river. 
 
 This is the largest river in the State, 
 and is in some respects as large as any 
 in America. It flows directly north 
 300 miles, then turns abruptly east, and 
 empties into the Atlantic Ocean. The 
 St. Johns is a tropical river, its beauty 
 steals over you as you advance. In 
 groups along its banks are seen the 
 palm, the live-oak with branches stream- 
 ing with silvery moss; while in the 
 background are seen the feathery pine- 
 trees purple in the distance. The num- 
 erous springs and swamps in the south- 
 ern portion of the State empty their 
 surplus water into this noble stream, 
 which gains in volume and width as it 
 approaches the Atlantic from the num- 
 erous creeks and smaller rivers frequent 
 along its shores. Many portions of the 
 river are six miles wide, and at no point 
 north of Lake George. is it less than one 
 mile wide. Along its banks may be seen 
 many cozy homes, and orange groves 
 and villages which lend enchantment to 
 thousands of visitors who pass up the St. 
 Johns in the winter season annually, 
 enjoying this delightful climate. Leav- 
 ing Jacksonville, and passing up the St. 
 Johns, the first point of note is 
 
 MANDARIN. 
 
 It is a village of 300 inhabitants, and 
 is one of the oldest settlements on the 
 river. One of the attractions of the 
 place is Mrs. Harriet Beecher Stuwe's 
 winter residence, which is the cottage 
 at the left of the pier surrounded with 
 oak and other trees. This village is 
 sixteen miles above Jacksonville, and 
 on the left hand side going up. At one 
 time during the Seminole wars every 
 inhabitant of this place was massacred 
 by the Indians. We next see 
 
DR. EIGBY'S PAPERS ON FLORIDA. 
 
 inBERNIA, 
 
 On the right hand, seven miles farther 
 up the river, and twenty-three from 
 Jacksonville. This place is the pleasant, 
 quiet resort of numbers of invalids, and 
 is desirably located. 
 
 MAGNOLIA, 
 
 Six miles above Hibernia, and on the 
 same side of the river, is another pleas- 
 ant resort. To the north a short dis- 
 tance we passed Black Creek, which is 
 navigable for steamers to the center of 
 Clay County, and is one of the outlets 
 for the products of the surrounding coun- 
 try. Two miles above Magnolia, on the 
 right, is 
 
 GREEN COVE SPRING, 
 
 Which is the county seat of Clay 
 County, and is one of the favorite 
 places of resort for northern visitors. 
 We are now thirty-one miles from 
 Jacksonville. The Sulphur Spring is 
 one of the attractions of this place, and 
 is the acknowledged panacea for chronic 
 rheumatism. The water of the spring 
 is so clear and so warm, that bathing 
 may be indulged in in January with 
 pleasure. The temperature of the water 
 is about 78 degrees, and its sulphurous 
 condition is quite distinguishable by 
 taste and odor. The Springs form a 
 beautiful cove, wide-spread, with an arc 
 of a mile at least, and open on the St, 
 Johns River, here four miles across. 
 There is excellent accommodation for 
 visitors, which are extensively patron- 
 ized. This place is destined to become 
 one of considerable importance. 
 
 PIC AL AT A, 
 Is on the opposite shore, about ten miles 
 above this point. From this place a few 
 years ago the passengers from the St. 
 Johns for St. Augustine were conveyed 
 by stage. Opposite this place, on the 
 west bank, are the remains of the an- 
 cient Spanish fort Fort Poppa. We 
 next see 
 
 TOCOI, 
 
 On the left, five miles above, and forty- 
 six miles from Jacksonville. This is the 
 present point of transfer for visitors to 
 St. Augustine, and is in a direct line 14 
 miles west from that place. This place 
 often presents a lively appearance from 
 the numbers of strangers desirous of 
 visiting the Saratoga of Florida. Trains 
 make the trip to St. Augustine in about 
 half an hour. Leaving Tocoi, we pro- 
 ceed on our journey, thirty -four miles, 
 and arrive at 
 
 PALATKA, 
 
 This is the county seat of Putnam 
 County, and is seventy-five miles from 
 Jacksonville, and next to that place is 
 the largest city on the St. Johns. It is 
 at this point that passengers are gener- 
 ally transferred to steamers for Enter- 
 prise, Sanford, Mellonville, excursions 
 up the Oclawaha to Silver Spring, 
 Dunis Lake, etc. The population is 
 about 1,500. There are two excellent 
 hotels, a saw-mill, grist-mill, cotton-gin, 
 two moss factories, numerous wholesale 
 and retail stores, a weekly newspaper, 
 churches and schools. It is the head of 
 steamboat navigation, — all the Charles- 
 ton and Savannah steamers coming to 
 Palatka ; there is also a daily line of 
 steamers from Jacksonville, giving a daily 
 mail. This is a thriving place, and is 
 the shipping point f(jr large quantities 
 of cotton, sugar, oranges and other pro- 
 ductions, which trade is constantly in- 
 creasing. It is also a favorite resort for 
 invalids and visitors, and during the 
 winter season the hotels and many pri- 
 vate boarding houses are filled to over- 
 flowing. There are several fine orange 
 groves within its limits and many pleas- 
 ant residences. Four miles south of Palat- 
 ka, on the opposite side of the river, is 
 
 SAN MATEO. 
 
 This is a new and thriving settlement 
 of only five years' growth, Its inhabi- 
 
DR. BIGBY'S PAPEBS ON FLORIDA. 
 
 61 
 
 tants are engaged in the orange busi- 
 ness, and numerous very promising 
 young groves are commencing to bear. 
 There are several Sulphur Sjjrings at 
 this place, and is beginning to attract 
 attention as a place of resort for visitors. 
 San Mateo is unsurpassed for the beauty 
 and healthfulness of its location. 
 
 WELAKA 
 
 Is on the left hand side of the river, and 
 twenty-five miles above Palatka. It is 
 the site of an old Spanish settlement, 
 and is opposite the entrance of the Ocla- 
 waha River. This was once quite a 
 town, but a very few settlers represent 
 it now. It has a post-office and steam- 
 boat landing. South of and immediately 
 adjoining Welaka is the new town of 
 Beecher. South of this place the St. 
 Johns gradually expands and forms 
 Lake George, which is ten miles wide 
 and eighteen miles long. Rembert Is- 
 land, in this lake, has on it one of the 
 largest orange groves in the State. Be- 
 fore leaving Welaka, we will introduce 
 the reader to the most remarkable river 
 in the State. 
 
 THE OCKLAWAHA. 
 
 This river is a tributary of the St. 
 Johns, passes nearly through the center 
 of Marion County, and empties into the 
 St. John's River about 125 miles from 
 its mouth. It is navigated a distance of 
 200 miles by a number of novel little 
 steamboats somewhat resembing two- 
 storied canal-boats, which connect with 
 the ocean steamers at Palatka and Jack- 
 sonville. The Ocklawaha is a narrow 
 river, rapid in current, tortuous in its 
 winding course, and magnificent and 
 enchanting in its shore linings of ash, 
 oak, cypress and palmetto — it is really 
 a channel or passage through a cypress 
 swamp and forest tangle. It is here 
 numbers of alligators of all sizes, and 
 many species of buds of beautiful plum- 
 
 age attract the eye. The celebrated 
 Silver Spring is 140 miles from its 
 mouth. • All the Ocklawaha boats run 
 to its head, from which a large amount 
 of shipping is done. This spring has 
 obtained a notoriety as extensive as the 
 continent ; it forms at its head a basin 
 of two or three acres in extent, and 
 sends forth a deep volume of water one 
 to two hundred feet in width, extending 
 to and uniting with the Ocklawaha 
 River. This beautiful spring, how can 
 I describe it ! As we leave the Ockla- 
 waha we turn into a silvery stream 
 which carries our boat along between 
 open savannas, covered with varieties 
 of the richest flowers. This stream has 
 a rapid current, and although twenty 
 feet deep, the Avater is so clear that the 
 bottom is distinctly visible. Nine miles 
 up this stream and we are at the spring- 
 head, or Silver Spring. This spring is 
 a beautiful lakelet, surrounded by foli- 
 age and flowers, moss-draped live-oaks, 
 walls of Cherokee roses, and in fact 
 everything in Nature's attractive colors. 
 The water is so transparent, that a but- 
 ton can be seen distinctly on its bottom, 
 and all its surroundings are repainted 
 by refraction in its water. This spring 
 is noted in history as the spot where 
 General Thompson was massacred by 
 Oceola's band. There is a small settle- 
 ment at Silver Spring, and freight and 
 passengers are conveyed by stage and 
 express carts to the town of Ocala. 
 
 Returning to the Ocklawaha, the 
 steamer proceeds farther up the river, 
 bound for the lakes at its head — Lakes 
 Griffin, Harris, Eustis and Dora. After 
 seeing all the natural wonders of this 
 river, you will find it as attractive as 
 ever as you retrace its course. At every 
 nook some new object or beauty of Na- 
 ture seems to bud up to startle curiosity. 
 In fact tliis river and its wild scenery 
 will never be forgotten by the visitor. 
 
62 
 
 DR. RIGBY'S PAPERS ON FLORIDA. 
 
 and if for nothing else than to see this 
 river the traveler visited the State, this 
 alone will repay his trouble and expense. 
 Proceeding again up the St. Johns, 
 on our return to Welaka, and after pass- 
 ing numerous small settlements, we next 
 come to 
 
 8ANFORD. 
 
 This place is located on the right 
 hand side of Lake Monroe, in Orange 
 County, 204 miles from Jacksonville, 
 and nearly opposite Enterprise, and one 
 mile north from Mellon ville. It takes 
 its name from the projector, H. S. San- 
 ford, Esq. There is a fine hotel, called 
 the San ford House, here, which accom- 
 modates 250 guests. Orange County 
 abounds in all kinds of tropical fruits, 
 and fish, oysters and game in abund- 
 ance. This is one of the most healthy 
 locations in the State, and is visited by 
 thousands annually in search of health 
 and pleasure. One mile further south 
 is Mellonville, the site of old Fort Mel- 
 lon of Indian times. Surrounding this 
 place are numerous orange groves, the 
 delicious fragrance of whose blossoms, 
 when in bloom, are inhaled for miles. 
 It is a thriving place, and contains many 
 neat dwellings, churches, stores, etc. 
 This is also in Orange County, and is 
 attracting numerous permanent settlers, 
 who are planting orange groves all over 
 the county of from one to two hundred 
 acres. 
 
 Crossing the lake, we are at 
 
 ENTERPRISE, 
 
 On the north bank of Lake Monroe. 
 This place is the terminus of the Palatka 
 boats, and is a well-patronized point. 
 Fishing and hunting parties are con- 
 veyed from here to Lakes Harney and 
 Jessup by small steamers during the win- 
 ter ; and through Lake Harney to Salt 
 Lake, the nearest point to the Indian 
 River, the sportsman's paradise for game 
 and fish. This is an enterprising place. 
 
 and is the scene of many lively and well- 
 equipped hunting parties going and re- 
 turning from the hunting grounds of 
 the Sunny South. 
 
 Leaving the St. John's River, we will 
 now take the reader to 
 
 NEW SMYRNA. 
 
 This place is due east twenty miles 
 from Enterprise, on Mosquito River, 
 four miles south of the inlet of the same 
 name, sixty miles south of St. Augustine 
 and near the Atlantic coast. This is a 
 beautiful and healthy place, and is fam- 
 ous in history as the Turnbull settle- 
 ment a hundred years ago. Good hotel 
 accommodations, and numerous neat 
 dwellings, and several stores make up 
 this retreat. Vessels of the largest size 
 come up to this place. The prospects 
 in the future of New Smyrna are very 
 good, and the place is usually well-filled 
 and popular with the traveler and in- 
 valid. There are some fine orange 
 groves in the vicinity ; the celebrated 
 grove owned by Capt. Dummitt is lo- 
 cated south of the inlet, and is enorm- 
 ously productive. 
 
 Before leaving the reader, and while 
 in this vicinity, I will give them a brief 
 description of a few promising little 
 towns near New Smyrna. We will 
 first visit 
 
 NEW BRITAIN. 
 
 Some enterprising people from Con- 
 necticut have settled this place within 
 a few years, and its appearance is very 
 promising. It is named after their Con- 
 necticut home. The inhabitants are as 
 a class as desirable settlers as can be 
 found in the State. They went right 
 about the practical work of tilling the 
 soil and building themselves desirable 
 houses, and now show every evidence of 
 independence and comfort. There has 
 been a gradual increase in this place, 
 and new families are following the ex- 
 ample of original settlers. The land is 
 
DR. RIGBY'S PAPERS ON FLORIDA. 
 
 63 
 
 rich and good in this vicinity, and the 
 farms under successful cultivation will 
 average about ten acres, Avhicli is found 
 to be sufficient for the bountiful support 
 of an ordinary-sized family. Small 
 orange groves are being set out, 
 and prosperity seems to be indica- 
 ted on every hand. This place is 
 about fifteen miles north of the Mos- 
 quito Inlet, and nineteen miles north 
 of New Smyrna. 
 
 DAYTONA. 
 
 This town is located on the west bank 
 of Halifax River, twelve miles north of 
 the ihlet, and sixteen miles north of 
 New Smyrna. The population of this 
 place is very small, say 150, and is prin- 
 cipally composed of Northerners desirous 
 of genial homes ; as there is no part of 
 Florida nearer perfection in climate than 
 this region, Daytona looks favorable as 
 a prosperous settlement. It is laid out 
 on a tract of land comprising some 2,000 
 acres, and is surveyed into lots of forty 
 acres, at prices varying from $1 to $10 
 per acre. There are twenty to thirty 
 nice frame houses, several neat and 
 tasty cottages, stores, aud in fact every- 
 thing desirable in a settlement. Its lo- 
 cation is exceedingly good, and visitors 
 here are provided with every reasonable 
 comfort, and find themselves surrounded 
 with the refinements and amenities of 
 the best social life. The ground upon 
 which this place is located has a gradual 
 rise as it recedes from the river, until at 
 the distance of thirty rods, it attains an 
 elevation of some fifteen feet above the 
 water. Its whole area is thickly covered 
 with a second growth of oak, hickory, 
 pine, palmetto, mulberry, and a variety 
 of other trees usually found in the ham- 
 
 mock lands. These trees are from fifteen 
 to fifty feet in height, thi-ifty in growth 
 and very beautiful in appearance. They 
 are one of the most attractive features of 
 this locality. A street, appropirately 
 named Ridgeway Avenue, has been 
 opened through a forest of these trees, 
 offering the most desirable sites for resi- 
 dences, as such redundant, varied and 
 beautiful vegetation could not be pro- 
 duced in years by any expenditure of 
 money. Lying flir enough south to be 
 beyond the reach of winter cold, yet 
 exempt from the too ardent heat of the 
 tropics ; with health and plenty at its 
 doors, Daytona can claim the attention 
 of thou.sands wanting a delightful and 
 quiet home in the South. 
 
 HALIFAX CITY. 
 
 This place is about three miles north- 
 west and in full view of the inlet, and 
 is a most healthy and delightful situa- 
 tion on the Halifax River. The lands 
 are high and dry hammock, affording 
 excellent, sweet water and insuring per- 
 fect health, while they are rich, product- 
 ive and pre-eminently adapted to orange 
 growing. Rose Bay is a large basin of 
 salt and tidal water, flowing in and out 
 directly from the ocean, and encircling 
 the town east and west. The shore is 
 bold and clean. The waters afford an 
 ample supply of the best of oysters and 
 abound iu the most excellent varieties 
 of fish. Large vessels come up to the 
 town. This place has been laid out by 
 the East Florida Land Company, and 
 will no doubt be the chief commercial 
 center of this section of the country, a.« 
 well as a most attractive and desirable 
 village of winter and summer residents 
 and fruit-growers. 
 
I TW IP f^ IHS S S . 
 
 DR. RIGBY'S 
 
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 For sale by Booksellers and Periodical Dealers throughout the United 
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