LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 
 
 Shelf. ^Ji.'i^. 
 
 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 
 
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 o 
 
LETTERS 
 
 FEOM 
 
 F L O K I D A 
 
 BY 
 
 Mrs. H. W. BEECHER, 
 
 AUTHOR OF 
 
 "motherly talks," "all around the house," etc. 
 
 i^i^ -g;v?% 
 
 
 '-'■^''f-i]) 
 
 NEW YORK : 
 D. APPLETON AND COMPANY, 
 
 549 AND 551 BROADWAY. 
 1879. 
 
COPTKIGHT BY 
 
 D. APPLETON AND COMPANY, 
 
 1&T9. 
 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 These Letters from Florida, by request of many 
 friends, are offered to the public in a simple, con- 
 venient form. They do not claim to be a history 
 of Florida, but only the impressions left on a prac- 
 tical mind after several years of close observation, 
 which have been growing stronger each year. 
 
 I firmly believe that these letters do not ex- 
 aggerate the wonderful capabilities of this lovely 
 country. If some of my readers have the privilege 
 of spending a few months there, for two or three 
 years in succession, I am confident that my " im- 
 pressions " will be so strongly confirmed as to be 
 accepted as trustworthy authority. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Letter I. A Home and Woek foe all ... 7 
 II. Castles in Spain . . . . . 21 
 
 III. Lift tip the Hands that hang down and 
 
 STEENGTHEN THE FeEBLE KnEES . .30 
 
 IV. What has been done, and can be done 
 
 AGAIN 42 
 
 V. What have you to say about Malaeial 
 
 Fever? ....... 54 
 
 VI. Seek the Truth in Private Homes, not 
 
 IN Hotel Life 67 
 
 Appendix 79 
 
LETTERS EEOM FLORIDA. 
 
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 LETTER I. 
 
 A HOME AND WORK FOR ALL. 
 
 
 
 K 
 
 
 T' 
 
 
 When on board the 
 steamer which was to bear 
 me from the coming snows of the 
 North to the soft, balmy air of our 
 Southern shores, you requested me to 
 send you some letters from Florida. The request, 
 on recalling it, strikes me as somewhat indefinite. If 
 you look for something sensational or romantic, you 
 are doomed to a grievous disappointment. That is 
 not my vocation — more's the pity ! For never was 
 there a more ample field for the imagination to revel 
 in uncontrolled, or richer opportunities for blending 
 
8 LETTERS FKOM FLORIDA. 
 
 romance and reality, than this land of flowers offers to 
 the gifted ; but, to do it justice, to develop half the 
 wonderful beauties of these bewildering regions calls 
 for a more skillful artist. I can but look with long- 
 ing on this promised land, this storehouse of poetry 
 and romance ; I may not unlock the gates and enter in. 
 
 Right here, close by where I now write, from 
 among the beautiful palmettoes, and under the grand 
 old oaks, one still hears the whispers of a wild and 
 terrible tragedy, as full of strange and thrilling inci- 
 dents from which to weave a story as the most sensa- 
 tional writer can desire — one abundantly able to satisfy 
 those who are only content with graphic or startling 
 narratives, or who most delight to " sup on horrors." 
 We refer to the Mandarin massacre of 1841, which 
 left this lovely village desolate. The Indians de- 
 stroyed every living soul save some of the inhabitants 
 who were absent on a hunting expedition, and one 
 little boy who escaped their fiendish tortures by hid- 
 ing in a dense grove of palmettoes. That same boy, 
 now a middle-aged man, still resides here, occupying 
 a house built on the spot where all his friends were 
 murdered. 
 
 St. Augustine is one vast reservoir of infinite 
 suggestions and rich material, that have come down 
 from all the prominent nations of the earth as a legacy 
 — a bountiful supply for some future genius of our 
 own land, who, as Walter Scott did for his country, 
 will collect and weave into story or song the many 
 strange, wild scenes, the romantic incidents and thrill- 
 ing adventures in which this region abounds. Such 
 
A HOME AND WORK FOR ALL. 9 
 
 a one will win immortal fame by saving the history 
 of this fair land from " sinking into the darkness of 
 oblivion." 
 
 Until within a comparatively few years Florida 
 was a bone of contention, or the foot-ball of which- 
 ever nation had the skill or craft to gain possession of 
 her and keep her the longest. For a year or two it 
 was in the hands of the French ; then wrested from 
 their grasp by the Spaniards, only to be snatched 
 from both by the strong arm of England. 
 
 The French coveted this lovely country because 
 they saw in its profusion of fruits and flowers, its 
 brilliant and sweet-singing birds, and soft, balmy air, 
 the promise of a life of ease and perpetual enjoyment, 
 and hoped to find among its wonderful mineral springs 
 the legendary " fountain of life and perpetual youth." 
 The Spaniards reached out after it, hoping, with ar- 
 rogant and despotic power, to wring from the toil 
 of natives, through merciless taskmasters, fabulous 
 wealth, which they imagined was hid in its bosom. 
 The English, more practical, discovered at once that 
 its great wealth lay in the rich fruits and productions 
 of its soil, which through well-directed labor would 
 give to them a rich possession. They sought to de- 
 velop the resources of the land by suitable cultiva- 
 tion and organizing manufactories for such work as 
 promised to bring forward the best that Florida could 
 yield in the most remunerative manner. 
 
 But neither held this goodly land long enough 
 under their rule to enjoy much of that which each 
 most desired. Yet the very strife and misrule that 
 
10 LETTERS FROM FLORIDA. 
 
 prevailed until a recent period have made Florida rich 
 in wild and fanciful lore ; and ere long, under wise 
 and more permanent government, this now sparsely- 
 settled region will become populous. Then towns 
 and villages lovely as any New England can boast — 
 and where can you find any more lovely ? — will look 
 out from these graceful palms and palmettoes, or find 
 grateful shade under the lofty magnolia and gigantic 
 live oak, gray with moss, that stand like giant sen- 
 tinels all along the shores of the grand and beautiful 
 St. John's. 
 
 Amid such surroundings some one will rise up 
 whose fertile imagination can combine and skillfully 
 weave together the many romantic incidents to be 
 found among the curious legends of Florida. But 
 that is a work upon which I may not venture. Truth 
 unvarnished is, however, full of elements possessing 
 more abiding attractions than the most brilliant story ; 
 and to that I shall most strictly adhere. 
 
 Finding it necessary to spend the spring months 
 of the last few years in Florida, the impressions made 
 by these visits have greatly strengthened and become 
 more of a fixed belief with each year's experience. 
 This seems to me strong evidence that these impres- 
 sions are worthy of credence, and may have more sub- 
 stantial value than should be conceded to simple nov- 
 elty or a passing fancy. 
 
 There are not many ladies so situated that they 
 are obliged to witness or understand so much of the 
 sufferings and deprivations among the poor as is daily 
 brought to our door ; and the utter impossibility of 
 
A HOME AND WORK FOR ALL. H 
 
 giving substantial relief to any appreciable extent is 
 a source of acute distress. 
 
 Some assistance is needed every morning, and, to 
 be effective, must often be renewed every evening, 
 and for an indefinite period. The sick, the wicked, 
 the unfortunate, and those ready to perish, are " le- 
 gion." They come from all nations and from every 
 class of people. Who shall feed this great multitude ? 
 But who can turn a deaf ear to their complaints, or 
 send them away empty, without a grievous heartache ? 
 There is no end to their calls-f or help. ISlo permanent 
 relief for those who suffer. 
 
 That much of this destitution is the result of im- 
 providence, carelessness, or actual wrong-doing, no 
 one can deny. But when the curse has fallen, and 
 want and suffering take hold of them, it is too late to 
 speak of the sad mistakes. At least, let the past sleep 
 if you can, while looking for present help, and by 
 sympathy and kindness endeavor to build up a better 
 life. How can this be done ? 
 
 It is a well-established fact that giviJig to the poor 
 and unfortunate is a bad policy, and usually, except in 
 extreme cases, demoralizing to the recipient. It is a 
 perpetual tax on the benevolent, as well as a cruel 
 kindness to the poor, destroying eventually all energy 
 and self-respect. 
 
 Give work, not alms. Find something, however 
 trifling, which each applicant for charity 'inust do, to 
 earn even the crumbs that fall from the rich man's 
 table. 
 
 Ah ! yes. This may be w4se and most excellent 
 
12 LETTERS FROM FLORIDA. 
 
 advice ; but tell me lohere to find employment for the 
 hundreds who besiege our doors day after day. No 
 one individual can do this. Then how is this sage 
 advice to be followed ? That is the true question for 
 these times — a question for which hundreds and thou- 
 sands are anxiously waiting an answer. 
 /^ The hard times of the last few years have cruelly 
 tried some of our most valued and refined citizens, 
 and now they who were once the foremost in every 
 good word and work are suffering, with their deli- 
 cately nurtured families, for the common necessaries 
 of life, which the severity of our Northern winters 
 renders truly indispensable. But, unlike those who 
 are always roaming from street to street, noisily j^ro- 
 claiming their wants, these ask no alms, but only 
 " For God's sake give us vjorJc, that we may save our 
 families from freezing and starvation ! " 
 
 How often have I been met by such piteous appli- 
 cations from people well known, and most worthy of 
 assistance ! But — icork ! It is hard to find — more 
 scarce even than true charity. It is from such ap- 
 peals that I turn with an aching heart, powerless to 
 comfort, but earnestly coveting the power to trans- 
 port such applicants to a climate so genial, for a large 
 part of the year, that the most destitute, if willing to 
 make an effort in their own behalf, have a chance for 
 some relief, and often may secure comforts which they 
 can not have in our Northern winters. 
 
 How I long to see those who at the North are 
 weary, seeking work and finding none, down here in 
 Florida, where for fifty dollars forty acres of land 
 
A HOME AND WORK FOR ALL. 13 
 
 can be purchased, around the lovely inland lakes, 
 of ready access by rail ; or for fourteen dollars and 
 sixty cents a quarter section of Government land can 
 be " entered," free from taxes for five years, or long 
 enough to bring the land into a state of cultivation 
 that will yield a very comfortable support till an 
 orange grove is well established, and the trees almost 
 old enough to give fair promise of remuneration. 
 When a section is entered, with any just hope of fu- 
 ture success, it should be done by those who are pre- 
 pared to " rough it," who are not afraid of hard work 
 and simple food for a few years. 
 
 It is useless for any to attempt to build up an in- 
 dependent home here, or anywhere, if they begin the 
 operation under the impression that, having " entered " 
 the land, they are to live henceforth on a bed of roses. 
 With that class of the poor we have no sympathy ; 
 but with those who are not afraid to work, even though 
 subjected to some rough fare before they master the 
 situation, we have unlimited earnest sympathy. 
 
 Those who " enter " land, or " take up " a quar- 
 ter section, may not find steady and profitable em- 
 ployment with others all the time ; but they will 
 find abundant need of all their energies in improving 
 their own land, cheered by the thought that every 
 week's work, and all their efforts to economize and 
 save, though at first hard, are but preparing the way 
 for a comfortable home for their later years. 
 
 " Well," say you, " this sounds plausible ; but — if 
 
 too poor to provide for their families at the North, 
 
 how are they to get to Florida, and buy the forty 
 2 
 
X4: LETTERS FROM FLORIDA. 
 
 acres or the quarter section of land? That's an 
 important question ; and if you can't point out the 
 way to effect this, the whole idea is simply visionary." 
 
 Ah ! but I only said I coveted the power to bring 
 the industrious poor out to Florida, and see them well 
 started in this mode of supporting themselves and 
 families. That power unfortunately I do not possess, 
 and am not so foolish as to imagine destitute people 
 can come unaided. But, stop a moment, and honestly 
 make a business-like calculation, and then tell me if 
 you think my idea so wild or visionary afterward. 
 On the contrary, do you not see, after a few mo- 
 ments' reflection, that such a plan might be a good 
 and economical investment for the benevolent, as well 
 as for the suffering and unfortunate ? 
 
 Fairly estimated, how much do you imagine the 
 reasonably kind-hearted and benevolent people at the 
 North, in comfortably prosperous circumstances, usu- 
 ally give every winter in charity ? In this estimate, 
 bear in mind also how much is as good as thrown 
 away, because often given thoughtlessly — not so much 
 to help the poor, or honor God, as " lest by their con- 
 tinual coming they weary me." 
 
 Alms recklessly or inconsiderately given are often 
 worse than wasted. Now, would not a large propor- 
 tion of the truly charitably disposed feel that one 
 hundred dollars a year was a cheap release from per- 
 petual solicitation ? Judging from experience, i^ 
 seems a low estimate — and many better able would, 
 I doubt not, gladly purchase this freedom by five 
 times that sum. And reflect, when one is thus beset, 
 
A HOME AND WORK FOR ALL. 15 
 
 how very small the sum must be which is given to any 
 one at our doors. Even if only divided among a few 
 of these claimants it will be hardly sufficient to have 
 an appreciable value, distributed as it must be in ho- 
 moeopathic quantities ; and by to-morrow each will be 
 as much in need of assistance as before. 
 
 Besides greatly diminishing one's own trouble, 
 would not the amount of actual good accomplished be 
 vastly increased, if there were some hopes of lasting, 
 substantial benefit ? Would it not be a truer, nobler 
 charity, first to understand the character and actual 
 wants of those most needing assistance, and then care- 
 fully to estimate how much one may feel justified in 
 giving toward supplying one person or one family with 
 immediate food and daily work, until you can make 
 suitable arrangements for their independent support ? 
 
 Select those you are confident are the most deserv- 
 ing and most anxious to work. With part of the 
 money buy a " land warrant," or a " homestead^'' in 
 Florida, giving the recipient choice of location. With 
 the remainder of the money supply as far as possible 
 a common outfit. Try your own talent for heggiyig 
 for once, at least, so far as to secure a passage on some 
 of the Southern steamers, and a little money for farm- 
 ing implements, to start at least one family a year in a 
 new home in Florida. 
 
 If these beneficiaries are wisely selected, and have 
 that natural energy and love of independence that 
 will make them accept such hardships and sacrifices 
 as must of necessity mark the first steps of any new 
 occupation, one may rest satisfied that, by thus con- 
 
16 LETTERS FROM FLORIDA. 
 
 centrating their charities, one family at least a year 
 may be placed in a fair way for independent support. 
 This can never be done for those who go begging from 
 door to door, losing each day more and more of their 
 self-respect. But if a family thus placed have courage 
 to accept with cheerfulness the early • hardships for 
 the joy that is set before them, they have a prospect 
 of building up, slowly but surely, a respectable and 
 independent home. 
 
 " You are talking wildly ! Suppose the land war- 
 rant, or homestead, secured — the log-house erected ; 
 how is it to be furnished ? How provide their daily 
 food while clearing off the woods, preparing their land, 
 and waiting for their crops to grow, even with the 
 hundred dollars you speak of? You acknowledge 
 they may not always be able to find sufficient employ- 
 ment to help them to a trifle, weekly. How will you 
 answer this ? " 
 
 Well, a homestead of one hundred and fifty acres 
 will cost fourteen dollars and sixty cents. With the 
 sum named they will have eighty-six dollars left for 
 indispensable articles, even if many cast-off articles of 
 household stuff should not be given them when start- 
 ing. Then, if some neighbors would club together 
 and send several families of the worthy poor at the 
 same time — a kind of colony, but not on the communi- 
 ty plan — their money united would, by purchasing ar- 
 ticles at wholesale, provide better for the ivhole than 
 could be done for one family alone. If each of these 
 charitably disposed persons should, about the time this 
 colony is starting, have " a clearing-up day," and empty 
 
A HOME AND WORK FOR ALL. 17 
 
 their attics of clothes and furniture that do no good, 
 but are always in the way, they would be surprised to 
 learn how useful " such rubbish " can be made, and 
 how thankfully it would be received. 
 
 But as to the furnishing of that log-house, you 
 have no conception of the very little furniture that is 
 really absolutely necessary here — or indeed anywhere 
 — to make a family reasonably comfortable. Pros- 
 perity and wealth multiply the things we must have 
 in a marvelous manner, and increase the work that 
 must be done in the same proportion. In some leisure 
 hour take paper and pencil, and, beginning with your 
 own room, put down the articles in that one spot that 
 you could do without, and be none the less happy or 
 comfortable. 
 
 When people go into the wilderness, and are inde- 
 pendent of any *' hired help," their wants and abso- 
 lutely necessary equipments diminish with surprising 
 rapidity. I, for one, would like no better amuse- 
 ment than to come here with some few who, like 
 yourself, will think I am talking wildly, and show 
 you how all I have planned can be done. With a 
 good stock of patience, fortitude, and good nature — 
 without which no one is of much value — I should not 
 fear the experiment. A healthful amount of hard 
 work and self-denial may be expected for a few years ; 
 but that, in itself, brings genuine enjoyment to an in- 
 dependent spirit, especially when a ho7ne lies just be- 
 yond. And with all this I could promise, as the chil- 
 dren say, " lots of fun " besides. 
 
 If, in some of those emergencies which will often 
 
18 LETTERS FROM FLORIDA. 
 
 occur in the early days of any new work, it should 
 now and then be found necessary to live for a few 
 days on good " bread and water ^"^ what then ? We 
 have tried it quite close enough to understand just 
 what that means ; and we also know how a brave and 
 cheerful spirit can bring light into the darkest hour, 
 and a good hearty laugh can give even to such monas- 
 tic fare a piquancy and relish not always found at ta- 
 bles loaded with the choicest viands. But in this new 
 life to which we long to bring those at the North who 
 are destitute and suffering, there is little fear of any 
 " bread and water " diet, while the rivers and forests 
 abound with food, to be had without money and 
 without price. 
 
 The number of dishes required by those who de- 
 manded three or four courses or more for their daily 
 dinner will not be needed here ; and the cooking uten- 
 sils and furniture which we think so important in our 
 Northern homes can be easily dispensed with in a 
 pioneer's first efforts. Many things can be manufac- 
 tured by one's own self or by some of the family with- 
 out going to the very extreme of retrenchment, or 
 losing sight of neatness and respectability. And thus 
 in every department one soon learns how very little is 
 actually required to insure a good share of comfort 
 and enjoyment. 
 
 I know of those who, losing all at the North but 
 tfieir patience, energy, and industry, have managed to 
 get down to Florida and enter a " homestead." Erect- 
 ing a rough but comfortable shelter, and furnishing it 
 with what they would once have thought were worth- 
 
A HOME AND WORK FOR ALL. 19 
 
 less scraps that remained out of former abundance, 
 and such articles as their skill or ingenuity could 
 manufacture, they prepared a neat and pleasant abode. 
 In this work the women of the family employed every 
 leisure moment to increase their comforts, or make the 
 place attractive, while they were ever ready to help 
 their husbands and sons in putting in the needed crops 
 as fast as the land was cleared. While waiting for 
 these crops to ripen, the men take an hour when needed 
 to keep a plentiful supply of food by hunting and fish- 
 ing. Whenever opportunity offered, a few days' work 
 for neighbors now and then supplied comforts which 
 they could not raise from their land, or which were de- 
 sirable. And in this primitive, impromptu home, they 
 already see promise of a bright and peaceful future. 
 A little self-denial for a few years, and these new set- 
 tlers may look with confidence to the time when they 
 will have every comfort that a healthy, independent 
 life requires, and may safely look forward to a not dis- 
 tant future when they will be the owners of valuable 
 property, with all the luxuries that may be thought 
 desirable. 
 
 . I am only speaking of what I have seen. That 
 there are difficulties and discouragements between the 
 first steps of such an undertaking and the day which 
 will put the feet on firm foundations, I do not deny. 
 But tell me of any important enterprise which ever 
 begins smoothly, and marches on to full consumma- 
 tion without a rij^ple of trouble or anxiety — without 
 many mistakes, and perhaps some serious disasters ! 
 I think there is less to fear in seeking to build up a 
 
20 LETTERS FROM FLORIDA. 
 
 home in Florida — bearing in mind to the fullest extent 
 all the difficulties one is liable to encounter — than when 
 entering a new and untried field elsewhere. This de- 
 lightful climate, the rapid growth of vegetation, the 
 comparatively short time that must intervene before 
 one begins to reap the fruit of well-directed industry, 
 all conspire to cheer the spirits, to keep the courage 
 alive, and to lighten burdens which but for such en- 
 couragement might become oppressive. 
 
 I have many " Castles in Spain," built when, miser- 
 ably sick and feeble, we first came to Florida, and 
 which ever since, as we see more of this charming 
 country, have been rising on firmer foundations than 
 such castles can usually boast. Some of these I will 
 show you ; but, having already lingered too long, I 
 will close now, reserving them for the next letter. 
 My " Castles " are sufficiently stable to keep another 
 week. 
 
J^: 
 
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 LETTER II. 
 
 • n. 
 
 V CASTLES IN SPAIN. 
 
 i|j\ On my first visit to 
 
 ; this land 
 
 
 
 
 " Of birds and bowers, 
 Where at once upon the 
 orange-tree 
 ...---/ \ ^ ^gj, fruitage and her 
 
 s 
 
 ■,j flowers,' 
 
 t 
 
 
 I was too ill to 
 
 more than realize the 
 
 luxury of breathing easily 
 
 and with daily increasing 
 
 comfort, and therefore did little but 
 
 quietly indulge in day dreams. Will 
 
 /"\ j you visit with me presently some of 
 
22 LETTERS FROM FLORIDA. 
 
 the " castles " so often built and filled with happy ten- 
 ants ? 
 
 The first visit to Florida seldom awakens much 
 enthusiasm. It requires time to become accustomed 
 to the great dissimilarity between this section of our 
 country and the colder regions. One pines for the 
 green fields, the ripening grass, the merry haymaking 
 and harvests, the marks of more rapid progress and 
 broader civilization, which form a prominent feature 
 at the North. We forget the olden times, when, in its 
 primitive, uncultured state, it was as a country far 
 more wild and dreary than anything seen in Florida. 
 But now it shows what labor and skill, united, can do. 
 It has made our cold and rocky North bud and blos- 
 som like the rose. Spread over Florida the same skill 
 and energetic labor that for the last century has grad- 
 ually clothed and beautified the North, and in less 
 than one third of that time this State will be like 
 the garden of Eden, and all traces of the ruin and 
 desolation which war has left will be for ever oblit- 
 erated. 
 
 The first visits to this part of our land are more 
 frequently made for health than for pleasure ; and, 
 not realizing how many things indispensable at the 
 North are unnecessary here, it is not strange that 
 for a while one longs for "the flesh-pots of Egypt." 
 With little or no expectation that it may be necessary 
 to repeat the visit, there is no inducement for any spe- 
 cial investigation as to the prudence, comfort, plea- 
 sure, or profit of securing a permanent winter resi- 
 dence in Florida. 
 
CASTLES IN SPAIN. 23 
 
 Then, again, those who can be content and happy- 
 only in the excitements and enjoyments of fashion- 
 able life will never be attracted here, unless for a fly- 
 ing visit ; and then, instead of learning anything of 
 the country, they will be disposed to pass their time 
 in a round of frivolous pleasures which can be easily 
 found in many of the attractive and fashionable ho- 
 tels. These are not the best places in which to learn 
 all about the resources of Florida, and form a correct 
 estimate of her wonderful capabilities. Unless such a 
 life is the height of their desires and ambition, few 
 will spend a second winter here — breathe this soft and 
 balmy air, enjoy the brilliant flowers and lovely birds, 
 and partake of the delicious fruits, and just begin 
 to form some estimate of its natural advantages 
 and vast resources — without being conscious that a 
 strong attachment has been formed, and by and by 
 a great desire to secure at least a winter residence 
 here. 
 
 At present, however, while so much of all that 
 was once most beautiful lies desolate in many parts of 
 this country through the devastations of war, and so 
 much money and labor will be needed to restore the 
 waste places and revive the original loveliness, the 
 growth of interest, mostly through transient visitors, 
 must of necessity be much too slow for our impa- 
 tience. Yet it is impossible to doubt that, with intel- 
 ligently directed labor, it will be no herculean task to 
 make the future of this fair land far transcend its 
 former beauty and productiveness. So confident am I 
 that great results are possible, it is diflicult to " pos- 
 
24 LETTERS FROM FLORIDA. 
 
 sess my soul in patience " till this work of rejuvenation 
 begins to advance more rapidly. 
 
 But, while there is no spot on earth where the poor, 
 if willing to work industriously (and they deserve 
 little sympathy if they are not), can be made so com- 
 fortable, and with reasonable hopes of increasing pros- 
 perity with each coming year, still it is the young 
 — those who are in search of some desirable spot on 
 which to erect their altars, and build and consecrate 
 " wedded love's first home " — who can do more than 
 any other class to make this now sparsely settled coun- 
 try all that the Maker prepared it to be. It was with 
 this class before my mind that I was planning and 
 dreaming during all the long hours and days of weak- 
 ness, in my first visit to Florida ; and these dreams, I 
 assuredly believe, will be in some degree realized and 
 at no very distant day. 
 
 Oh ! the many neat and comfortable homes that 
 those who are just beginning their new and indepen- 
 dent life could establish here, and with comparatively 
 little expenditure of money ! Ah ! the homes with 
 the promise of future independence for the honest 
 but unfortunate poor, who are now suffering at the 
 North, which I have planned in my wakeful hours 
 during these long winter nights, when my Northern 
 friends are trying to forget snow and ice and sleety 
 winds in most unprofitable slumber ! What if my 
 castles do vanish in the morning ? I shall build them 
 again, and nothing can rob me of the faith that, not 
 many years hence, in God's good time, a way will be 
 provided by which my structures shall have firm and 
 
CASTLES IN SPAIN. 25 
 
 abiding foundations, and these visions of the night 
 no longer fade before the brightness of the rising 
 sun. 
 
 To restore that which war has laid in ruins, and 
 establish communications through which the produc- 
 tions of these regions will be sure of good markets, 
 and amicable exchange become easy to all parts of our 
 land, we must be largely indebted, no doubt, to the 
 good and wise action of those in power. When un- 
 principled politicians, both North and South, shall 
 have become entangled in the nets they have spread 
 for the unwary, and, reaping the fruits of their own 
 selfish follies, shall have been put aside for honest 
 men to fill their places (for surely there are more 
 than ten righteous men left to save our country) — men 
 who will labor earnestly to establish good institutions 
 of every kind, and secure every facility for rapid 
 transportation and communication all over our land — 
 the7i we may confidently hope to see developed the 
 best moral elements as well as the full natural re- 
 sources of this whole united country. 
 
 But while recognizing the great importance of co- 
 operation and aid from our Government to secure the 
 most speedy development of this and all other States 
 in our Union, we also know that much can and must 
 be done, by individual effort, while waiting for the 
 tardy assistance of those in high places. 
 
 On my first visit to Florida I spent several weeks 
 in a part of the State where I had the best opportuni- 
 ties of constantly observing what ignorance, neglect, 
 and misfortune had done^ and, by the contrast which 
 
26 LETTERS FROM FLORIDA. 
 
 lay ever before me, realizing what education, good 
 taste, and industry, with but very little money, can do. 
 It was on the St. Mark's. The place was once deemed 
 the Saratoga of Florida, but during the war had been 
 almost entirely destroyed. Three years before my 
 visit it was waste and barren ; but from my window I 
 could then see a large track of land well plowed, and 
 neatly fenced, where grain and potatoes were cover- 
 ing the broad fields with rich green, and where the 
 newly planted cotton and sugar-cane would before 
 many days spring up with promise of abundant and 
 remunerative harvest. 
 
 What had wrought this change ? What had made 
 this oasis in the desert ? Three years before a feeble, 
 gray-haired man, over whom the doctors had pro- 
 nounced sentence of death, resolved to make one more 
 effort for life, and try what Florida, instead of phy- 
 sicians, could do for him. He purchased the only 
 orange-grove of any size that had survived the gen- 
 eral desolation — an old grove, whose trees, moss-bound 
 and covered with lichens, gave but faint promise of 
 rejuvenation. The fences all around the place were 
 tumbling down, gates off the hinges, and everything 
 telling of neglect, desertion, and decay. 
 
 In the middle of the grove stood a long, rambling, 
 one-story house, with many dilapidated out-buildings. 
 It was evidently once among the aristocratic resi- 
 dences of the place, but, like the grove and surround- 
 ing property, was fast tending to ruin. 
 
 Here, sick and very feeble, the new owner began 
 the work of rejuvenating both the property and him- 
 
CASTLES IN SPAIN. 27 
 
 self — not by waiting for strength to come to him, but 
 by crmvUng — for at first it was literally nothing more 
 — out after it ; beginning by sitting in an easy-chair 
 in the fields and giving directions to his hired men ; 
 then, as fast as strength was gathered in, working 
 with his own hands, at first only a few moments at a 
 time, then stopping to rest. 
 
 So the first year sped by. Believing that strength 
 is given for use, and, if employed with judgment, will 
 take unto itself a double quantity, he daily " traded " 
 with his small capital of strength, and found that it 
 surely increased and multiplied with wonderful ra-- 
 pidity. 
 
 Three years later, at the time of our visit, we found 
 this man vigorous and full of energy and resolute in- 
 dustry. The colored men in his employ would often 
 stand in open-mouthed amazement when witnessing 
 his untiring resolution, thus receiving a lesson in in- 
 dustry they sadly needed. Such lessons are by far 
 more forcible and effective when taught by deeds 
 rather than icords. True, that race is slow to learn 
 such lessons, but little by little they take root, and 
 the growth is perhaps first seen in the increased care 
 and neatness about their own humble homes and small 
 gardens ; but in time this mode of teaching will de- 
 velop lasting and effective industry. 
 
 Now, six years from the time when this gray-haired 
 man with feeble steps began his work on a place 
 which, like himself, seemed past renovating, you will 
 not find anywhere a happier, more energetic man, or 
 one who can easily accomplish so much labor ; or a 
 
28 LETTERS FROM FLORIDA. 
 
 more flourishing orange-grove, or more neatly fenced 
 and productive fields. The moss and lichens, the 
 scale-insects, and other evils that were killing the 
 groves, are all destroyed under this skillful manage- 
 m.ent and wise administration ; the trees, grown young 
 and vigorous, are repaying their owner for his care by 
 yielding the largest and most perfect fruit that can be 
 seen anywhere. 
 
 But this man, whose life has been prolonged and 
 strengthened for many years of usefulness by this 
 wonderful climate, has not given his attention solely 
 to orange-culture. He is testing the fertility and re- 
 sources of Florida in every way that promises success 
 and remuneration. He is raising sugar-cane, and mak- 
 ing sugar and molasses from it, himself. Irish and sweet 
 potatoes, and all kinds of vegetables and luxuries that 
 belong to a well-kept farm, or plantation, receive the 
 amount of attention that best promises or secures a 
 plentiful harvest. 
 
 In the next letter I desire to show you the con- 
 trast between this earnest, systematic, intelligent kind 
 of labor, and that careless surface work which never 
 produces half that this soil can so readily be made to 
 yield, and also bring to your notice the work which 
 youth, strength, and firmer health have done toward 
 building up a comfortable home, with every promise 
 of ease and competency, for their mature manhood 
 and their parents' declining years. 
 
 This one village, and the opportunities of improv- 
 ing it till it shall far outshine its best condition before 
 the war, is only a sample of many others. Under- 
 
CASTLES IN SPAIN. 29 
 
 stand that I make no pretense of giving you a history 
 of Florida, but only, at your request, send you my 
 impressions, and sucli positive knowledge as I gather 
 from good authority, careful observation, and practi- 
 cal oversight of a few acres. 
 

 =-=— ^ J^ lit '1 X 
 
 ^.^ — W' 
 
 
 LETTER III. 
 
 LIFT UP THE HANDS THAT HANG 
 DOWN AND STRENGTHEN THE 
 FEEBLE KNEES. 
 
 YotJ have not forgotten the state- 
 ment I gave of what can and has been 
 done in one of the least encouragmg lo- 
 calities in this country by a feeble man 
 who came here with seemingly no chance 
 for life ; you can now understand how, 
 with slowly returning health, under the 
 recuperating influences of this delightful 
 climate, aided by resolute, energetic, and 
 practical labor, he has changed the wil- 
 derness into the fertile garden which I 
 see before me from the windows where 
 I now write. But you must be told of 
 Florida as you would find it were you 
 here — the good and the bad — if you would gain a cor- 
 rect impression of this strangely beautiful country. 
 
 I have told you of my window-view. Now step 
 out into the moonlight, as I have often done, from 
 
LIFT UP THE HANDS THAT HANG DOWN. 31 
 
 among the orange-trees, or under the China-tree which 
 overhangs the gate. Right before us lies the saddest 
 thing that can be imagined, next to a desolate heart 
 — a deserted milage. Roofless churches, tenantless 
 houses, all that fire and fierce bombardment left 
 standing, rapidly falling to pieces ; fenceless and un- 
 tilled fields, groves of orange-trees, once white with 
 perfumed blossoms, or golden with luscious fruit, now 
 moss-grown, covered with lichens and other destruc- 
 tive parasites — the dead limbs more abundant than the 
 living. 
 
 How often from such moonlight scenes have I re- 
 turned to my room to spend many sleepless hours in 
 trying to devise some practical scheme by which hun- 
 dreds of the skillful and intelligent men and women, 
 suffering for food and the bitter cold at the North, 
 could be transplanted to this or many similar spots 
 in Florida \ Put some of our Northern sufferers, who 
 are now walking our streets half starved or freezing, 
 down here, set them to work, and they would show 
 better than tongue or pen can describe what a few 
 months of intelligent industry and skill can effect, 
 even in a place which on first sight seems worthless 
 and past reclaiming. 
 
 But bringing this land under proper cultivation, 
 and redeeming it from the wilderness, is only a small 
 part of the good which might be accomplished. 
 Think of the incomparably more important good 
 which would result from such divine charity. Men, 
 women, and children saved from that cruel want and 
 beggary, which so soon dwarfs and wellnigh destroys 
 
32 LETTERS FEOM FLORIDA. 
 
 a human being — eating away courage, energy, self- 
 reliance, and independence ! To lift up and purify, 
 to encourage and ennoble any portion of the human 
 race — ^is not that even a more blessed work than to 
 repair the waste places of earth, and make " the wil- 
 derness bud and blossom like the rose " ? 
 
 But think what it would be to unite the two la- 
 bors ! What nobler work can any one desire than to 
 strengthen the weak, heal the sick, feed the hungry, 
 find homes for the homeless, and transform into self- 
 supporting men and women those who now overtax 
 our sympathies and drain our purses, without securing 
 any permanent relief. And add to all this that, by 
 the very act of relieving these unfortunate people, the 
 ruined villages are rebuilt, and the beauty and pro- 
 ductiveness which God has given to this country are 
 in a promising way to be richly developed. 
 
 But while such visions rise before one of what 
 this land, now crippled and defaced by the ravages of 
 war and the neglect that must follow it, might be 
 made in a few years with proper care and resolute in- 
 dustry, and the hosts of sufferers that might be trans- 
 formed into useful, happy citizens, one must not 
 make the common mistake of supposing that this 
 transformation can be effected without hard work — 
 without much fatigue and some discouragements. 
 Such drawbacks are met with in every pursuit, in 
 every undertaking. Often many days of hard work 
 are lost through inexperience ; but such losses should 
 teach lessons that seldom need to be repeated, and 
 therefore such experience is not dearly purchased* 
 
LIFT UP THE HANDS THAT HANG DOWN. 33 
 
 How smaU a proportion of what is given every 
 month in careless or injudicious charity, or wasted 
 in frivolous and unsatisfying pleasures, would sup- 
 port a whole family here, and, best of all, give them 
 the first fair start toward independent, useful citi- 
 zenship ! 
 
 But something even better often springs from 
 such wise investments. It is not simply finding food 
 and shelter for the miserable ; but, without some kind 
 hand stretched out to save by securing a self-sup- 
 porting position, many a family — buffeted and tossed 
 about, gleaning a precarious living in the hardest pos- 
 sible way — has through want and discouragement sunk 
 into a listless apathetic state, which leaves them an 
 easy prey to the very worst temptations. Who will 
 be obliged to pay the taxes which vice and crime im- 
 pose on a community? Is it not a better economy 
 to aid the poor and suffering to gain a foothold on a 
 spot where, by industry, they can support themselves, 
 and through such industry be redeemed, if helped in 
 time, from a life of want and wretchedness, that may 
 tempt to sin, that sooner or later will destroy both 
 body and soul ? 
 
 By raising up and repairing the doors of some of the 
 half-destroyed houses in the waste places which war 
 has left in Florida — by mending broken windows and 
 neatly curtaining them — no longer allowing the blinds 
 to swing on one hinge at the mercy of every wind 
 that blows — how soon might one see a neat white- 
 washed cottage peeping out from under the well- 
 trimmed orange or shade trees ! Why, a smart active 
 
M LETTERS FROM FLORIDA. 
 
 woman Avould not rest long until — alone, if it must be 
 — she had brought some order out of this confusion, 
 some beauty out of this decay ! I know I should for- 
 get fatigue and suffering in the great pleasure of 
 working out such transformation. 
 
 Do not think that Florida is full of deserted vil- 
 lages and moss-grown orange-groves. Some of the old 
 villages still remain unoccupied, and are rapidly losing 
 all semblance of anything that was probably once the 
 homes of refined and wealthy people ; but Northern 
 enterprise and activity are improving and building 
 up most of these waste places, and it will not be many 
 years before these will become habitable, comfortable 
 dwellings — if not stately mansions — and well-culti- 
 vated and productive orange-groves. 
 
 " But an effort to reclaim such old, half -dead trees 
 as you have told of seems preposterous. I should pre- 
 fer to grub up such unsightly objects, plant a young 
 grove, and possess my soul in patience till they came 
 to maturity." 
 
 That, begging your pardon, proves your ignorance 
 as rcgards arange-culture. You have been told how 
 only one year's skillful labor was repaid. I should 
 have jumped to the same conclusion that you have 
 when I first saw some of the long-neglected groves, 
 gnarled and unsightly, with no promise of " a green 
 old age " ; but since then I have seen trees much more 
 unpromising, rejuvenated. The orange, when well nur- 
 tured, grO'WS more and more remunerative every year 
 after it first commences bearing, quite down to old 
 age ; and even when neglected and abused for several 
 
LIFT UP THE HANDS THAT HANG DOWN. 35 
 
 years, it quickly and gratefully responds to the first 
 touch of kindness and proper care. 
 
 Scrape off the moss, remove the lichens, cut away 
 all dead branches, wash and scrub the bark, plow care- 
 fully all through the grove, and enrich the ground 
 with muck from the swamps and river banks — first 
 having this muck properly mixed with ashes, lime, 
 leaves, etc., and leaving it to be well combined — witli, 
 for a time, some bo7ie meal spread over the ground 
 and plowed in ; and in a year or two an old half -de- 
 cayed grove will amply repay the owner by a crop of 
 bright and healthy fruit. If this care is continued, 
 each year will increase the products of the trees ; and 
 your grandchildren may find this grove, once appar- 
 ently so near death, a handsome legacy. 
 
 Bring down our Northern men who are begging for 
 work, but finding none, and, as if by magic, not only 
 will the work of re-creation go marching on, but new 
 land will be broken up, young groves will be planted, 
 and, where is now the wilderness, neatly fenced and 
 well-tilled fields, rich in cane and cotton, will obliter- 
 ate the intrenchments and earthworks, sad tokens of 
 the war. Encroaching on the haunts of the deer and 
 other wild animals, little hamlets will soon grow up, 
 with broad streets, shaded by the rapidly growing 
 trees that make these forests so lovely. The palmet- 
 to, magnolia, liquid-amber or gum-tree — the oak, elm, 
 pine, and a countless variety of trees, wliich in Florida 
 pass quickly from infancy to mature and vigorous age 
 — would in a marvelously short time canopy the streets 
 of these young villages with a grateful shade, that a 
 
36 LETTERS FROM FLORIDA. 
 
 Northern settlement would willingly work years to 
 secure. 
 
 Pretty settlements are springing up, not only along 
 the banks of the St. John's, but around the beautiful 
 inland lakes, where one family — and sometimes two or 
 three — five or six years ago, felled the first trees and 
 broke the ground in the midst of the forest, where 
 never before had there .been an acre of cleared land. 
 Some of these, when I first went South, were isolated, 
 and to an inexperienced eye gave little promise of any 
 great comfort or success. I judged, as you did, igno- 
 rantly ; for now orange-groves, just coming into bear- 
 ing, are plenty all along the banks, and pleasant cot- 
 tages and neatly clad women and children indicate 
 that they have passed out of pioneer life into organized 
 townships or pleasant villages, making steady progress 
 year by year toward elegant and refined homes. 
 
 Many of these new settlements have been started 
 by two or three brothers, leaving home to select 
 the family homestead ; and after clearing and fenc- 
 ing a few acres, getting in their first planting of 
 vegetables, planting the seedlings or " sour stumps " 
 for the young orange-groves, they exert their inge- 
 nuity to erect a neat, comfortable shelter for their 
 parents and the younge'r portion of the family, who 
 will join them when all this rough preliminary work 
 has prepared the way for them. 
 
 Ah ! if you could realize how very truthful all this 
 is, which — shivering over your Northern coal fires — 
 may possibly appear like exaggeration or rhapsody, 
 you could better understand how very small a portion 
 
LIFT UP THE HANDS THAT HANG DOWN. 37 
 
 of that wealth which is so idly squandered every 
 week for that which satisfieth not, could make hun- 
 dreds happy and self-supporting, who now go hungry 
 and wretched to untimely graves, for the lack of a 
 little assistance. 
 
 How often I have looked out on such places as 
 have just been described — so full of promise if right- 
 ly entered upon—and in imagination appropriated {by 
 2wrmission) a part of the large sum a fashionable lady 
 will spend on one party or ball — or, perhaps, a dinner 
 in honor of some distinguished person who, in his 
 heart, would gladly give half the sum to be excused 
 from the infliction ; then imagined the comfortable 
 homes such sums would provide for some deserving 
 but unfortunate families. How those families need 
 just this which Florida holds, waiting for them ! and, 
 ah ! how Florida needs that class of people whom we 
 would so gladly send to her shores ! 
 
 True, that which we build in the night watches of 
 comfort and beauty is demolished by the rising sun. 
 But what more substantial can the fashionable lady 
 show after expending so large a sum on her fancies ? 
 Indeed, such dreamings as mine give a higher enjoy- 
 ment, free from any of the inconvenience, fatigue, or 
 heart-burnings which molest and irritate the fashiona- 
 ble lady. We are up with the sun, feeling hopeful that 
 a good time will surely come, by which some of those 
 dreams may be worked out into realities. She, jaded 
 and wellnigh exhausted — her gold s^oent for that 
 which satisfieth not — drags her aching limbs to her 
 chamber just as night gives place to morning, per- 
 
38 LETTERS FROM FLORIDA. 
 
 haps secures a few hours of most unsatisfying slum- 
 ber, and rises discontented, envious, and unhappy. 
 For the time being there may be one sort of pleasure 
 in these large, suffocating, and expensive entertain- 
 ments ; but on retrospection, both for host and guests, 
 the taste is too often like Jeremiah's figs — exceedingly 
 bitter. 
 
 Please remember, this is not all idle dreaming. I 
 have seen these transformations and improvements in 
 places and persons here, and they are not extreme 
 c^ses. All that you can justly call visionary is the 
 supposition that those who are joined to their idols — 
 who live only for their own selfish gratification — will 
 ever be disposed to deny themselves one extra ribbon 
 to help feed the hungry, clothe the naked, or provide 
 a home for the unsheltered wanderer. 
 
 Our hope rests chiefly with those who find pleasure 
 and comfort in helping the weary and heavy-laden — 
 who only wait to see the open door, to step to the 
 front in all acts of kindness. For the young it is an 
 excellent incentive to secure a homestead and begin 
 on new land ; for they can afford to take time — to be- 
 gin at the beginning, and have what would be to me 
 the great satisfaction of feeling that they had wrested 
 a home from out of the wilderness, and built it up 
 from the foundation by perseverance, energy, and solid 
 labor. But for the feeble and aged there are many 
 places in some of the deserted villages where, for a 
 small sum, they can at once secure some old planta- 
 tion, or a few acres, that, although neglected and 
 tending to decay, can very soon be made sufiici^ntly 
 
LIFT UP THE HANDS THAT HANG DOWN. 39 
 
 comfortable to shelter them at once, and by their own 
 skill, little by little, be made a neat and pleasant 
 home. 
 
 Newport, on the St. Mark's, the west side of Flori- 
 da, is one of these spots — given up by those of its 
 former inhabitants who still live ; and yet the tenant- 
 less, dilapidated houses, and fields run to waste, could 
 soon be rejuvenated and be made productive, if there 
 was any one with intelligence and industry to occupy 
 and improve. To prove that my statement rests on 
 more substantial foundations than a woman's imagina- 
 tion, listen while I give you one example. In that one 
 place alone there are many others of the same general 
 character, but one will suffice. 
 
 Just across the street from the plantation described 
 in my first letter, there are two small cottages, better 
 preserved than most of those lying vacant in that 
 vicinity. The owners being scattered or dead, and 
 the heirs making homes or in business elsewhere, both 
 places, since the war, have stood empty and neglected. 
 Each cottage has four good-sized rooms, with spacious 
 fireplaces in each ; for, wood being abundant, there 
 is no need of close economy in fuel. A latticed ver- 
 anda separates the kitchen, store-rooms, and servants' 
 rooms from the main building. A cemented cistern 
 or reservoir of ample size is in the rear. A good barn, 
 hen-house, and yard, all pertain to each place. There 
 are a few young orange-trees just coming into bearing, 
 pecan-trees, peaches, figs, grapes, and a few young 
 apple-trees in good condition. Cape jessamine, crape 
 myrtle, roses, and many other flowers made the places 
 
40 LETTERS FROM FLORIDA. 
 
 bright and attractive, even with all the marks of 
 neglect which they could not entirely conceal. 
 
 The land on which these two cottages stand occu- 
 pies one large square — I do not recollect the measure 
 in rods or acres — each house owning half of the land. 
 The heir of one of these places not being of age, it can 
 not yet be sold ; but the other was purchased, to pre- 
 vent its being occupied by tramps or rovers, to the 
 detriment of a friend. The price given was one hun- 
 dred dollars ! The purchaser, having other property in 
 Florida, was ready to sell it whenever an active, ener- 
 getic person should be found, who would be public- 
 spirited enough to help reclaim and build up this vil- 
 lage. In less than a year it was sold again for three 
 hundred dollars! Now it is a pretty home ; and, 
 though small, if the new owner proves intelligent, 
 active, and, enterprising, the cotton, cane, and sweet 
 potatoes which could be raised on the place will in a 
 short time return the sum he gave for the whole ; and 
 then he will be in a condition to extend his land to 
 any extent at a simple nominal price. 
 
 This is but one case. Only men and money to cul- 
 tivate and improve the land are wanted to make this 
 region rich in productiveness and as lovely as fairy land. 
 Men begging only for work are scattered all over the 
 North. Is there none among those who are annoyed 
 and oppressed by the continued importunity of the 
 destitute, who, even if they " fear not God nor regard 
 man," will give of their abundance even so liberally as 
 to send these claimants where work can be obtained, 
 if only to free themselves from their importunity ? 
 
LIFT UP THE HANDS THAT HANG DOWN. 41 
 
 Do you complain that this gives you little infor- 
 mation about Florida ? Well, be patient. It was not 
 a history that you requested — only the imjjressions 
 that yearly visits to a land dearly loved have made 
 on my own mind — impressions which I feel confident 
 do not differ materially from well-authenticated facts, 
 although I alone am responsible for what I write. 
 Three or four years' steady efforts of earnest laborers 
 have shown results that are almost like fairy-land 
 tales. I write co7i amove, and therefore " hasten slow- 
 ly," making perhaps the common mistake of thinking 
 that what interests one most deeply must have the 
 same attractions for all. 
 
LETTER IV. 
 
 WHAT HAS 
 
 r^ BEEN DONE, 
 
 AND CAN BE 
 
 DONE AGAIN. 
 
 i ^ \j, There are 
 
 """'" some who by 
 
 marriage step at once into elegant homes, and with- 
 out exertion on their part are provided with an ample 
 income and, as far as wealth and social position can 
 
WHAT HAS BEEN DONE. 43 
 
 secure it, have every prospect of gliding tlirougli life 
 " on the smooth surface of a summer sea." These are 
 not likely to find any great attractions in Florida, or 
 only those which tourists and pleasure-seekers are ex- 
 pected to find in any new scenes. To be sure, some, 
 with all that wealth can give, may be compelled to 
 make this country their residence, or die. " All that 
 a man hath will he give for his life." But if for this 
 cause they settle here, their riches will cheat them 
 out of half the true enjoyment those will find who 
 come ready to work and build up — not to be waited 
 upon and lead useless, self-indulgent lives. 
 
 We do not look to this class with any hope that 
 they will develop the wonderful, unlimited resources 
 of Florida. To be sure, their money, if liberally 
 used, will greatly assist others to open uj) all that now 
 lies dormant here. But we look most hopefully to 
 those who, having less of this world's goods, are 
 forced to begin life in earnest, and with no expecta- 
 tions but such as their own energy and industry will 
 insure. And this class, if they have vigor, earnest- 
 ness, and co.urage, with " all the world before them 
 where to choose," will need no pity. They will be 
 none the less happy for the lack of ready-Jiiade money, 
 if they are sensible enough to understand that life 
 was not given to be all play and romance, but full of 
 various duties, to be gradually unfolded and developed 
 in God's- own good time. 
 
 If, when young people come to years of maturity, 
 and are ready to make a home of their own, they will 
 begin this new life with the full determination to ac- 
 
44 LETTERS FROM FLORIDA. 
 
 cept these duties as they rise, and, confident in their 
 Father's wisdom, endeavor to perform them faith- 
 fully, they will soon learn how full of choicest bless- 
 ings, waiting to be garnered all along the unknown, 
 untried way, is a life of diligent courageous effort. 
 
 The young are often perplexed with unforeseen 
 obstacles and discouragements at the very threshold 
 of their new and independent life. Their perplexities 
 frequently spring from the attempt to build up their 
 own future on the old foundations which their fathers 
 laid. These were doubtless wisely planned, and well 
 adapted to the period when their ancestors began the 
 work ; and, under the then existing circumstances, no 
 doubt the best that could have been devised. But, as 
 years roll on, many changes incident to a rapidly 
 growing population unfolded better ways, and gradu- 
 ally made the old ways distasteful and irksome. This 
 becoming more and more evident, and the growing 
 discontent and loss of faith in the old-time methods 
 becoming burdensome, it would be wise for young 
 people to relinquish the idea of settling close by large 
 towns and cities, unless their bank accounts are heavy 
 and their prospects of success are past a doubt. It is 
 ruinous to remain in familiar localities, hampered by 
 the old methods, endeavoring to force their way, till 
 all they possess is wasted in the useless struggle to 
 find a firm and permanent foothold. 
 
 Let the young folks, therefore, who have little 
 but their own strong hands and well-cultured brains 
 to depend on, leave the old places that only rich men 
 can keep in a productive condition, and go forth to 
 
WHAT HAS BEEN DONE. 45 
 
 create a home in newer lands, where intelligent labor, 
 stanch integrity, and the unselfish desire to do good 
 *to all around them will make their presence a blessing, 
 and insure themselves an honorable position and 
 influence. By acting under such incentives, their 
 good influence may remain to comfort and strengthen 
 others long after these pioneers have gone to receive 
 the joyful " Well done, good and faithful servant." 
 For all who are ready thus to begin an independent 
 life, and establish their future from the foundations, 
 there is no place within my knowledge where this 
 can be so easily, rapidly, and successfully accom- 
 plished as in this State. 
 
 I promised you some examples of what I know 
 has been done here, and can be done again. I have 
 told you what improvements a sick and feeble old 
 njan had wrought in a few years on an old and miser- 
 ably dilapidated plantation, and will now attempt to ex- 
 plain what younger and more robust men can do in new 
 lands, when undaunted by such hardships as must in- 
 evitably be met by pioneers in every new undertaking. 
 
 About seven years since three brothers left their 
 Northern home on a prospecting tour through Florida, 
 intending, if suited, to " enter a homestead " and pre- 
 pare a comfortable home for their parents and sister 
 as rapidly as possible. After visiting many localities, 
 they selected a quarter section of Government land 
 near Little Lake George, through which the St. John's 
 River runs. These young men had not been accus- 
 tomed to farming or the use of carpenter's tools, nor 
 were they familiar with any of those kinds of labor 
 
46 LETTERS FKOM FLORIDA. 
 
 necessary to carry out their plans. But they took 
 with them a chest of tools, well stocked with all that 
 might be needed, and a good supply of farming uten- 
 sils. All this shows that they were smart, intelligent, 
 hopeful, and courageous young men. None other 
 should or would venture on such an experiment. 
 
 After the locality was decided upon, their first 
 work was to build a log house for their own shelter. 
 This was easily done. Then several acres were cleared, 
 fenced in, and a large number of sour-orange stumj)s 
 set out to be ready for grafting the next spring, or 
 when the roots were well established ; and beside these 
 a large quantity of sweet-orange seeds were planted, 
 to start a seedling grove. This is an important con- 
 sideration for all new-comers, as these young groves 
 should be growing while the owners are giving time 
 and attention to immediately necessary work. The 
 grass started, corn, sweet and Irish potatoes, and other 
 important crops were then planted, to be ready for 
 early use when those anxiously waiting at the North 
 should come to them. 
 
 Having labored to get all these things safely under 
 way, and in a prosperous condition, the next step was 
 to build a more comfortable and commodious dwelling, 
 and make everything about the place as home-like and 
 attractive as possible for the parents and sister. Un- 
 deterred by lack of mechanical knowledge, and deter- 
 mined as far as possible to supply this want by good 
 common sense, and that skill which is born of perse- 
 vering efforts, they prepared a plan of a house, which 
 they developed with most encouraging success ; and 
 
WHAT HAS BEEN DONE. 4,7 
 
 rapidly, under their united efforts, rose as neat and 
 convenient a cottage as could be desired. A broad 
 hall the whole length of the house, a pleasant parlor, 
 a comfortable dining-room, and six bedrooms gave am- 
 ple accommodations for .the whole family and a gener- 
 ous provision for guests. 
 
 In accordance with the Southern custom (a most 
 sensible arrangement, and one which would add great- 
 ly to the comfort of any family), the kitchen, store- 
 rooms, and servants' room were built separate from the 
 house, but connected by a latticed veranda, with a roof 
 to protect from sun and rain ; and thus all cooking 
 fumes were kept away from the house. The molding 
 and fine work, it is true, were not finished by an ac- 
 complished carpenter ; but I spent some days, a short 
 time since, with this most kind and hospitable family, 
 and could be well content to spend my days in as neat 
 and comfortable a dwelling. 
 
 When all was arranged, the rest of the family 
 joined those who had so speedily and energetically 
 prepared a home for them in the midst of the forest. 
 Before leaving the North, the sister sold her piano, 
 and invested the money in dry goods and groceries ; 
 and on reaching her Southern home, the log house 
 that had been the brothers' abode was enlarged and 
 suitably fitted up for a store, of which the young lady 
 had the sole charge. 
 
 Now, at the close of seven years, this family have 
 a pretty property and a comfortable home, which, 
 they are constantly improving. A large part of their 
 orange-trees are mostly sweet seedlings, which, until 
 
48 LETTERS FROM FLORIDA. 
 
 within a short time, it was supposed could never come 
 into hearing for eight or ten years ; hut they are 
 thought to he safer in case of frost than the grafted 
 sour stump. Later experience, however, proves that, 
 hy grafting the sweet seedlings, they can he hrought 
 into bearing almost if not quite as early as the sour 
 stump — that is to say, when between four and five 
 years old. This enterprising family have now a large 
 number of orange, lemon, guava, and fig trees, as well 
 as a choice collection of grapes, and raise successfully 
 cotton, sugar, corn, melons, potatoes, and all needed 
 vegetables for their own use as well as for sale. 
 
 In all these years they have not paid one penny for 
 hired help, but have done many days' work for others. 
 Two of the sons, in addition to their home labor, 
 superintend and do a large share of the work on two 
 or three neighboring plantations, where they are con- 
 sidered invaluable. With all this amount of hard 
 labor and breaking up new land, which is usually 
 thought unhealthy, they have been blessed with per- 
 fect health, and have never employed a physician. 
 Does any one need a better warrant for the healthi- 
 ness of Florida ? 
 
 This is only one example out of very many that 
 have come under my own immediate observation, and 
 is given to illustrate how liberally this beautiful land 
 wdll recompense honest and intelligent labor, and what 
 pleasant and comfortable homes she gives to those 
 who trust her generosity. 
 
 " But while waiting for newly planted orange- 
 groves, and fruit-trees of every variety, to become 
 
WHAT HAS BEEN DONE. 49 
 
 profitable, what are the prospects of support for the 
 new settler during these five or six years ? " 
 
 Amiyle. If one settles near some plantation owned 
 by those whose business will not allow them to live 
 on it, and can secure the superintendence of such a 
 place, he is fortunate ; for the pioneer, who intends to 
 live on his own land, can take charge of the stranger's 
 plantation, and be paid in money, or half the crops he 
 can raise on it, and at the same time push his own 
 work forward. In this way he will secure a good 
 support for his family till such time as his own 
 grounds are cleared and planted. If no such place is 
 near of access, he will not starve oi* suffer any hard 
 deprivation. 
 
 Every one on coming out should take such canned 
 meats and vegetables as he can, and flour and vegeta- 
 bles will be found within marketing distance to help 
 through till the crops are well under way, and some 
 ready for use. All kinds of vegetables that can be 
 desired are easily raised. Florida beef and pork are 
 proverbially poor, but it should not be so. A North- 
 ern farmer would soon prove that good pork and beef 
 are as possible here as at the North. But it takes 
 time to bring about any desirable change, and till then 
 our new-comers can easily be content with a poor 
 quality. The experiment of using this a year or so 
 will only make them more determined to introduce a 
 better^quality as soon as they can. 
 
 But there is no necessity of suffering from want, 
 even with poor beef and pork, so long as the beautiful 
 rivers and lakes abound with fish, and the woods are 
 5 
 
50 LETTERS FROM FLORIDA. 
 
 full of game. There was never a spot at the North 
 where one can have chickens, ducks, and turkeys, and 
 abundance of eggs, with very trifling effort, so plen- 
 tifully as in this country. And until there is time 
 to arrange a poultry house and yard on a large scale, 
 what better food can any one desire than the deli- 
 cious wild turkey, duck, partridges, quail, and any va- 
 riety of small but most tempting birds, which are so 
 easily trapped or snared ? And the venison ! Here 
 the danger is that the excellence of the wild meats 
 will tempt those who are in haste to bring their land 
 into good condition, to delay the work of improving 
 heef and pork^ or, except for the luxury of having 
 milk in plenty, forgetting to care for their cows. 
 
 " Do you think — although there may and must be 
 some hardships to be encountered in taking the pre- 
 liminary steps for a home here — do you think any 
 need suffer from hunger, unless too lazy to open their 
 mouths and receive the good things a bountiful Provi- 
 dence provides ? " 
 
 There are many fruits also that come to maturity 
 earlier than the orange. The fig is a rapid grower, 
 and as easily propagated as the currant, and begins to 
 bear as early after well started. The fresh fruit will 
 not bear transportation to the ISTorth, but it is a great 
 comfort for those who raise it. Almost every hut or 
 house, for black or white, has its fig-trees, if it have 
 nothing more. When freshly gathered, the fruit is 
 very healthy and nourishing, and none need be told 
 what a luxury it is when properly dried or preserved. 
 The guava is also a rapid grower, and the fresh fruit. 
 
WHAT HAS BEEN DONE. 51 
 
 I am told, is very fine. The jelly and marmalade made 
 from the guava needs no endorsement. 
 
 Strawberries, if well cared for, are to be had from 
 early winter till late spring, or, indeed, into summer. 
 Blackberries (wild) are abundant, and so fine that to 
 cultivate them would be a waste of time. I saw acres 
 of ripening, wild blackberries in a neighboring planta- 
 tion, and heard the proprietor give orders to an old 
 colored " auntie " to pick one hundred quarts for a 
 lady to preserve the next day. When the hundred 
 quarts were gathered, none could tell by the looks of 
 the bushes that any had been taken. The huckleberry 
 abounds in the woods in every direction. The cassava 
 root is easily raised, and is used boiled like a potato, 
 or made into starch or into flour, from which various 
 kinds of cakes are made. The peanut is also an easily 
 raised and jDrofitable crop. And in the extreme south- 
 ern part of Florida almost any kind of fruit that can 
 be found in the tropics can be cultivated and made re- 
 munerative. 
 
 Time would fail to enumerate all the fruits, vege- 
 tables, nuts, etc., that Florida will yield bountifully to 
 those who accept her favors, and are ready to bring 
 them forward with skill and industry ; but she has no 
 promises for those who will not help themselves. 
 
 In " entering a homestead," it is not wise to at- 
 tempt to clear a large amount of land at first, or in 
 clearing to cut down all the forest trees. Som'e of the 
 forest trees should be preserved in clusters of six or 
 eight, according to the character of the tree, both for 
 beauty and to protect the young orange groves from 
 
52 LETTERS FROM FLORIDA. 
 
 the wind, and from all danger of frost. There is 
 seldom any frost, but occasionally a cold snap warns 
 the orange-grower to be careful, and the experience of 
 those who have groves well advanced is that those 
 lands where all the trees are cut off suffer most, both 
 from frost and winds. The land being thus exposed, 
 the sun sucks up all the moisture that the young 
 growth needs, and injures if not quite destroys it. 
 It is sad to see large tracts of land, like a desert, with- 
 out any shade-trees left, when the fields and crops 
 would be so much benefited by them, aside from the 
 great pleasure one derives from the grand and beauti- 
 ful trees. The eagerness to get the land in a produc- 
 tive state in the shortest possible time sometimes 
 blinds the judgment. True, the growth of all things 
 here is so rapid, that new trees from the old roots 
 soon cover a cleared field if allowed to ; but nothing 
 can replace the giant trees that for centuries have 
 been the patriarchs of the forest. And added to the 
 regret for their loss is also the thought that, if so 
 little judgment is used in destroying the forests, it 
 will not be long before the fuel now so plentiful will 
 be greatly needed. 
 
 A sensible man will clear only so much land as can 
 be properly cultivated, set out as many oranges as the 
 working force which he has on hand can hud or graft, 
 and give all needed care ; then start a nursery by 
 planting seeds. This done, the vegetables or other 
 varieties of fruits will claim his care. 
 
 But, as a homestead embraces one hundred and 
 sixty acres, and only a small part of it should be under 
 
WHAT HAS BEEN DONE. 53 
 
 cultivation — say fifteen to twenty acres — all these 
 other acres must not be left profitless. 
 
 Georgian cattle are a good investment. If one has 
 a little money that can be spared, this gives good 
 promise of returning it fourfold in a few months. 
 These cattle are bought for five and six dollars a 
 head. When brought to the homestead they may be 
 fed for a day or two, and then " branded " and turned 
 loose to range the woods belonging to the place, or, 
 if they please, in miles of uncleared land. Bring 
 them home at night a few times, throw a little corn 
 into the inclosure, and they will soon learn to return 
 from their wanderings every night of their own will. 
 This is called coio-penning them ; and, after orange- 
 trees attain a good growth, this " pen " should be 
 around the trees, for cattle thus penned every night 
 are of great benefit in enriching the ground, and will 
 bring forward the trees faster than any other mode 
 of fertilizing and will do no harm to the trees. In 
 the fall these cattle, having become quite fat on the 
 wild grass in the woods, can be sold for twenty or 
 thirty dollars a head. 
 
 You have given me an exhausting theme, and 
 where to find a stopping-place it is diflicult to tell. I 
 meant to have finished in this letter, a^nd to have told 
 you of this old settlement at Rollestown, and of sev- 
 eral other places, of the Medicinal Springs, etc., etc., 
 but will try and bring all I wish to say — no, that 
 would not be possible — but all that I can not refrain 
 from saying, into my next letter. 
 
vW' 
 
 WHAT HAVE YOU TO SAY ABOUT 
 MALARIAL FEVERS ? 
 
 Last year, on my way to Flor- 
 ida by the good steamer City 
 of Dallas, I was as much 
 interested in one of the lady 
 passengers as a rough pas- 
 sage and a full allowance .of genu- 
 ine seasickness would permit. Her 
 lover, like a sensible man, had 
 some months before preceded her, 
 to select land in Florida, and make 
 the best provision for his bride that 
 could be expected in the early days 
 of a pioneer's life. When he had so far progressed 
 in his work as to secure a comfortable shelter, the 
 lady, equally sensible, did not require him to waste 
 time and money to come for her, but, sure of good 
 
 
MALARIAL FEVERS. 55 
 
 care and all needed attentions from Captain Hines, 
 and every comfort that he had power to provide, she 
 came without any escort to meet her lover at Jack- 
 sonville. Here she was married in a simple, quiet 
 manner, and left that same evening for her new home. 
 
 Some few months since I received a letter from 
 this lady, from which I had intended to copy largely, 
 as an excellent corroboration of my own ideas of what 
 willing hands and courageous hearts may hope for, 
 if they are led to make a home in Florida. But I 
 have lost the letter, and regret it all the more, as I 
 had planned to visit this lady, as requested, and be 
 able to compare a pioneer's life in Florida with my 
 own experience of early Western life. I can now 
 recall neither her new name nor her location ; but 
 somewhere not very far above Little Lake George, 
 she found a comfortable log cabin, or house, ready for 
 her. She told me the number of acres her husband 
 had already cleared and planted. The orange seed- 
 lings were just starting, and " sour stumps " for graft- 
 ing were set out and thriving. She spoke of the quiet 
 pleasures of her simple housekeeping — the flowers 
 brought from the North, that were vicing in beauty 
 with the wild plants and vines she had transplanted 
 to brighten and beautify her rustic home, with an 
 earnestness that proved her a fit wife for an enterpris- 
 ing pioneer. 
 
 Her chickens and other poultry were also a source 
 of great pride to her, and deservedly, as she had been 
 very successful in rearing them, and even in this short 
 time had quite a flock. Chickens, eggs, and the 
 
56 LETTERS FROM FLORIDA. 
 
 canned meats and fruits she brought from the North, 
 were an important item now, while everything was in 
 a formative state. To be sure, her husband occasion- 
 ally brought in game, but had little time for hunting 
 while his trees and crops were needing constant care. 
 But this wife was strong and fearless, and in early 
 girlhood had learned to handle the oars expertly — a 
 good thing for every young lady to understand. 
 There may come a time when not only her own life, 
 but that of many others, may depend on her knowl- 
 edge of this accomplishment. After the morning 
 work was over indoors, this lady either worked in the 
 garden near her husband, or, before the sun was too 
 powerful, launched her boat and went alone on to the 
 beautiful lake, to provide a fine fish, fresh from the 
 water, for their dinner. 
 
 Before leaving the ]!^orth, she had furnished her- 
 self bountifully with a good supply of choice reading, 
 and, when needing rest, enjoyed them while swinging 
 in her hammock under the grand old trees that sur- 
 round the little house, now fast blossoming into beauty ; 
 while several well-cleared fields near by already mani- 
 fested the marvelous power of industry intelligently 
 applied. In the evenings her husband read to her, 
 when she was busy with her needle. 
 
 The letter Avas so fresh and evidently truthful, 
 that I longed to roll back the wheels of time and be- 
 gin life anew, in a land so rich in resources, and so 
 bountiful in repaying the labor bestowed upon it. 
 
 Another lady, bound for Florida, was also with us 
 during this same voyage — a married lady, with two 
 
MALAKIAL FEVERS. 57 
 
 little children, one a babe in the arms, the other six 
 or seven years old. She had come, with no escort, 
 from beyond Chicago, I think, and was going some- 
 where near Smyrna, on the Indian River. Her hus- 
 band and son had been there some months, clearing 
 the land and building the house that was soon to re- 
 ceive her and her weary little ones. She talked as if 
 she was well posted in all the hardships and many in- 
 conveniences she would probably encounter. A slight, 
 pale woman, but in nowise disheartened after the 
 storm and seasickness were over. Her husband had 
 wisely kept her thoroughly informed of all he had ex- 
 perienced, and what she might expect, and his descrip- 
 tion of the country and climate disarmed the new life 
 of all terrors. 
 
 These are. the right kind of men and women to 
 make Florida all she can and should be. 
 
 " But what about the sickly summers, the malarial 
 fevers ? Is there nothing to be feared from this 
 source ? " 
 
 Certainly. Where will you find a spot in which 
 one can not conjure up all sorts of terrors, if he pre- 
 fers to live in perpetual fear of what may happen ? 
 There is almost as much to feed such weakness as 
 may be found in any country. But why not inquire 
 about the " chills," congestive, typhoid, and the other 
 varieties of fever — of the acute diseases, pleurisy, 
 pneumonia, diphtheria, and a multitude of ailments, 
 seldom if ever known in Florida, but of daily occur- 
 rence in New York and Brooklyn — all along the banks 
 of the lovely Hudson and Connecticut, and other riv- 
 
58 LETTERS FROM FLORIDA. 
 
 ers — or wherever a new railroad is being built, or a 
 public park in the first stages of construction and 
 excavation — even up among the frosts and snows of 
 the White Mountains ? These afilictions, of daily oc- 
 currence throughout our country, are not supposed to 
 be sufficient to deter people from settling North, East, 
 or West, any more than the record of fearful crimes 
 constantly committed in all large cities, or the re- 
 proaches, insinuations, bad temper, and violence, so 
 common with both parties in times of political excite- 
 ment, scare people from seeking a home in our cities. 
 
 But if Florida, or the South generally, catches the 
 echo of political recrimination, and answers back in 
 the same unchristian tone, that " is awful wicked ! " 
 Yes, it is wicked, JSforth or South. But we have not 
 seen or heard half as much here of political or climatic 
 malaria as is transpiring weekly at the North. The 
 cause or remedy of the first it is not our business to give, 
 but there are a few things to be said of the latter. 
 
 Those who will be careless about unprotected 
 exposure to the early morning air before eating, or 
 before the sun is fully up, almost anywhere, and espe- 
 cially where there are river fogs, will be likely to 
 find a fever of some kind close by. I don't think 
 many of the present generation in our cities will suf- 
 fer much from any exposure before sic?irise. But our 
 new settlers can not allow the sun to find them napping. 
 If a cup. of hot tea or coffee, or a little bread and but- 
 ter, is taken before going out, then we should feel no 
 fear of any harm from the morning air anywhere. 
 
 Careless exposure to night air — tempted by a beau- 
 
MALARIAL FEVERS. 59 
 
 tiful moon and pleasant company, a moonlight sail, 
 night-bunting or fishing — is not safe, unless well pro- 
 tected with extra wraps, even on a summer's evening, 
 in any country or clime that I Jcnoio of. 
 
 The greatest danger will be found while the for- 
 ests are cleared from new lands, and the new fields 
 plowed for the first time after warm summer weather 
 sets in. This, also, holds good anywhere. North or 
 South, wherever woodland is broken up for cultiva- 
 tion. Do we not find chills, malarial fevers, etc., follow 
 closely after every new railroad or park that is made ? 
 For this reason it is much better to have the land 
 cleared and exposed to the sun early in the fall, in 
 cool or cold weather. If possible, a temporary dwell- 
 ing should be obtained at some little distance from 
 where the clearing is going on, until the sun and 
 air dispel the unhealthy dampness that must rise for 
 some weeks, while the newly-turned earth is becoming 
 " ripe " and sweet, and bogs and morasses have been 
 well drained. If this is done, it is perfectly safe to 
 prepare the dwelling and commence the true home 
 life. 
 
 If there are no buildings near to take shelter in, 
 the new-comers must run the risk, but take every pre- 
 caution possible, and protect the body with suitable 
 changes both in the morning and evening. Keep 
 on hand always some light brushwood, and start an 
 open fire the moment one is out of bed in the morn- 
 ing (only a bright, quick blaze), and it will prove a 
 great protection from malaria in old or new land ; 
 and this should be done if there is any fog or 
 
60 LETTERS FROM FLORIDA. 
 
 dampness, even in the hottest days of July, not in 
 Florida alone, but everywhere, in old or new settle- 
 ments. 
 
 In short, I don't believe that there is any more 
 danger from malarial fevers in Florida (and that is 
 about all the sickness that there is ever here) than 
 in any State in the Union where woodland is being 
 cleared, or old pastures and mowing-lots ripped up by 
 the plow and the under-earth brought to the sur- 
 face, or where muck is drawn from swamps or river- 
 beds and piled near dwellings, to ripen for compost. 
 I know, in the wonderful healthy town of Peekskill, 
 New York State, muck was dug out of a swamp some 
 years ago, and piled up to drain and sweeten before 
 hauling up to the farm ; and the family nearest to 
 the swamp complained that they all had, or were 
 threatened with, chills and fever in consequence. It 
 cost the owner of the swamp one hundred dollars to 
 stop that malaria. Strange what medicinal power can, 
 when convenient, be found in one hundred dollars ! 
 And all along the lowlands on the banks of the Hudson, 
 or wherever a new railroad is begun, chills and fever are 
 prevalent, and to be expected as a matter of course. 
 But this does not necessarily make that State or coun- 
 try where they occur unsafe or dangerously unhealthy. 
 Chills and fevers are not desirable companions ; I have 
 had a thorough knowledge of them ; but they are not 
 half so unsafe as many diseases that are very common 
 at the North. 
 
 " Well, you don't seem willing to give Florida all 
 the fevers and malarial troubles, but you will not deny 
 
MALARIAL FEVERS. 01 
 
 that poisonous snakes and dangerous animals abound 
 there ? " 
 
 Oh, no, I will not deny that they are found in 
 Florida {abound is rather too strong a word) ; but I 
 must ^remind you that this is the natural order of 
 things everywhere, until man cuts down the forests, 
 drains the swamps, and brings the earth into subjec- 
 tion to his skill. It is not peculiar to one State or 
 country, but to all that are densely wooded and sj)arse- 
 ly settled. 
 
 The moccasin and rattlesnake are not so attractive 
 and amiable that one would desire them for household 
 pets, but they are no more deadly in Florida than else- 
 where ; and you know they are found occasionally in 
 almost all localities. I knew and heard very little 
 about them when here. It was only after returning 
 home that the fearful dangers I had escaped were re- 
 vealed. I have seen but one moccasin, and not one 
 rattlesnake, except in a cage. The colored people, 
 who would be the most likely to know the worst that 
 is to be told of them, appear to give themselves no 
 uneasiness about the serpents or animals that are sup- 
 posed to make traveling, or walking in the forest, unsafe. 
 
 " Aunt Kitty," who for years has done the family 
 
 washing where I am, walks two miles through the 
 
 woods every Monday to come here, and after dark 
 
 returns alone, but says she has never been molested, 
 
 and has no fears. She would not like to come upon a 
 
 rattlesnake unawares, but thinks a little caution is all 
 
 that is needed. 
 
 The first year I was in Florida, on the St. Mark's, 
 6 
 
62 LETTERS FROM FLORIDA. 
 
 an opossum was caught in the night, making trouble 
 in the hen-house. The next morning a little, bright- 
 eyed colored boy, of eight or nine years, lay on his 
 back watching the animal, who was confined to a 
 stake in the yard. 
 
 " Well, Smart, did you ever see a 'possum before ? " 
 
 " Oh, 'es 'em." 
 
 " What do you do when you find them ? " 
 
 "I'ze kills 'em." 
 
 " Did you ever see a coon ? " 
 
 " Oh, 'es 'em." 
 
 " Well, what do you do with thetyi f " 
 
 " I^ze leaves!^'' 
 
 "Did you ever come across a moccasin in the 
 woods ? " 
 
 " 'Es em." 
 
 " What do you do then ? " 
 
 " I'ze kills 'era," said he, with a merry laugh. 
 
 " Did you ever meet a rattlesnake ? " 
 
 "'Es'em." 
 
 " What do you do then, my boy ? " 
 
 " I'ze leaves quick ! " 
 
 Mosquitoes are no worse here than in large cities 
 North, but ice are told they are more troublesome still 
 farther South. It may be so. I have been annoyed 
 by the black or sand fly here, but no more than I am 
 every fall when at the White Mountains. They are 
 very provoking and annoying, however, and we have 
 not one word to say in their behalf. They are a nui- 
 sance wherever found, but the comfort is that their 
 time is short. 
 
MALARIAL FEVERS. 63 
 
 Do not think I am only giving you one-sided state- 
 ments. I would not have you think that I imagine 
 Florida the very Garden of Eden before the fall, with 
 the serpent and all other disagreeable things left out. 
 Not so at all. I only wish you to see it as it is, with 
 many faults, many drawbacks, that prevent perfec- 
 tion ; but none of them in a worse or more aggravated 
 form than is common to all lands, and very few that 
 skill and labor cannot remove entirely. 
 
 Please to bear this in mind, and remember also that 
 there are, for the sick, the feeble, and the poor, hopes 
 and comforts that our dear but less genial North can 
 not offer. Here is cheaper land, no frost or cold at any 
 season of the year to prevent outdoor labor, and the 
 soil and seasons both able to give two or three remu- 
 nerative crops a year, aside from the luxury of almost 
 every variety of tropical fruits. The obstacles that 
 must be annoying to every new settler are such as 
 will of necessity be found in every spot where man 
 begins to reclaim primeval forests, and turn them into 
 productive fields and comfortable homes. 
 
 No sensible persons will come to " enter " new lands 
 here, with the intention of making it a permanent 
 home, without being prepared to feel the loss of many 
 of the comforts and privileges that they have been 
 accustomed to from childhood — the circle of friends 
 that have grown up with them, the church relations, 
 and, if they have children, the lack of schools and 
 seminaries. In counting the cost, all these must be 
 added to the amount, and the legitimate effect of this 
 important calculation should be to strengthen their 
 
64 LETTERS FKOM FLORIDA. 
 
 determination to give time and thought toward build- 
 ing up and sustaining everything that tends toward 
 moral and religious strength, as well as to cultivate 
 and improve the soil. 
 
 But one who settles here must remember that there 
 will naturally be more discomforts and perplexities 
 the first year than in succeeding years. The promise 
 is surer here than in many other new places, that the 
 wilderness can be made to bud and blossom like the 
 rose ; but, as I have somewhere heard the remark, 
 " this can not be done in a day or a year. You can sit 
 under your own vine and fig-tree, with none to molest 
 or make you afraid ; but the vine and the fig must 
 first be planted, matured, and tended." 
 
 In this united labor of improving and cultivating 
 Florida, I believe that the old prejudices between the 
 North and the South will wear away, and a common 
 interest be established, by which each will employ 
 their best faculties to accomplish the desired work. 
 Each will bring to the work their own individual im- 
 provements and excellences, until the two, harmoni- 
 ously laboring for the same end, will have put in prac- 
 tice the best, most rapid, and reliable modes of de- 
 veloping the naturally rich and wonderful resources 
 of this State. 
 
 Many vegetables and greens that hitherto have not 
 been thought capable of culture will yet be success- 
 fully raised here ; and implements that it has been 
 thought could not be used in Southern culture will be 
 found, on trial, of invaluable service. 
 
 There is one other comfort that I would be glad to 
 
MALARIAL FEVERS. 65 
 
 see more extensively used, and which those who come 
 here in straitened circumstances should be sure to in- 
 troduce : I would like to see the goat raised more ex- 
 tensively. The stock of cattle is for the present very 
 inferior, and "poor Florida beef" is a common ex- 
 pression. Of course, this being true, a sufficient sup- 
 ply of milk will also be very difficult to secure at first, 
 from poor cows. It will soon be seen that there are 
 many kinds of grass that can by cultivation be raised 
 here, and a better food be given to the cattle. In re- 
 turn, they will give better and more abundant milk. 
 But it will take some years to succeed in this, and, till 
 accomplished, the goat will be an excellent substitute. 
 
 This animal can be raised in Florida with no care 
 or trouble, or so little as not to be noticed. Goats 
 are easily, kept ; the waste from the kitchens will be 
 much more pleasantly and serviceably used for them, 
 than in raising swine. Their milk is the richest and 
 most nutritious of any animal, and, if tethered, so as 
 not to browse on every coarse and disagreeable shrub, 
 it can be had entirely free from the strong flavor that 
 is so offensive. No poor man should attempt to tide 
 over the two or three first years in Florida w^ithout a 
 small herd of goats, or two or three at least. The 
 flesh of the kid is said to be very delicate. A few 
 goats can be bought for a small price, and will add 
 greatly to the comfort of a pioneer's family. 
 
 The. milk and flesh is of great value for invalids. 
 No hotel in Florida should be without them for those 
 who come here for health; and aside from that, with 
 a little care and skill, they may be made exceedingly 
 
QQ LETTERS FROM FLORIDA. 
 
 remunerative ; for the finest of the Thibet and Asiatic 
 goats can be raised here, and their long silken fleeces 
 sell for a high price. 
 
 You have, I fear, had more of Florida than you 
 will find interest in ; but I will trouble you with only 
 one more letter, if I can help it. The theme is to me 
 of great interest ; and the longer I think of it, the 
 broader it stretches out before me and tempts me on. 
 
 I would like to tell you a little of one place where 
 I have lately visited, and where I expect to be when I 
 write next, and will then trouble you no further, per- 
 haps. 
 
LETTER VI. 
 
 SEEK THE TEUTH IN PRIVATE HOMES, NOT IN HOTEL 
 
 LIFE. 
 
 From public docu- 
 ments and through cur- 
 rent reports I have 
 gathered many inter- 
 esting items Avhich ap- 
 pear reliable, and had 
 hoped to add to my 
 stock of information 
 , something that would 
 have pleased you from the 
 interior parts of Florida. We 
 had planned a little excur- 
 sion, taking the Transit Rail- 
 road from Fernandina to Ce- 
 
 1 \.' •/" 
 
 
 dar Keys. The lakes 
 on either side of this 
 road are said to be 
 very beautiful, and 
 
68 LETTERS FROM FLORIDA. 
 
 the surrounding country around Lake Santa Fe, Samp- 
 son, and Kingsley, is high land, or " bluffs " — fertile, 
 not foggy and damp, and very salubrious and delight- 
 ful. Having dreamed over these pleasant descriptions, 
 I was quite eager to see with my own eyes, and test the 
 truth of what I had heard. But " the best-laid schemes 
 of mice and men gang aft agley ; " and on reaching 
 Baldwin, the morning trains had just been discontinued 
 for the season, and by this change I should be subject 
 to many delays and inconveniences. So that pleasure 
 must be laid aside for another winter ; and, before 
 speaking of Rollestown, permit a few words which 
 should have been added to the last letter. 
 
 Letters requesting more minute particulars about 
 Florida are received daily ; and I am therefore more 
 than ever anxious to give no false impressions, but 
 would avoid the injury done by those who, on tran- 
 sient visits, publish " overwrought, visionary letters." 
 In their enthusiasm they are tempted to paint only the 
 brightest side of the picture, overlooking the real, 
 practical, stubborn facts in the case, which those who 
 come every winter, or have become residents, see and 
 fully understand. 
 
 I have endeavored not to err in that direction, and 
 honestly do not think I have. It is not Florida as 
 she now is, but what I truly believe she can be made, 
 that I have endeavored to show ; and, with her natu- 
 ral advantages of soil and climate, this change can be 
 effected much more readily than in most new lands. 
 
 Of course, I take it for granted that the readers' 
 good sense will teach them that the work which must 
 
SEEK THE TRUTH IN PRIVATE HOMES. 69 
 
 be done to secure good results can not be accomplished 
 without some hardship and much self-denial. How 
 severely either of these may press upon the new settler 
 will depend largely on the strength, energy, and natu- 
 ral capacity of those who undertake the initiative 
 labor. 
 
 Florida is most truly a " new State," because, after 
 incredible rebuffs and disasters, she is once again 
 struggling to rise above the many obstacles that have 
 so often well-nigh destroyed her. She has been tossed 
 about from one nation to another like a foot-ball ; but 
 of her history we will speak presently. Just now we 
 desire to make it plain that here, as elsewhere, Jirst 
 steps are always surrounded with hardships, and often 
 — like a little child learning to walk — one rises for a 
 moment, but to fall again, and so on, till the way be- 
 comes familiar and easy. 
 
 " The hardy pioneer, who forces his way into the 
 wilds of Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, and other parts of 
 our Western States, will tell you that when one decides 
 to locate in new or wild lands and begins to reclaim 
 them, he must make up his mind that for two or three 
 years a rough life, with many inconveniences and hard- 
 ships, chill or ague, and other ailments, are before him ; 
 that it is a close fight, a sturdy determination to grap- 
 ple with and subdue the wilderness ; " but he must 
 bear in mind and take courage from the knowledge 
 that, having conquered, the reward is close at hand. 
 It is strange that so many people who are really sensi- 
 ble in most things, making the attempt to settle here 
 or elsewhere, are entirely ignorant of this. They come 
 
70 LETTERS FROM FLORIDA. 
 
 expecting to find Florida " one vast flower-garden or 
 orange-grove by nature, needing no labor or cultiva- 
 tion," and that, without a Joshua to lead, they have 
 but to pass over and possess the promised land, and at 
 once, without any exertion on their part, sit down 
 under their own vine and fig-tree, with none to molest 
 or make tliem afraid. But " the truth is, this lovely 
 land is but a wilderness as yet, and those who would 
 have the garden and the grove, must come and rtiake 
 
 " Is Florida a healthy State ? " is a frequent ques- 
 tion. 
 
 " The sanitary reports of the army show a much 
 greater degree of health among the soldiers in Florida 
 during the late war, and previously among the troops 
 stationed here, than in any other section of the Union ; 
 and the prevailing disease, intermittent fever, is of a 
 much less virulent type than in most new countries. 
 This does not prove, however, that there is no sickness 
 here. There certainly is ; but it is also perfectly true 
 that the healthfulness of Florida is fully equal to that 
 of any other State in our Union." 
 
 I have quoted from the best authority ; but there 
 is one point not mentioned, so far as I have been able 
 to learn, in a?iy report, but which I think it but com- 
 mon justice to refer to ; for it touches on an objection 
 often made against coming here for health or with any 
 hope of retaining and securing what one has. 
 
 I can better illustrate my meaning by putting into 
 shape conversations that one often hears when going 
 up and down the St. John's River, or crossing over to 
 
SEEK THE TRUTH IN PRIVATE HOMES. Yl 
 
 Jacksonville, where friends and acquaintances have 
 met unexpectedly. Now and then one finds some dis- 
 satisfied or discontented mortals, who have been but 
 a very short time in Florida, hurrying back North as 
 if some pestilence were behind them. In such cases 
 something like the following conversation may be 
 heard : 
 
 " Why, my dear sir, you are wild to return North 
 so early. Your family, if not yourself, will suffer in 
 consequence if you go North before the 1st of May. 
 The cold, raw days, of which we always have so many 
 at the North till after the 20th of May, will be very 
 injurious." 
 
 " Oh, I've made up my mind that coming to Florida 
 for health is all nonsense." 
 
 " But," interrupts his friend, " you haven't been 
 here long enough to know anything about this coun- 
 try or climate." 
 
 " Well, I think that by spending a day or two 
 in each of the best hotels, or a week or two traveling 
 in steamer or railroad, one can form a pretty correct 
 idea of the country and the character of the climate. 
 I, for one, have had all the experience I care for. If 
 this is considered a climate to grow strong and sound 
 in, or the people one meets are specimens of the effect 
 of the climate upon the constitution, then Heaven help 
 us ! I never saw so many miserable, sallow, sickly, 
 consumptive-looking people in the same length of 
 time in my life as I have in the short tim.e I have been 
 in Florida. I am sick of the sights I see here. All 
 the beauty — and I concede that there is a great deal — 
 
72 LETTERS FROM FLORIDA. 
 
 can not compensate for the suffering which such for- 
 lorn-looking people must have endured. I feel as if I 
 was in a vast lazaretto — feeble steps, hectic flushes, 
 coughs that rack the body and seem to threaten in- 
 stant death, rheumatism that cripples and distorts. I 
 tell you I am sick of it all, and shall hurry back and 
 risk the inclemency of the North, rather than remain 
 another week." 
 
 " Why, my friend, you are getting excited. Re- 
 flect for one moment, and you will understand your 
 mistake. Have you seen much of the people who 
 belong here, or of those from the North and West 
 who have settled here and make Florida their home ? " 
 
 " Oh, no ; I have made no acquaintances, and have 
 seen only those who board for the winter at the hotels, 
 or are met with in excursions up and down the river. 
 I think that is quite suflicient to judge from, and I 
 tell you I am disappointed and disgusted." 
 
 " And from what section of the country have these 
 friends and acquaintances come ? " 
 
 " Oh, from everywhere, I think — North, East, 
 West — and to my surprise I have found many from 
 the Old Country wandering about here." 
 
 " So, then, it seems it is the North, West, and 
 East, and the countries from beyond the sea, that 
 have poured all their sick into Florida to seek for 
 health. It is not the sick of Florida at all, but the 
 blind, halt, and maimed from other portions of the 
 land — those half dying in colder regions, sent here as 
 a last resort — that make you so bitter against the 
 physician to whom they come for relief — often too 
 
SEEK THE TRUTH IN PRIVATE HOMES. ^3 
 
 late — when all others have failed, and they know not 
 what else to do." 
 
 No estimate that has the first semblance of truth 
 or justice can possibly be made of the character of 
 a people or the healthfulness of the climate of any 
 state or country, if such knowledge is only gained 
 from watching the transient occupants of fashionable 
 hotels, or the multitudes who rush over the land from 
 all parts of the world by steamer or railroad. 
 
 To form a just estimate, one should endeavor to find 
 board in some neat and pleasant family (and such can 
 be found without difficulty in many portions of this 
 State), who have built up a home here. Select a family, 
 if possible, who have been long enough here to be com- 
 fortably, but not luxuriously, settled. See what they 
 have accomplished. Learn what brought them here, in 
 what state of health they or some members of their fam- 
 ily were when they came, and compare it with their 
 present condition. This is the only honest and correct 
 way of learning the truth. But let no one go back 
 North to spread a report — honestly believed, no doubt 
 — that Florida is a lazar-house, until, leaving hotel life, 
 they explore in that direction which shall teach them 
 to understand the country and its climate better. Ho- 
 tel life, all over our land or in any country, is the 
 worst phase from which to form a just estimate of 
 character or climate. Hotels are usually occupied by 
 transient guests, flitting hither and thither, either for 
 business or pleasure, or, as invalids, imperfectly try- 
 ing all things, but holding fast to none. 
 
 I have dwelt on this longer than I intended, but 
 
 n 
 
74: LETTERS FROM FLORIDA. 
 
 feel it important, as well as just, that Florida should 
 not be compelled to own all the invalids that visit her 
 shores. When you hear of sickness and death in 
 Florida, before you make out the estimate, just inquire, 
 from what section of the country these unfortunates 
 came, or if they claim this State as their home. 
 
 Colton's township map of Florida locates all the 
 smaller towns or villages which are springing up along 
 the banks of the St. John's ; and among them you will 
 find RoUestown, about three miles from Palatka and 
 two from San Mateo. It is on a bluff, or high land, 
 and capable of being made exceedingly beautiful. 
 About five thousand acres of this point is owned by 
 two brothers, and on the bank of the river they are 
 cultivating the orange-tree with unusual promise of 
 success. 
 
 "In 1765 Denis Rolle, Esq., father of Lord Rolle 
 of England, obtained from the King a grant of forty 
 thousand acres, and embarked with one hundred fami- 
 lies, intending to settle in Middle Florida, near the 
 St. Mark's River, but was driven by stress of weather 
 into the St. John's River, and, wearied with a long 
 voyage, decided to remain, and selected his location, 
 from about three miles above Palatka, nearly up to 
 Denis Lake." 
 
 Here he built his own mansion and tenements for 
 the people he brought over to cultivate his land, in- 
 tending to raise corn, cotton, and indigo, the last be- 
 ing a very profitable article of merchandise. 
 
 This place has natural advantages surpassed by 
 very few on the St. John's. On September 1, 1766, 
 
SEEK THE TRUTH IN PRIVATE HOMES. 75 
 
 Rolle writes of it : " Everything in nature seems to 
 correspond toward the cultivation of the productions 
 of the whole world, in some part or other of this 
 happy province — the most precious jewel in his Maj- 
 esty's Americati dominions" 
 
 " The exports of this province of East Florida in- 
 creased rapidly, the Florida indigo bringing the high- 
 est price in England, and everything indicated increas- 
 ing prosperity and much pleasure ; but then began a 
 troublous time. The Spanish force got possession, but 
 were surprised and routed a short time after ; then 
 the Indians became aggressive. The Spanish army 
 again succeeded in gaining possession of a large part 
 of Florida, giving the English people eighteen months 
 either to remove with their property, or dispose of 
 their effects, or accept Spanish rule and the Catho- 
 lic faith." "Upon these homes, embowered among 
 the orange-groves and made pleasant by the fragrant- 
 blossoms of the honeysuckle, the rose and acacia, in a 
 land where Nature had lavished her choicest beauties 
 and created a perpetual summer, the unfortunate resi- 
 dents of Florida were obliged to turn their backs for 
 ever." 
 
 But since that period Florida has changed hands 
 many times — ceded by the English to Spain in part, 
 then again under English rule, then in part to France ; 
 back once more to Spain. At length, in 1821, this 
 fair land of Florida became a part of these United 
 States. But all along the banks of the beautiful 
 rivers relics of the olden times may be f6und at 
 almost every settlement. 
 
76 LETTERS FROM FLORIDA. 
 
 At E-ollestown, part of the old foundations of 
 Rolle's mansion were used only a few weeks since as 
 the foundation of the present cottage where I now 
 write, and I have picked up the glazed bricks that 
 were used in building the houses for his tenantry. 
 The old earthworks and rifle-pits built to protect 
 them from the Indians are still to be seen here. 
 
 But, as you see, this is an endless theme. I had 
 intended to speak of the medicinal springs that abound 
 in almost every portion of Florida, and other objects 
 of great interest — at least, I find them so ; but there 
 must be a stopping-place somewhere, and it may as 
 well be here. I would gladly have made these letters 
 more interesting ; all that is lacking must be attribu- 
 ted to the writer. The theme has all that the greatest 
 senius can desire ; but " what is writ, is writ. Would 
 it were worthier ! " 
 

 r ■ r 
 
 /f '.7,5 j*A 
 
 {''■■•:■/.,■ ■:^i-,< 
 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 ORANGE-GROWma IW FLORIDA, 
 
 A coERESPONDENT of the Louisville "Courier- 
 Journal " says : 
 
 " There are many errors afloat about Florida. Some 
 suppose the orange belt covers the State. Orange cul- 
 ture is not safe north of the twenty-ninth parallel, 
 and better south of the twenty-eighth. The sweet 
 orange-tree will not grow in wet land any more than 
 the apple-tree. The sour one is sometimes found in 
 wet locations, and may be used in such places as a 
 stock on which the sweet orange can be worked. But 
 as the sour tree is a much slower grower, it must dwarf 
 the sweet graft or perish beneath the superincumbent 
 weight. No one who desires a permanent orchard of 
 sweet trees would ever use a sour stock. The orange 
 blooms in January and February, and a freeze at such 
 times destroys fruit and trees. The northern coun- 
 ties are subject to such frosts, and hence experience 
 has taught the old settlers that orange-culture can not 
 succeed in such a climate. Cold continued long enough 
 to form ice of half an inch must destroy the unpro- 
 
80 APPENDIX. 
 
 tected trees, and smaller ones succumb to a less de- 
 gree of cold. The lemon and lime succumb to still 
 less cold, and the guava is destroyed at the freezing 
 point, if continued for a few hours. The whole class 
 of the custard apples are equally tender. The banana 
 and pineapple fail near the same point. A multitude 
 of other fruits and trees fall with these last. 
 
 " Another error one sees going the rounds of the 
 papers is, that the orange will thrive under the native 
 forest trees, and that it requires protection from the di- 
 rect rays of the sun during summer. We know that 
 the tree will not thrive in the shade of any tree unless 
 it be the palmetto, which sends its feeding roots but 
 a short distance. Few trees can endure a greater de- 
 gree of sunshine than the orange, and it is used in 
 some of the hottest portions of the world, as at Gua- 
 naguato in Mexico, to shade the coffee plants. The 
 * die-back ' is the effect of cold, not of sunshine — of 
 want of proper nutriment, not of heat of the sun in 
 summer. Our advice to the fruit-grower, then, is to 
 get as far south on the peninsula of Florida as he can 
 find dry land, and as near water communication as 
 may be." 
 
 REMARKABLE FOUNTAIN IN FLORIDA. 
 
 Taking a narrow path, I crossed through some 
 dense underwood, and all at once I stood on the banks 
 of Wakulla Spring. There was a basin of water one 
 
APPENDIX. 81 
 
 hundred yards in diameter, almost circular. The thick 
 bushes were growing almost to the water's edge, and 
 bowing their heads under its unrippled surface. I 
 stepped into a skiff and pushed off. Some immense 
 fishes attracted my attention, and I seized a spear to 
 strike them. The boatman laughed, and asked me 
 how far below the surface I supposed they were. I 
 answered, about four feet. He assured me that they 
 were at least twenty feet from me, and it was so. The 
 water is of the most marvelous transparency. I dropped 
 an ordinary pin in the water, forty feet deep, and saw 
 its head with perfect distinctness as it lay on the bot- 
 tom. As we approached the center, I noticed a jagged, 
 grayish limestone rock beneath us, pierced with holes ; 
 through these holes orfe seemed to look into unfathom- 
 able depths. The boat moved slowly on, and now we 
 hung trembling over the edge of the sunken cliff, and 
 far below it lies a dark, yawning unfathomable abyss. 
 From its gorge comes pouring forth, with immense 
 velocity, a living river. Pushing on just below its 
 mouth, I dropped a ten-cent piece into the water, 
 which is there 190 feet in depth, and I clearly saw 
 it shining on the bottom. This seems incredible. I 
 think the water possesses a magnifying power. I am 
 confident that the piece could not be so plainly seen 
 from the top of a tower 190 feet high. We rowed on 
 toward the north side, and suddenly we perceived the 
 water, the fish which were darting hither and thither, 
 the long flexible roots, and the wide, luxuriant grasses 
 on the bottom, all arrayed in the most brilliant pris- 
 matic hues. The gentle swell occasioned-by the boat 
 
82 APPENDIX 
 
 gave to the whole an undulating motion. Death-like 
 stillness reigned around, and a more fairy-like scene I 
 never before beheld. So great is the quantity of water 
 here poured forth, that it forms a river of itself large 
 enough to float flatboats laden with cotton. The plant- 
 er who lives here has thus transported his cotton to 
 St. Mark's. Near the fountain we saw some of the 
 remains of a mastodon which had been taken from it. 
 The triangular bone below the knee measured six inches 
 on each side. The Indian name of the fountain, Wa- 
 kulla, means " The Mystery." It is said that the Span- 
 ish discoverers sprang into it with almost frantic joy, 
 supposing they had discovered the long-sought Foun- 
 tain of Youth, which should rejuvenate them. — Cor- 
 respondence of the JVeto York JEuening Post, 
 
 PRODUCTS OF WESTERN FLORIDA. 
 
 Editoes Western Rural : We promised you 
 something of the productions of Florida. Let us be- 
 gin by saying that oranges are not a product of West- 
 ern Florida. All that region lying north of the Gulf 
 of Mexico produces very little fruit of any kind. 
 Peaches, plums, and Scuppernong grapes grow with 
 care and cultivation. The peach does not thrive very 
 well near the bay. There are no wild fruits except 
 blackberries, and these are generally found in unap- 
 proachable places. Grass is a universal product, and 
 
APPENDIX. 83 
 
 yet grass for pasturage after July is only found in 
 swales or marshes. The upland wire grass is as tough 
 as manilla. Fenced pastures are not known, for the 
 pasturage has to be sought. He who discovers a 
 grass which will sward those sandy lands and remain 
 eatable through the summer, will confer a boon upon 
 the Southern States, The leaves of the cane afford 
 the chief support for cattle during a large part of the 
 year. In other words, cattle live by " browsing " a 
 goodly portion of the year in the piney woods. Com 
 is only grown upon prepared land, and then the crop 
 is light — fifteen bushels to the acre being a good yield. 
 Even sweet potatoes, although " to the manor born," 
 require that the ground be fertilized. The same is 
 true of all the vegetables. 
 
 The land is prepared in the following manner : A 
 strong fence is placed around a plot of ground, look- 
 ing not unlike our " cattle corrals," and the stock are 
 penned in these inclosures at night. It is called 
 " treading the land," and the soil is probably bene- 
 ^ted by the treading as weW as fertilized. It will be 
 perceived at once that but a limited quantity of land 
 can thus be prepared. The list of vegetables pro- 
 duced here is short. Irish potatoes are grown at al- 
 most any season of the year, and new ones could be 
 had every month if our Western straw piles were 
 only at hand for a top dressing. Cabbages, such as 
 usually sell in Chicago for forty cents per dozen, sell 
 there for seventy-five cents each. 
 
 Perhaps I can not better convey an idea of the 
 country and its production than to describe the mar- 
 
84 APPENDIX. 
 
 keting done at Millview during April, May, June, 
 July, and August of the past summer. The market 
 vehicles are mainly carts drawn by a single ox or 
 horse (poor one), or dilapidated market wagons. The 
 produce offered for sale was, in April, milkj butter- 
 milk, Irish potatoes, greens, etc. In May it was much 
 the same, with now and then a few cabbages and let- 
 tuce. In June the products were increased by green 
 * peas, plums, okra, corn, string beans, etc. The month 
 of July gave us watermelons and peaches in addition 
 to the above lists. Buttermilk finds a ready market. 
 After selling their " stuff," the producers would repair 
 to the store and lay in corn (grown in Illinois) for 
 their working animals, meal for their families, tobac- 
 co, etc. An astonishing amount of the latter is used 
 by the natives of the South. If you decide that the 
 above is a meager list of marketable products, we 
 have only to add that it is a true one, as we saw what 
 we have described with our own eyes during those 
 months. 
 
 The natural products of Florida and the piney^ 
 wood generally through the Southern States are con- 
 siderably diversified. The list of valuable woods is 
 varied. The magnolia looks somewhat like our bass- 
 wood. The blossom buds look just before flowering 
 much like goose eggs on the limb ends. The flowers 
 are exceedingly beautiful. The bay flower is as beau- 
 tiful and as white, and more fragrant, but much small- 
 er. There are many other varieties of wood, but the 
 chief, the master of the situation, the great source 
 of wealth and Southern industry, the source of the 
 
APPENDIX. 85 
 
 pitch, tar, turpentine, lumber, spars, square timber, 
 etc., the chief article of Gulf export, is the glorious 
 Southern pine. There are two varieties, pitch and 
 yellow. These stand like goblin sentries in thousands 
 of square miles along the rivers entering the Atlantic 
 and the Gulf westward to the Mississippi. The best 
 paying industry of the South is its lumbering. It is 
 the surest and quickest in returns. Reference to the 
 census reports evidences that lumber is the great arti- 
 cle of export, finding a market in Cuba and Europe, 
 New York and Philadelphia. 
 
 ^y. H. G. 
 
 THE END. 
 
 X 
 
HISTORY OF OPINIONS 
 
 ON THE 
 
 SCRIPTURAL DOCTRINE OF RETRIBUTION. 
 
 By EDWARD BEECHER, D. D., 
 
 Author of " The Conflict of Ages." 
 
 1 vol., 12mo. Cloth, $1.25. 
 
 The momentous question of future retribution is here historically * 
 discu?sed with an earnestness and deliberation clue to its transcen- 
 dent importance. The main interest of the inquiry naturally centers 
 in the doom of the wicked. Will it be annihilation ? ultimate resto- 
 ration to holiness and happiness ? endless puni8hn,eni ? or Is it out 
 of our power to decide which of these views is the truth? The dis- 
 cussion is intensified by being narrowed to the meanini; of a single 
 word, aionios. The opinions of those to whom Christ spoke, and 
 how they understood him, are vital questions in the argument; and, 
 to solve them, the opinions and modes of speech of preceding aues 
 must be attentively weighed, for each age is known to have molded 
 the opinions and use ot words of its successor. Hence, Dr. Beecher 
 has lound himself compelled to "trace the development of thought 
 and language from the outset to the flays of Christ, then to inquire 
 into the import of his words, in the light of all preceding ages ; and. 
 lastly, to trace the development of opinion downward through the 
 Christian ages." 
 
 STUDIES IN THE CREATIVE WEEK. 
 
 By Bev. GEOEGE D. BOARDMAN, D. D. 
 
 1 vol., 12mo. Cloth, $1.35. 
 
 The Lectures, fourteen in number, embrace the following topics: 1. In- 
 teodttction; 2. Genesis of the Universe; 3. Of Order; 4. Of Light; 
 6. Of the Sky; 6. Of the Lands; 7. Of Plants; 8. Of the Lumi- 
 naries; 9. Of Animals; 10. Of Man; 11. Of Eden; 12. Of Women; 
 13. Of the Sabbath; 14. Palingenesis. 
 
 "We see in the Lectures more than the sensation of the hour. 
 They will have a marked effect in defining the position of tiie believer 
 of to-flay, in ccrtifving both to disciple and to skeptic just what is to 
 beheld against all attack; and the statement of the case will be m 
 many cases the stronL'Cst argument. They will tend to broaden the 
 minds of believers, and to lift them above the letter to the plane of 
 the spirit. They will show that truth and religion are capable of be- 
 ing defended without violence, wiUiout denunciation, without mia- 
 represeniation, without the impugning of mot'we^y— National BapUct. 
 
 " Revelation and Science can not really conflict, becau>-e • truth can 
 not be contrary to truth ; ' hut so persistent have been the attacks ol 
 scientists on time-honored orthodoxy, that tlie believer in Revelation 
 hag long demanded an exhaustive work on the first chapter of Gene- 
 pis. In response to this widespread feolint:, the Rev. George Dana 
 Bonrdman, D. D., the learned pastor of tlie First Paptist ( huroh, 
 Philadelphia, was reauested to deliver a course of lecturcB covering 
 this debatable grouna." 
 
 D. APPLETON & CO., PuBLiSHEKS, 549 & 551 Broadwat, N. Y. 
 
THE LIFE AND WORDS OF CHRIST. 
 
 By CUNNINGHAM GEIKIE, D. D. . 
 
 ■ With Twelve Engravings on Steel. In Two Volumes, Svo. Price, $8.0C. 
 
 " A work of the highest rank, breathing the spirit of true faith in 
 Christ."— ZT. Delitzsch^ the Commentator. 
 
 " A most valuable addition to sacred literature."— J. N. Littl^ohn, 
 D. J)., Bishop of Long Island. 
 
 " I have never seen any life of our Lord which approached so near 
 my ideal of such a work.''''— Austin Phelps, I). D., author of "• The Stilt 
 Hour,'' etc. 
 
 "• A great and noble work, rich in information, eloquent and schol- 
 arly in style, earnestly devout in I'oeling.''— London Literary Worlt}. 
 
 "Without disparaging in any sense the noble labors of his prede- 
 ' cessors, we think Dr. Ueikie has caimht a netv triy from the ' Mouutain 
 of Light,' and has added a new page to onr Christoloay wliich many 
 will delight to read. These volumes are full of exquisite word-paint- 
 ing, from wliich an artist might reproduce innumerable life-like pic- 
 tures,' '—Evangelist. 
 
 TENT-WORK IN PALESTINE. 
 
 A RECORD OF DISCOVERY AND ADVENTURE. 
 
 By CLAUDE REIGNIER CONDER, R, E., 
 
 Officer in Command of the Survey Expedition. Published for the 
 Committee of the Palestine Exploration Fund. 
 
 With Thirty-three Illustrations by J. W. Wliymper. 
 
 Two vols,, Svo, Cloth, $6.00. 
 
 " The account of Lieutenant Conder's labors is not merely the in- 
 teresting record of a great work, it has the additional cliaim ol being 
 exceedinsily well written ; and it will always remain one of the most 
 valuable contributions to the literature on Palestine."— Pa// Mali 
 Gazette. 
 
 THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS 
 
 With N'otes, Critical, Explaiiatory, and Practical. 
 
 By the Rev. HENRY COWIES, D. D , 
 
 Author of " The Minor Prophets." "Ezekiel and Daniel," " The 
 Eevelaiion of John^" " Hebrew History," etc. 
 
 1 vol., 12mo. Cloth, Price, $1.50, 
 
 D. APPLETON & CO., Publishers, 549 & 551 Broadway, N, Y. 
 
THE BOOK OF JOB: 
 
 ESSAYS, AND A METRICAL PARAPHRASE. 
 
 By ROSSITEE W. SAYMOND, Ph. D. 
 
 With an Introductory Note by the Rev. T. y. Conant, D. D. 
 12rao. - - - Cloth, $1.25. 
 
 " The book is in iambic tetrameter rhymin;? verse, with three-lined 
 Ptanzas. Of course it does not follow the original word for word, 
 though it keeps remarkably close to the literal translation ; and where 
 it departs from the literal it often brings out the meaning of tlie origi- 
 nal more clearly than a word-for-word rendering can do. But as a re- 
 production of ihe spirit and tone of the original, as a translation — 
 a carrying over— into English, not of its words and phrases, but of the 
 poem as a whole, the writer has done with his paraphrase what it 
 would be perhaps impossible to do in a literal translation. Regarded 
 merely as an attempt to create on the mind of the English reader some- 
 tlnng of the impression which the Hebrew poem made on the minds 
 of those to whom it was first rehearsed, Mr. Raymond's paraphrase is 
 perhaps the best English translation of Job that has yet been made. 
 The rendering is printed in parallel columns with Conaut's trans- 
 lation, and is accompanied with copious introduction and notes." — 
 N. Y. Independent. 
 
 THE COMPREHENSIVE CHURCH; 
 
 OB, 
 
 Christian Unity and Ecclesiastical Union in 
 the Protestant Episcopal Church. 
 
 By thb Right Rev. THOMAS H. YAIL, D. D., LL. D., Bishop of Kansas. 
 12mo. - - - Cloth, $1.2.5. 
 
 " As far as it goes it is the best book of the kind we have ever seen, 
 and it goes far enough, considering the object which the author had in 
 view. It is just the thing to put into the hands of those who are igno- 
 rant concerning the principles and customs of the Church. A general 
 and hearty welcome, we are sure, awaits it." — .V. Y. (Jhvrchman. 
 
 " An able and excellent teacher of the true position of the Chtirch." 
 —N. Y. Episcopal Register. 
 
 '•Bishop Vail presents his views with an impressive sincerity, 
 whicii will not only commend the volume to those who share his be- 
 lief, but also to all thoughtful reader^."— Providence Journal, 
 
 D. APPLETON & CO., Publishers, 549 & 651 Broadway, N. Y. 
 
AMERICAN PAINTERS: 
 
 Biographical Sketches of Fifty American 
 Artists^ 
 
 WITH EIGHTY-THREE EXAMPLES OF THEIR WORKS, 
 
 Engeaved on Wood in a peefect manner. 
 
 Quarto ; cloth, extra gilt Price, $7.00 : full morocco, $13.00. 
 
 The painters represented in this work are as follows: 
 
 CHURCH, 
 
 INNES, 
 
 HUNTINGTOX, 
 
 PAGE, 
 
 HUNT, 
 
 WHITTEEDGE, 
 W. HAET, 
 J. M. HART, 
 
 SANFORD GIFFORD, McENTEE, 
 SWAIN GIFFORD, COLMAN, 
 
 DURAND, 
 R. W. WEIR, 
 
 HICKS, 
 
 J. H. BEARD, 
 
 W. H. BEARD, 
 
 PORTER, 
 
 G. L. BROWN, 
 
 APPLETON BROWN, 
 
 CROPSEY, 
 
 CASILEAE, 
 
 WINSLOW HOMER, E. JOHNSON, 
 
 W. T. RICHARDS, DE HAAS, 
 
 T. MORAN, 
 
 P. MORAN, 
 
 PERRY, 
 
 BELLOWS, 
 
 SHATTUCK, 
 
 MILLER, 
 
 J. F. WEIR, 
 
 J. G. BROWN, 
 
 WYANT, 
 
 WOOD, 
 
 BRISTOL, 
 
 REINHART, 
 
 BRIDGMAN, 
 
 BIERSTADT, 
 
 HOPKINSON SMITH, 
 
 SHIRLAW, 
 CHASE, 
 BRICHER, 
 ROBBIXS, 
 WILMARTH, 
 EATON, 
 GUY, 
 
 QUARTLET, 
 MEEKER. 
 
 The publishers feel justified in saying that the contemporaneous art of 
 no countr}' has ever been so adequately represented in a sinfrle volume as 
 our American Painters are in this work, while the engravings are equal in 
 execution to the finest examples of wood-engraving produced here or 
 abroad. 
 
OPINIONS OF THE PRESS. 
 
 " The richest, and in many ways the most notable of fine art books 
 is ' American Painters,' jus^t published, with unstinted liberality in 
 the makinff. Eiijhty-three examples of the work of American ai-tissts, 
 reproduced in the very best style of wood-engraving:, and pnnted with 
 rare skill, constitute tlie chief purpose of the book; while the text 
 which accompanies them, the work of Mr. Georgre W. Sheldon, is a 
 series of bright and entertaining biographical sketches of the artists, 
 with a running commentary— critical, but not too critical— upon the 
 peculiarities of their several methods, purposes, and conceptions."— 
 New York Evening Post. 
 
 "The volume gives good evidence of the progress of American art. 
 It shows that we have deft hands and imaginative brains among pain- 
 ters of the country, and it shows, moreover, that we have publishers 
 who are liberfiland cultured enough to present their works in a hand- 
 some and luxurious form tiiat will make them acceptable. ' American 
 Painters ' will adorn the table of many a drawinix-room where art is 
 loved, and where it is made still dearer from the fact that it is native." 
 —Neiv Ymk Express. 
 
 " It is at once a biographical dictionary of artists, a gallery of pen 
 portraits and of beautiful scenes, sketched by the painters and mul- 
 tiplied bv the engraver. It is in all respects a work of art, and will 
 meet tlie w^ints of a large class whose tastes are in that direction."— 
 Neiv York Observer. 
 
 " One of the most delightful volumes issued from the press of this 
 country." — New York Daily Graphic. 
 
 " Outside and inside it is a thing of beauty. The text is in large, 
 clear type, the paper is of the finest, the mardns broad, and the il- 
 lustrations printed with artistic care. The volume contains brief 
 sketches of fifty prominent American artists, with examples from 
 their works. Some idea of the time and labor expended in bringing 
 out the work may be irathered from the fact that to bring it before the 
 public in its present form cost the publishers over $1^,000."— jBos^o/i 
 Evening Transcript. 
 
 "■ This book is a notable one, and among the many fine art books it 
 will rank as one of the choicest, and one of the most elegant, con- 
 sidered as an ornament or phrlor decoration. The engravings are in 
 the highest stvle known to art. Mr. Sheldon has accompanied the illus- 
 trations with "a series of very entertaining biof^raphical sketches. As 
 far as possible, he has made the artists their own interpreters, giving 
 their own commentaries upon art and upon their purposes iu its prac- 
 tice instead of his own.'"'— Boston Post. 
 
 "'American Painters' consists of biographical sketches of fifty 
 leading American artists, with eighty-three exjimples of their works 
 engraved on wood with consummate skill, delicacy of toiicli, and 
 appreciation of distinctive manner. Ii is a gallery of contemporary 
 American art.''''— Philadelphia Press. 
 
 ''This work is one of surpassing interest, and of marvelous typo- 
 graphical and illustrative beauty y— Philadelphia Item. 
 
 "The whole undertaking is a noble one, illustrative of the best 
 period of American art, and as such deserves the attention and sup- 
 port of the public."— C/Mcag'O Tnbnne. 
 
 D. APPLETON & CO., Publmhers, 549 & 551 .Broadway, N. Y- 
 
SOCIAL ETIODETTE OF NEW YORK. 
 
 Contents: The Value of Etiquette— Introductions— Solicitations- 
 Strangers in Town— Debuts in Society— Visiting, and Visiting- 
 Cards lor Ladies— Card and Visiting-Customs for Gentlemen- 
 Morning Receptions and Kettle-Drums— Giving and attending 
 Parties, Balls, and Germans— Dinner-giving and Dining out — 
 Breakfasts, Luncheons, and Suppers— Opera and Theatre Parties, 
 Private Theatricals, and Musicales — Etiquette of Weddings — 
 Christenings and Birthdays — Marriage Anniversaries — New- 
 Year's-Day in New York — Funeral Customs and Seasons of 
 Mourning:. 
 
 ISzuo. Clotli, gilt edges, price, $1.00. 
 
 "This little volume contains numerous hints and suggestions, 
 which are specially serviceable to strangers, and which even people 
 to the manner born will find interesting and useful. Perhaps the best 
 part of it is in what it doe? not say. the indefinable suggestion of 
 good-breeding and refinement which its well-written pages make." — 
 New York Evening Express. 
 
 " A sensible and brief treatise, which young persons may profitably 
 read." — New YorJc Evening Post. 
 
 "Everything which refines the habits of a people ennobles it, and 
 hence the importance of furnishing to the public all possible aids to 
 superior manners. This book will undoubtedly meet the needs of a 
 large class." — Boston Evening Transcript. 
 
 "A frank and sensible epitome of the customs of good society in 
 the first city of America. It admits the existence and need of certain 
 rules of social behavior, and then in a kindly and decorous manner 
 points out how to conform to the best usage." — Boston Commonwealth. 
 
 "A very sensible and — if we may say it of a book — well-bred vol- 
 ume. It gives the rules that are observed in the metropolis. The?e 
 sometimes seem artificial, but they are usually founded on reason." — 
 Hartford Con rant. 
 
 "This is a timely work. For years our people have followed the 
 habits of the older nations. In this young republic it can not be ex- 
 pected that the same rules exist as we find abroad. This work is very 
 complete, and is easily carried in the pocket to read at odd intervals." 
 — Albany Sunday Press. 
 
 " The statements are exact and simple, and cover all that any reader 
 is likely to desire. The work will convey positively useful and relia- 
 ble instruction that can not always be reached otherwise."— i%2/adei- 
 phia North American. 
 
 D. APPLETON & CO., Publishers, 549 & 551 Broadway, N. Y. 
 
HEALTH PRIMERS. 
 
 EDITED BY 
 
 J. LANGDON DOWN, M. D., F. R. C. P. 
 HENRY POWER, M. B., F. R. C. S. 
 J. MORTIMER-GRANVILLE, M. D. 
 JOHN TWEEDY, F. R. C. S. 
 
 THOUGH it is of the ^rreatest importance that hooks upon health 
 should be in the highest degree trustworthy, it is notorious that 
 most of the cheap and popular kind are mere crude compilations of 
 incompetent persons, and are often misleading and injurious. Im- 
 pres:red hy the^e considerations, several eminent medical and scien- 
 tific men of London have combined to prepare a series of Health 
 Primers of a character that shall be er.titled to the fullest confidence. 
 They are to be brief, simple, and elementary in statement, filled with 
 substantial and useful information suitable for the guidance of grown- 
 up people. Each primer will be written by a gentleman specially 
 competent to treat his subject, while the critical supervision of the 
 books is in the hands of a committee who will act as editors. 
 
 As these little books are produced by English authors, they are 
 naturally based very much upon English experience, but it matters 
 little whence illustrations upon such subjects are drawn, because the 
 essential conditions of avoiding disease and preserving health are to 
 a great degree everywhere the same. 
 
 VOLUMES OF THE SERIES. 
 
 Exercise and Training. (lUus 
 trated.) 
 
 Alcohol : Its Use and Abuse. 
 
 The House and its Surround- 
 ings. 
 
 Premature Death : Its Promo- 
 tion or Prevention. 
 
 Personal Appearances in 
 Health and Disease. (Il- 
 lustrated.) 
 
 Baths and Bathing. 
 
 The Heart and its Functions. 
 The Head 
 
 Clothing and Dress. 
 Water. 
 
 The Skin and its Troubles. 
 Fatigue and Pain. 
 The Ear and i earing. 
 The Eye and Vision. 
 Temperature in Health and 
 Disease. 
 
 In square 16rao volumes, cloth, price, 40 cents each. 
 
 For sale by all booksellers. Any volume mailed^ post-paid, to any 
 address in the United States, on receipt of price. 
 
 D. APPLE TOM &' CO., Publishers, 
 
 549 & 551 Broadway, New York. 
 
ALL AROUND THE HOUSE ; 
 
 HOV/ TO MAKE HOMES HAPPY. 
 
 BY 
 
 Mrs. HENRY WARD BEECHER, 
 
 Author of " Motherly Talks," etc. 
 
 1 vol., 12mo. Cloth I*rice, $1.50. 
 
 " This volurae consists of the reprint of those social chats with 
 youn<^ housekeepers in which Mrs. Beecher so excels, toirether with 
 a laro;e number of receipts. The volume is as sensible and practical 
 within as it is ueat and attractive without." — A"ew York Examiner 
 and Chronicle. 
 
 "The book is an encyclopaedia of household information, which 
 no woman can read without benefit. It can not fail to be a help to 
 many untaught housekeepers, while the more experienced may find 
 suggestions of value. The volume wonld be a blessing if it could go 
 into every household and be attentively read." — Chicago Inter- Ocean. 
 
 "She has not lived in vain who has gathered together so much 
 of worldly wisdom, and bequeathed it in such attractive form to those 
 who come after her. treading the dangerous quicksands that be-^et do- 
 mestic life in this nervous and electrical age." — San Francisco Exen- 
 ing Post. 
 
 " Every house which has Mrs. Beecher's book will be the happier 
 for if— Erie (Pa.) Sunday Morning Gazette. 
 
 " The book is counselor and cook combined, and a treasure in any 
 house." — Toledo Sunday Journal. 
 
 "No book has appeared among the many issued for the house- 
 hold which combines so many excellences for the promotion of do- 
 mestic well-being." — New York Baptist Weekly. 
 
 " No housekeeper can read the book without advantage."— J./5awy 
 Journal. 
 
 " This is an invaluable book; its paees contain a liberal education 
 in household matters.'" —Nashville Daily American. 
 
 " Mrs. Beecher has produced a bonk which should find a resting- 
 place in every housewife's \ibrary.''''—Philadelphia Record. 
 
 D. APPLETON & CO., 549 & 551 Broadway, New York. 
 
EN&LISH M AMERICAN LITERATURE, 
 
 Forming the Second Volume of " Literature Primers," 
 
 EDITED BT 
 
 J. R. GREEN, M. A., 
 
 Examiner in the School of Modem History at Oxford, 
 
 AND CONTAINING 
 
 ENGLISH LITERATURE. By Stopfoed Beooke, M. A. 
 AMERICAN LITERATURE. By J. Haeeis Patton. 
 
 In one volume. Flexible cloth, 45 cents. 
 
 From the New York Observer. 
 
 "D. Appleton & Co. have published (in their series of 'Lit- 
 erature Primers ') a new edition of Stopford Brooke's ' English 
 Literature,' with a valuable addition on American Literature. 
 Into about twenty pages Mr. Patton has condensed a summary 
 of the principal American writers on the several departments of 
 letters, with a brief indication of the character of their works, 
 but without attempting a catalogue. Few of the leading writers 
 of the two centuries are omitted. The book will be very useful 
 as a text-book, and also for reference. For schools its value is 
 much increased by the series of suggestive questions appended." 
 
 D. APPLETON & CO., Publishers, !>49 & 551 Broadway, N. Y. 
 
THE 
 
 Experimental Science Series. 
 
 In neat 12nio volumes, bound in cloth, fully 
 illustrated. Price per volume, $1.00. 
 
 This series of scientific books for boys, pirls, and students of every afre, 
 was desiirned by Prof. Alfred M. Mayer, Ph.D., of the Stevens Institute 
 of Tecbnolo.ry, Hoboken, New Jersey. Every book is addressed directly 
 to the yoau? student, and be is tauglit to construct his own apparatus out 
 of the cheapest and most common materials to be found. Should the 
 reader make all the apparatus described in the first book of this series, he 
 will spend only $12.40. 
 
 NOW READY: 
 
 I.— LIGHT: 
 
 A Series of Simple, Entertaining, and Inexpensive Experiments in the Phe- 
 nomena of Light, for Students of every Age. 
 
 By ALFRED M. MATER and CHARLES BARNARD. 
 
 II.— SOUND: 
 
 A Series of Simple. Entertaining, and Inexpensive Experiments in the Phe- 
 nomena ot Sound, for the Use of Students ot every Age. 
 
 B)j ALFRED MARSHALL MA YER, 
 
 Professor of Physics in the Stevens Institute of Technology; Member of 
 the National Academy of Sciences; of the American Philosophical 
 Society. Philadelphia; of the American Academy of Arts and 
 Sciences. Boston; of the New York Academy of Sci- 
 ences; of the German Astronomical Society; of 
 the American Otological Society; and Hon- 
 orary Member of the New York 
 Ophthalmological Society. 
 
 In Active Prepakation: 
 
 III. Vision and the Nature of Light. 
 
 IV, Electricity and Magnetism. 
 V, Heat. 
 
 TI. Mechanics. 
 VII. Chemistry. 
 
 VIII. The Art of experimenting with Cheap and Sim- 
 ple Instruments. 
 
 L APPLET ON & CO., Publishers, 549 & 551 Broadway, N. T