46 THE NATURAIvIST OF THE ST. CROIX 



Mr. Boardman took his vacations in winter while his 

 partner had his in the summer. Moreover, Florida was 

 at that time coming into notice as a winter sporting and 

 pleasure resort and Mr. Boardman having abundance 

 of leisure decided to spend the winter at the south. It 

 was a month after leaving home before he reached Jack- 

 sonville. He remained several da^^s in Philadelphia 

 and spent four days in Washington where he studied at 

 the Smithsonian Institution. His stay in Florida that 

 first winter was not long, as he reached Fernandina on 

 January 30, 1868 and left for the north on March 16, 1868. 

 He reached home April 22 and the first thing Mr. Board- 

 man did after his arrival was to go " all round and see 

 the folks." Then he records in his diary, April 30: 

 "Dull and rainy. Went after Mayflowers; got only 

 buds." Could there be any doubt of his genuine love of 

 nature when this busy man of affairs, after a winter in 

 the land of birds and flowers, on reaching his northern 

 home, would take a rainy day on which to go after 

 Mayflowers ? 



On that first visit to Florida Mr. Boardman bore a letter 

 addressed "To Correspondents of the Smithsonian Insti- 

 tution and the Friends of Science Generally," from Joseph 

 Henry, then secretary of the In.stitution. It was in these 

 words : ' ' The bearer of this letter Mr. George A. Board- 

 man visits the Southern States for the purpose of study- 

 ing its Natural History and collecting specimens in part 

 for the Smithsonian Institution, and I beg to commend 

 him and his object to your kind consideration and assist- 

 ance. Washington, D. C, January 18th, 1868." Pro- 

 vided with such an introduction Mr. Boardman had 

 exceptional advantages for making acquaintances and 



