194 ESSAYS. 
Along the lower part of the river, occasional Palmettoes gave 
a still more tropical aspect. Then followed a week and more 
at dead and dilapidated, but still charming, Apalachicola, 
where the post-office opens on Monday evenings, when the 
steamboat arrives, and closes for a week the next morning, 
when she departs, — where the climate, thanks to the embrac- 
ing Gulf, is as delicious in summer as it is bland in winter ; 
where game, the best of fish, and the most luscious oysters are 
to be had almost for nothing, and blackberries come early in 
April when the oranges are gone; and where, far from the 
crowd and bustle of the world, with Bill Fuller for caterer, 
and his wife Adeline for cook, the choicest fare is to be en- 
joyed at the cheapest rate. Then there was the pleasure of 
renewing our acquaintance with Dr. Chapman, and botanizing 
with him over some of the ground which he has explored so 
long and so well, of gathering, under his guidance, the stately 
Sarracenia Drummondii in its native habitat, and, not least, 
acquiring from him fuller information respecting the localities 
where Torreya grows. 
The return voyage up the river was not less enjoyable 
than the descent. It was so timed that the bold bluff of As- 
palaga, where the tree was first found, was reached after sun- 
rise. But it was sad to see that the Torreya trees, which 
overhung the river here in former days, had been cut away, 
perhaps for steamboat fuel. So I did not land; but leaving 
the boat a few miles above, at the upper Chattahoochee land- 
ing, while it made the run to Bainbridge and back, I had a 
long day to devote to Torreya. Following Dr. Chapman’s 
directions, I repaired to the wooded bluff to the north of the 
road, where I soon found an abundance of the trees, of vari- 
ous ages, interspersed among other growth. The largest tree 
I saw grew near the bottom of a deep ravine; its trunk just 
above the base measured almost four feet in circumference, 
and was proportionally tall. But it was dominated by the 
noblest Magnolia grandiflora I ever set eyes on, with trunk 
seven and a half feet in girth. 
After long search one tree was found with female flowers, 
or rather with forming fruit, from which a few specimens 
