6 PREFACE. 



laying up their craft during the best season of the 

 year for the enjoyment of sailing. They have 

 looked upon the South either as an uninteresting or 

 a dangerous country, a land merely of alligators or 

 of hurricanes. They will be as surprised as pleased 

 to learn that there is no better sailing ground, and 

 that the Southern waters in winter are as safe as 

 Northern waters in summer ; so much so that small 

 vessels and open boats have braved their terrors, 

 while their sporting advantages are not to be sur- 

 passed, if they are to be equalled, by any in the 

 world. 



While not absolutely the pioneer in this explora- 

 tion, I happen to be nearly so, for no completed 

 work or continued record has been published which 

 covers the ground described, or conveys the infor- 

 mation contained in these pages. No more de- 

 lightful excursion can be conceived than that to 

 Florida during the winter, and no man can so 

 thoroughly enjoy it as the yachtsman. Thousands 

 of tourists have been going there for years, and 

 their number is augmenting every season. But 

 such persons merely rummage a country; they do 

 not possess it; they rush along sight-seeing and 

 curiosity-purchasing. Let the sportsman or the 

 invalid go to remain during the inclement winter 

 weather, and they will never regret the excursion. 



THE AUTHOR. 



