76 IN FLORIDA. 



and being buoyed up by it, where the water was ten 

 feet deep. All of us were sorry, when evening and 

 hunger compelled us to return to the yacht. 



The stories concerning the dangerous nature of 

 the snakes of Florida are probably exaggerated, as 

 we saw no more of them, than we would have seen in 

 the same amount of country life at the North. The 

 negro children bathe off the docks of Pilatka and 

 Jacksonville as a common thing, and later in the 

 year, when the peril from snakes is greater. There 

 are spots, where, as I have said, they are to be dread- 

 ed, and we heard well authenticated stories of men 

 being snake bitten, but on the other hand old hun- 

 ters, who were in the woods most of their time, told 

 us they were never troubled by their attacks, and 

 the camping out parties, which we encountered all 

 over, seemed not disturbed by them. Still, while 

 on the subject, I will give the prescription which 

 was kindly furnished us by Dr. Ken worthy of Jack- 

 sonville, and which will doubtless prove a better 

 cure than the common one of getting drunk on 

 whiskey; mix two tablespoonfuls of the carbonate of 

 ammonia with enough spirits of camphor to make a 

 paste. Apply this on a rag to the bite, changing the 

 rag as often as it gets discolored. Our medical as- 

 sociate gave his approval to the remedy, and if those 

 two authorities could not cure a snake bite, no one 

 can. 



As our little yacht shot out from the St. John's 

 River, nearly two hundred miles above the place 

 where we had entered it, and came into full view of 



