2 Iff TIIE FLAT-WOODS. 



My first impression was one of disappoint- 

 ment, or perhaps I should rather say, of 

 bewilderment. In fact, I returned from my 

 first visit to the flat- woods under the delusion 

 that I had not been into them at all. This 

 was at St. Augustine, whither I had gone 

 after a night only in Jacksonville. I looked 

 about the quaint little city, of course, and 

 went to the South Beach, on St. Anastasia 

 Island ; then I wished to see the pine lands. 

 They were to be found, I was told, on the 

 other side of the San Sebastian. The sun 

 was hot (or so it seemed to a man fresh 

 from the rigors of a New England winter), 

 and the sand was deep ; but I sauntered 

 through New Augustine, and pushed on up 

 the road toward Moultrie (I believe it was), 

 till the last houses were passed and I came 

 to the edge of the pine-woods. Here, pres- 

 ently, the roads began to fork in a very 

 confusing manner. The first man I met 

 a kindly cracker cautioned me against 

 getting lost ; but I had no thought of taking 

 the slightest risk of that kind. I was not 

 going to explore the woods, but only to enter 

 them, sit down, look about me, and listen. 

 The difficulty was to get into them. As I 



