IN THE FLAT WOODS. 19 



note. The flat-woods have no " depths.") 

 Whether I followed the railway, in many 

 respects a pretty satisfactory method, or 

 some roundabout, aimless carriage road, a 

 mile or two was generally enough. The 

 country offers no temptation to pedestrian 

 feats, nor does the imagination find its ac- 

 count in going farther and farther. For the 

 reader is not to think of the flat-woods as in 

 the least resembling a Northern forest, which 

 at every turn opens before the visitor and 

 beckons him forward. Beyond and behind, 

 and on either side, the pine-woods are ever 

 the same. It is this monotony, by the bye, 

 this utter absence of landmarks, that makes 

 it so unsafe for the stranger to wander far 

 from the beaten track. The sand is deep, 

 the sun is hot ; one place is as good as an- 

 other. What use, then, to tire yourself? 

 And so, unless the traveler is going some- 

 where, as I seldom was, he is continually 

 stopping by the way. Now a shady spot 

 entices him to put down his umbrella, for 

 there is a shady spot, here and there, even 

 in a Florida pine-wood ; or blossoms are to 

 be plucked ; or a butterfly, some gorgeous 

 and nameless creature, brightens the wood 



