Phorda. 
General as- 
Climate. 
$78 
cola, the capital of West Florida, was regularly laid out 
by the English in 1765; and is sbout senile fa’) y 
of an oblong form, lying nearly parallel to the beach, 
and defended by a fort, which was built also by the 
English in 1775. In consequence of a low and sandy 
shore. only small sessala are able tapeoenee Peers? 
but the bay affords a commodious Pardew 
ships, which may ride there in security 
every er a Mobile, a at the sae ‘ ve) ri- 
ver of name, on a gently rising . is nearly a 
mile in length, and contain several good houses, whieh 
are chiefly built of brick, “with a r fortress also 
of brick, towards the lower end of the town. There 
are, besides, numerous forts and settlements, generally 
in the neighbourhood of Indian villages. The houses 
of Europeans are usually of brick, <a only of 
one story, but built on an extensive scale, having gene- 
rally three sides inclosing a large square area. The 
more ordinary habitations are formed of a strong cypress 
frame, which is filled with brick, and then plastered 
white, inside and out ; or sometimes lathed, and then 
covered with a reddish well-tem mortar, which 
gives them the appearance of brick walls. 
The country GP Florida, in its general is flat, 
sandy, and barren, on the sea shore ; but upon advan- 
cing inland, it becomes very marshy, abounding in na- 
tural meadows. Thence it presents a rich and fertile 
appearance, especially on the banks of the rivers ; and, 
for the space of 30 or 40 miles from the coast, there is 
scarcely to be seen a single stone weighing more than 
two or three pounds. The interior -are more 
hilly, and covered with wood ; but the surface is more 
stony, and the smaller size of the trees indicates a de- 
creasing fertility in the soil. The soil is commonly a 
white sand, lying on a bed of white clay ; in some 
places a dark grey, brown, or black loam, on a founda- 
tion of whitish marl, chalk, and testaceous limestone: 
pr cae ae Florida, ake poy on 
often black, soapy, and ri ing on a dee 
bed Chali ec ade i nil 4 
The climate is various, and has been distinguished 
into two tracts, viz. the northern, which includes the 
continental and western part of Florida, and the south- 
ern, which comprehends almost the whole of the penin- 
sula. In the latter district, the thermometer stands ha- 
bitually, in summer, between 84° and 88? of Fahren- 
heit, in the shade; and, during the months of July and 
August, frequently rises to 94°. In all seasons, the 
sun is scorching hot at noon; atid, in winter, ‘it very 
rarely freezes, nor is the cold ever so severe as to injure 
even the China orange tree, the fruit of which is said to 
be there remarkably delicious, ‘ The air is pure and free 
from fogs, but the dews are generally excessive. ‘ In 
January, the weather is wet and stormy ; in Febru 
bruary 
and March, dry and clear ; in July and August, bs ned 
hot, and 
oan See 
lightful ; and then, says Volney, “ there is not, 8, 
sheer Ganetébaiheeadd:>” hs tax tine the’p 
ninsula is hotter than the west’; and, towards ° 
southern point of the west coast, there are, from 
side, the 
; but, fromthe end of ° 
i 
FLORIDA. 
it is altogether inconceivably de-" 
the winds are 
itudes; and many persons the Havannalt resort 
thither, as to's Montpélier. “In both the tracts of eli. 
mate, however, ee more northern, there 
are great variations from heat to cold, making often a 
change of 30° the thermometer, in the 
twelye hours. 
The vegetable productions of Florida are particu 
ly Sasiveaa et Seeiy Sar phew 
and luxuriant tapes can exceed the'majes- 
tic appearace of its towering forest trees, and the bril- 
liant colours of its flowering shrubs.. The 
cedars, and chesnuts, grow to’ an im 
and size. The laurels, especially the mag 
uncommonly wine objects, rising with erect trunks: 
to the height of 100 feet, rg arte eo 
perfect cone, and having their dark green foliage silver~ 
ed over with large milk white flowers, frequently eight 
or nine inches in-didmeter, The-live-oaks,. after:fornis’ 
ing’a'trunk from ten’ to twenty feet ‘high, and ‘from 
twelve to eighteen in circumference, a re werereens 
es fully fifty paces on every side.” _gene= 
rally jini te watery Girerlentuatty, tat like but. 
tresses, rising around its lower , then rearing 
a stem of eighty or ninety feet, throws out a flat ho- 
rizontal top like an umbrella, so that often in 
forests all of an equal height, ' present the appear 
ance of a green canopy supported upon columns in the 
air)’ The dog-wood trees rise tothe height of twelve 
feet; then ‘ ‘their branches horizontally, which, 
meeting and interweaving with others on every” side, 
form a shady grove, ‘so’ and humid, a8 completes 
ly to’exclude it rays ‘sppuitle skied a 
growth of any other ble, thus. ing tot 
traveller a natural shelter, frequently extending for the 
space of ten miles without int ion. But the most 
beautiful of the forest'tribe, is the: ery. ee i 
paya, which rises to the height of twenty feet, with a 
stem pr ly. straight, smooth, and: silver-coloured, 
having a spherical = Ad leaves always green, and or= 
namented at once with flowers and fruits. © er Fruits. 
fruits; yg a linies, pranes,’ peaches, and “figs, 
grow in the forests, and gra , Vines, whose stems: 
are’often’ ten or twelve inches in diameter, climb around 
the trunks of the trees to their very tops, but those which’ 
ce the best fruit creep along close tothe grouhd 
Ranrent low shrub to another. ' Among the shrubs’... 
ma’ icularly mentioned a'species of uy call 
yy ra thee) whieh grows'to the’ height of nine or: 
ten feet, and’ produces a number of large round berries, 
covered with a coat of white wax, which is formed by 
the inhabitants into candles, and more lasting 
than those’ made of bees wax. Of the numerous flower- 
ing plants, we can only ‘particularize a species a 
c ous p 
stem every year, yet grows tothe height of ten or twelve 
5 » Trees. 
