XXII. 

 CRUISING ALONG SHORE. 



IN Florida, eighty miles due south of St. Augustine, 

 lies an immense lagoon of salt water, called by the 

 old Spaniards Rio d Ais, by the Indians Aisa Natcha, 

 and by Floridians Indian river. Called by whatever 

 name it may be, it is the most wonderful portion of that 

 wonderful State. Wonderful for its bland and genial 

 climate ; wonderful for its birds, beasts, and fishes ; 

 wonderful, above all, for its people, who live in such a 

 state of indolence as causes a Northerner to shudder. 

 Situated mainly below the frost line, many tropical 

 fruits reach perfection beneath its burning sun. The 

 lime, lemon, guava, banana, pineapple, citron, and, of 

 course, the orange, in perfection. The climate here is 

 peculiarly adapted to the needs of the consumptive, and 

 he can live here for years in apparent health after other 

 climates have been tried in vain. 



People who have tried California, Minnesota, and 

 the various resorts in the Old World, have pronounced 

 Indian river in advance of them all. The difficulties 

 attending a trip here, and the insufficient accommoda 

 tions, have prevented its advantages its natural advan 

 tages from becoming generally known. The steamer 

 up the St. Johns, from Jacksonville to Salt Lake, a 

 distance of two hundred and seventy-five miles, and a 

 9* 



