TAMPA. 321 



found that some one had performed the duty before my 

 arrival. Hence I have met with two rattlesnakes in the 

 State, one alive and one dead. I am prepared to admit 

 that they exist in the State, and that they are fully 

 developed specimens ; but where one can be found in 

 Florida, a dozen can be killed in the mountainous re 

 gions of Pennsylvania. My statement may differ from 

 others, but I describe things as I found them. Before 

 leaving the North I provided three large India rubber 

 blankets to make leggings to protect the party from the 

 fangs of rattlesnakes, and it affords me pleasure to state 

 that I have the blankets uncut in my possession. 



9. TAMPA. 



A FAIR wind favoring us, we left Little Gasparilla 

 Pass at 7.30 A. M., and reached Little Sarasota Inlet 

 at 3.20 p. M. a run of thirty-eight miles. En route 

 we noticed two boats, and several objects moving on 

 the beach. Examining them with our glass we dis 

 covered that the men were poling the boat against a head 

 wind, and that the females had landed on the beach, and 

 were keeping pace with their lords. A peculiarity of 

 the south-west coast is a calm ocean and little, if any, surf, 

 unless after a storm, enabling persons to land without 

 inconvenience or danger. Having sailed over many 

 oceans, and visited more than one coast line, we had 

 formed an unfavorable opinion of shore lines and surf 

 generally, but we returned to our northern home with 

 changed opinions, as far as the south-west coast is con 

 cerned. Our first thirty-eight miles of sea navigation 

 14* 



