A Sulphur- spring, 231 



smart rate towards the principal building, at the door of 

 which we leaped from our saddles, just as the sun was 

 withdrawing his ruddy light. Colonel Rees was at home, 

 and received us with great kindness. Refreshments were 

 immediately placed before us, and we spent the evening 

 in agreeable conversation. 



" The next day I walked over the plantation, examin- 

 ing the country around, and found the soil of good qual- 

 ity, it having been reclaimed from swampy ground, of a 

 black color, rich, and very productive. The greater part 

 of the cultivated land was on the borders of a lake which 

 communicated with others leading to St. John's River, 

 distant about seven miles, and navigable so far by vessels 

 not exceeding fifty or sixty tons. After breakfast our 

 amiable host showed us the way to the celebrated spring, 

 the sight of which afforded me pleasure sufficient to coun- 

 terbalance the tediousness of my journey. 



" This spring presents a circular basin, having a diam- 

 eter of about sixty feet, from the centre of which the 

 water is thrown up with great force, although it does not 

 rise to a height of more than a few inches above the gen- 

 eral level. A kind of whirlpool is formed, on the edges 

 of which are deposited vast quantities of shells, with pie- 

 ces of wood, gravel, and other substances, which have 

 coalesced into solid masses, having a very curious ap- 

 pearance. The water is quite transparent, although of a 

 dark color, but so impregnated with sulphur, that it emits 

 an odor which to me was very disagreeable, and highly 

 nauseous. Its surface lies fifteen or twenty feet below the 

 level of the woodland lakes in the neighborhood, and its 

 depth in the autumnal months is about seventeen feet 

 when the water is lowest. In all the lakes the same spe- 

 cies of shells as are thrown up by the spring occur in 

 abundance ; and it seems more than probable that it is 

 formed of the water collected from them by infiltration, 



