SPOETS IN THE BALMY REGIONS OF BEAUTY. 449 



gion is very plenty ; such as bears, deer, panther, wild cat, rac- 

 coon, opossum, gray squirrel, wild turkey, quail, many kinds 

 of ducks in vast quantities, curlew, plover, herons, bitterns, 

 and cranes. The climate is mild, so that you can live in a tent 

 all winter, and there is very little rain except in summer." 



Several gentlemen of my acquaintance men who have 

 seen the world, and either cast a line or carried a gun over 

 the most celebrated sporting grounds of the eastern hemi- 

 sphere have for several years past, spent their winters in 

 Florida; and they unite in recommending it for the geniality 

 of its climate, the great abundance of sport for rod and gun, 

 and for the purity and floral aroma with which the atmos- 

 phere is laden, thus rendering the air throughout winter like 

 the bland and balmy season at the North when the gardens 

 are in full bloom. The magnolia, and many flowers which 

 vie with the camellia-japonica, the rose, and honeysuckle, lend 

 a fragrance every where, while lemons and oranges are green, 

 ripe, and ripening, and the flowering almond and fig trees in 

 blossom remind the sportsman of the Garden of Eden. Even 

 Italy, with its Cornice Road and cactus hedges, is not so fer- 

 tile of winter flowers and fruits as are the American Floridas, 

 which promise in course of time, and that not very remote, 

 to become the winter residence of an intelligent population 

 and present the most elegant specimens of architecture ; and 

 besides the railroads in every direction, there will be drives 

 more beautiful than the Pradas of Vienna and Florence, with 

 labyrinthine walks and paths for horseback riders, by which 

 the peninsula will cast into the shade all other countries in 

 Christendom, for its beauty of scenery, its mild climate, its 

 fragrance and floral beauty, with its incomparable out-of- 

 door recreations. 



Florida is pre-eminently the place to sojourn in winter. 

 Not only does it contain sports for the angler and gunner 

 throughout the inclement season of the North, but to the 

 aged and infirm it offers restoration, and brings back the 

 vigor and elasticity of youth. 



FF 



