37(5 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Miscellany 



EXCURSION IN FLORIDA. 



BuLowviLLE, East Florida, Dec. 31, 1831. 



Mr dear' F. — 1 have just returned from an ex- 

 cursion down the Halifax river, about forty miles 

 from this place and eighty south of St Augustine. 

 We meandered down a creek of ahout eleven 

 miles; the water, nearly torpid, yet clear; the 

 shore lined with thousands of acres covered by 

 tall grapes, marshes, and higli palm trees. Before 

 long we entered the Halifax river, an inland arm 

 of the sea, measuring in breadth from a quarter to 

 nearly a mile. 



At sunrise the next morning, I and four negro 

 servants proceeded in search of birds and adven- 

 tures. The fact is, that I was anxious to kill 

 some twentyfive brown Telicans. I proceeded 

 along a narrow shallow bay, where the tish were 

 truly abundant. Would you believe it, if I was to 

 say that the fish nearly obstructed our headway ? 

 Believe it or believe it not, so it was ; the water 

 was filled with them, large and small. I shot 

 some rare birds, and putting along the shore, pass- 

 ed a point, when lo ! I came in sight of several 

 hundred pelicans perched on the branches of niau- 

 . grove trees, seated in comfortable harmony, as 

 near each other as the strength of the bough 

 would allow. 1 ordered to back-water gently ; the 

 hands backed-water. I waded to the shore under 

 the cover of the rushes along it, saw the pelicans 

 fast asleep, examined their countenance and de- 

 portment well and leisurely, and after all, levelled, 

 fired my piece, and dropped two of the finest spec- 

 imens I ever saw. 



The fish were as abundant as ever. I orderc<! 

 the net to be thrown overboard, and in a few mip- 

 utos we caught as many as we wanted — fine fish 

 too, bass and row-mullets. The porpoises were 

 as busy as ourselves, and devoured them at a great 

 rate. The boat was abandoned ; the game fasten- 

 ed to the backs of the negroes ; the guns re-load- 

 ed, and on we proceeded through the marsh first, 

 then through the tangled palmetocs, and scrubby, 

 sturdy, live oaks, until we reached the sea beach. 

 Pretty walking along the sea beach of Florida in 

 die month of December ! with the wind at north- 

 east, and we going in its very teeth, through sand 

 that sent our feet back six inches at every .step of 

 two feet that we made. 



To ijive you an account of the little I have seen 

 of Fast Florida, would fill a volume, and there- 

 fore I will not attempt it just now ; but I will 

 draw a slight sketch of a part of it. 



The land, if land it can be called, is generally 

 so very sandy that nothing can be raised upon it. 

 The swamps are the only spots that aftord a fair 

 chance for cultivation ; the swamps, then, are pos- 

 itively the only places where plantations are to be 

 found. These plantations are even few in num- 

 ber ; along the coast from St Augustine to Cape 

 Carnaveral, there are about a dozen. 



Sugar cane will prosper and doubtless do well, 

 but the labor necessary to produce a good crop 

 is great ! great ! great ! Between the swamps ot 

 which I now speak, and which are found along 

 the margin lying west of the sea inlet, that divides 

 tlie main land from the Atlantic, to the river St 

 John's of the interior of the peninsula, nothing ex- 

 ists but barren pine lands of poor timber and im- 

 mense savannas, mostly overflowed, and all unfit 

 for cultivation. That growth which in any other 



country is called underwood, scarcely exists, the 

 land being covered with low palmetoes, or very 

 low, thickly branched, dwarf oaks, almost impen- 

 etrable to man. 



I am extremely disappointed in thfis portion of 

 the Floridas, and would not advise any one to 

 visit it. It is not an uncommon occurrence to 

 find snakes afloat, and at great distances from the 

 shore. This appears, no doubt, surprising to those 

 who live where there is almost nothing but dry 

 land ; still they ought to be good-natured and be- 

 lieve what others have seen. It has now been 

 made notorious, that numerous respectable indi- 

 viduals whom duty or llie love of adventure have 

 led into the wilds of our country, have often seen 

 snakes, and the rattle-snakes too, in the trees. 

 The good people, therefore, who pass their lives 

 in stores and compting houses, ought not to con- 

 tradict these fiicts, because they do not meet with 

 rattle-snakes, hissing and snapping at them from 

 the paper mulberries, as they go home to their 

 dinners. John James Audobon. 



June 6, 1832. 



poetical namesake, the late R. B. Sheridan, who 

 having on one occasion, staid, not away, but too 

 long with his fair one, exclaimed at parting : — 



Too long I 've staid — forgive the crime, 



Like moments flew the hours ; 

 How lightly falls the foot of time, 



Whene'er he treails on flowers. 



MODERN DEFINITIONS. 



Marriage : The gate through which the happy 

 lover leaves his enchanted visions and returns to 

 earth. 



, Jury : Twelve prisoners in a box to try one or 

 more at a bar. 



I'btoig- Altornty : A useless member of society, 

 who often goes where he has no business to be, 

 because he has no business where he ought to be. 



Beauty : An optical delusion. 



Rural refection : Totatoes and earth. 



JVomati's love : A rainbow melting in tears. 



Moral rcrtituile : Great care not to be found out. 



Public abuse : The mud with which every trav- 

 eller is sp.nttcrod on bis road to distinction. 



Love : A disease. 



Constahle : A species of snapping turtle. 



Happiness : A dream. 



Modesty: A beautiful flower that flourishes 

 only in secret places. 



Lawyer: A learned gentleman, who rescues 

 your estate from your enemy and keeps it himself. 



My dear : An expression used by a man and 

 wife at the commencement of a quarrel. 



Ancestry : The boast of those who have noth- 

 ing else to boast of. 



Jealousy : Tormenting yourself for fear you 

 should be tormented by another. 



Martyr: That which all faiths liave produced 

 in about equal proportions ; so much easier is it to 

 die for religion than to live for it. 



Tongue : A little horse, which is continually 

 running away. 



Melancholy : Ingratitude to heaven. 



Originality : Undetected imitation. 



Corpulent jioliteness : " No, I thank you." 



The following is a monkish composition, the 

 Latin not being classical. The word "tumba" is 

 found in no Roman author. The epitaph runs thus : 



Hie jacct, in tumha, 

 Rosamunili, non Rosamunda, 

 Non i-edolet, sed olet, 

 Que redoleie solet. 



The literal translation is: "Here lies in the 

 tomb, the rose of the world, not a fragrant rose ; 

 for she who used to exhale perfume, has now a dis- 

 gusting odor." In English we might say : — 



Within this dark and silent tomb repose 

 The hones of her, once styled the world's fair rose; 

 How chang'd, alas, is Kosamond the fair, 

 Whose fragrance once perfumed the ambient air. 



" Accoynplishments." — Many parents in the Uni- 

 ted States are now paying masters enormous prices 

 for giving their children, what fiishion is pleased 

 to miscall, accomplishments ; that is, things which 

 arc not learnt, and would be of no use if they 

 were. Many a poor youth, at the same time, is 

 laboring up the steep of practical knoxclcdgc, un- 

 aided and in bis own way. In the next genera- 

 tion, how many of the former will bo down in the 

 world, and how many of the latter up? 



Young Cleveland, 



THIS truly beautiful and valuable Horse Is of the 

 Cleveland bay bteed of horses, of fine even temper, five 

 years old die 20th of May, fifteen and a half hands high, 

 and of a beautiful dark bay color, wilh black mano, tall 

 and legs. He walks and trots remarkably easy and fast; 

 and is^cqualled by very few for muscular strength, ele- 

 gant movement, and perfect symmetry of form. 



He has proved himself a sure and first rate foal getter. 

 The rolts sired by him possess a great share of bone and 



The pediTCc of Young Cleveland : — He was sired by 

 the celebrated bay horse, Sir Isaac, the son of the noted 

 horse, Molineux. Sir Isaac was presented to the Agri- 

 cuUurd Society of this State, by Sir Isaac Coffin, and 

 was selected under bis order as superior of his breed, and 

 the breed recommended by him as the most highly es- 

 teemed for gentlemen's carnages, and all draft, larniing, 

 and saddle purposes, of any horses in New England.— 

 His dam was a first rate and high spirited native mare. 

 Ho will stand the ensuing season, at the stable of the sub- 

 scriber, in Franklin ^ r .. 



Terms : — Three dollars the single leap ; five for the 

 season ; and eight lo insure (he mare with foal ; the 

 money lo be paid when the mares are taken away, on 

 notes given payable the 1st October next. Those per- 

 sons who put mares to the Yorng Cleveland and have 

 them warranted, and part with them before foaling time, 

 or neglect to bring their mares regularly to the horse 

 throuoh the season, will be considered holden for insu- 

 rance money. ELI M. RICHARDSON. 



Franklin, May 30, 1832. 4t* 



When Dj Sheridan called one morning on Miss 

 M'Fadan, to take his leave of her for a few days, 

 the young lady asked, in a tone that well express- 

 ed more than the words which accompanied it, 

 how long he intended to stay away .' To which 

 he immediately replied : — 



You ask how long I '11 stay from thee ; 



Suppress those rising fears ; 

 If you should reckon lime like me. 



Perhaps ten thousand years ! 



This reminds us of an elegant and complimen- 

 tary tetrastic, attributed to the Doctor's illustrious I ^larket Street. 



Millet. 



A liberal price will be paid at the Agricultural Ware- 

 house, Boston, for 50 bushels of fresh, clean Millet, for. 

 seed. M^y 16. . 



Published every Wednesday Evening, at S3 per annum, 

 payable at the end of the year — but those who pay within 

 si.\ty days from the time of subscribing, are entitled to a 

 deduction ol fifty cents. 



(n= No paper will be sent to a distance without payment 

 being made in advance. 



Printed for J. B. Russell, by I. R. Bdttb— by whom 

 all descriptions of Printing can be executed to meet the 

 wic s of customers. Orders for Printing received by J. B. 

 FassELL, at the Agricultural Warehouse, No. 52, North 



