AND AGRICULTURAL CAPABILITIES. 71 



uniform temperature, and very effectually protecting it against sudden 

 falls of the thermometer. The orange grown in this region attains a 

 perfection of richness and delicacy of flavor not found elsewhere, and 

 brings the highest prices. Here seems to be the natural home of the 

 pine-apple and cocoaiiut, and these fruits thrive and flourish in tropical 

 luxuriance. Its waters abound in all the varieties of fish known in 

 these latitudes, and also in the finest oysters, and that prized product 

 of the sea, the green turtle. Here will be established almost certainly 

 extensive fisheries and canneries for the preparation of these delicacies 

 for distant markets, and such industries promise, in the near future, to 

 attain large proportions. 



To the devotee of the gun and fishing-rod this country opens a new 

 and fertile field of operations. Game is found in the utmost profusion, 

 and in the winter especially, when the migratory birds seek a milder 

 climate, the abundance of fowls along the course of this river is won- 

 derful. Bears, deer, wild turkeys, and ducks of all varieties abound, 

 and birds of rare and beautiful plumage invite the attention of the taxi- 

 dermist. When this section is opened, and suitable accommodations 

 are provided, it is destined to become a favorite resort for sportsmen. 



The same company that proposes to drain Lake Okeechobee and the 

 everglades has also contracted with the State board of internal im- 

 provements to connect the waters of the Saint John's and Indian Eivers 

 by a system of canals. The proper surveys have demonstrated the fea- 

 sibility of the proposed plan, and it is expected that the work will be 

 commenced at no very distant period. When completed, this enterprise 

 will open 330 miles of safe inland navigation, extending from Lake 

 Worth on the south to the mouth of the Saint John's Eiver on the 

 north, at a point somewhere in the vicinity of Jacksonville. 



From the pamphlet already quoted 1 take the following paragraphs : 

 This company has acquired by purchase the frauchise of the Atlantic Coast Steam- 

 boat, Canal, and Improvement Company for the construction of a canal, suitable for 

 commodious light-draft steamboats, commencing at the Saint John's River, extend- 

 ing thence in a southerly direction, connecting Pablo Creek, San Diego, Mantanzas, 

 Halifax, and Hillsborough Rivers, Mosquito Lagoon, Indian River, Saint Lucie Sound, 

 Jupiter River, and Lake Worth, thus affording nearly 330 miles of continuous navi- 

 gable inland waters, lying adjacent to and generally parallel with the east coast of 

 Florida, being separated from the ocean by peninsulas and extended narrow islands ; 

 these natural barriers guaranteeing a safe and continuous navigation throughout the 

 entire year. The water is salt, being constantly renewed from the inlets at Saint 

 Augustine, Mantanzas, Mosquito Lagoon, Indian River, and Lake Worth. These in- 

 land waters affording at present an almost unbroken line of communication, may, at 

 a reasonably moderate expenditure in systematic construction, presenting no embar- 

 rassing engineering problems, be developed into a grand canal possessing features pecu- 

 liarly its own. Merely where the artificial work of joining river to river is performed 

 can it be regarded as a canal proper, as from these points it develops into those ma- 

 jestic arms of the sea, from 30 to 120 miles in length, varying from 1 to 6 miles in 

 width, bordered on either side by a country generally well elevated, enjoying unbounded 

 natural agricultural resources, a semi-tropical luxuriance in beauty of foliage, scenery 

 of an exceedingly variegated and picturesque character, and blessed with a climate 



