232 THE GULF COAST OF FLORIDA. 



and had considerable difficulty in getting through them. Jack 

 had to wade ashore and get a skiff, with which we transferred 

 our freight and passengers over the worst portions until the 

 boat was light enough to pass the shoals. We got through 

 about five o'clock, and from there we had a smooth voyage. 

 We sailed all night, Jack and Mr. Griffith taking turns at the 

 helm. About ten o'clock we spread our blankets on the deck, 

 laid down, and slept soundly with the canopy of heaven as 

 our only covering. The ladies made no complaint at this 

 rough fare, but on the contrary really enjoyed the novelty 

 and romance of it. At six o'clock in. the morning we landed, 

 made coffee, and ate a hearty breakfast of cold turkey, bis- 

 cuits, etc., with some delicious bananas fresh from Mr. 

 Griffith's grove, for desert. 



We landed at Manatee at two P.M., just as the steamer 

 "Valley City" hove in sight. Here we were compelled to 

 say the sad words "good-bye " to our friends, Mr. and Mrs. 

 G., and Jack. We boarded the steamer and were soon 

 under way for Cedar Key, where we arrived early the next 

 morning. At night we went out on a small schooner to take 

 the Havana steamer which lay at anchor at the mouth of the 

 harbor, eight miles out, for New Orleans. But soon after we 

 left the wharf a storm came on, and it grew so dark and the 

 water so rough that the pilot said he could not follow the 

 channel, and was obliged to cast anchor. 



So we were compelled to lay here all night, cooped up in 

 the hold of this little vessel, with no room to lie down and 

 scarcely room to sit down. It rained in torrents nearly all 

 night, and blew in upon us every time the hatch was opened, 

 which seemed to be about every ten minutes: When day- 

 light came, we found that the tide had gone out and left us 

 aground "high and dry." We waited patiently until about 

 eleven o'clock A.M., when it kindly came in again and took 



