24 A NATURE WOOING. 



the river is nearly half a mile wide. On its farther 

 side is a long peninsula or narrow stretch of land, a 

 third to a half mile in width, on the eastern side of 

 which is the beach line of the Atlantic. This penin- 

 sula extends from Mosquito Inlet northward to Har- 

 wood, five miles above Ormond, where it unites with 

 the main land. A substantial bridge crosses the river 

 at Ormond, and at its eastern end, or on the east bank 

 of the Halifax opposite the town, is the Ormond Ho- 

 tel, one of the famous hostelries owned and operated 

 by the East Florida Railway Company. At the hotel 

 the prices range from $5 per day upward, so I con- 

 tent myself with a room in the modest cottage of Mr. 

 Bristol, in the town proper, and arrange for meals at 

 a nearby boarding house. 



An unusually heavy frost, a few weeks before my 

 arrival, killed many fruit trees and all the early 

 vegetables. The bay trees, magnolias, cabbage pal- 

 mettos and other shrubs and trees indigenous to the 

 region have withstood its blighting touch, and the 

 semi-tropical aspect given to vegetation by their fo- 

 liage is delightful to one just from the north where 

 all is yet brown and sere. Peach trees are in full 

 blossom, and the fragrance of the flowers of the yel- 

 low jessamine is most pleasing. The songs, chirps 

 and calls of mocking birds, chewinks, brown thrushes, 

 blue jays and crows, greet me on every side. The 

 sounds and odors of May 10th or thereabouts in cen- 

 tral Indiana surround me. 



