202 A NATURE WOOING. 



grass which grows so densely that stock can not pene- 

 trate it. Accessible to man only when he cuts his 

 pathway before him, it is said to be inhabited by 

 snakes, raccoons, 'possums and marsh rabbits. The 

 soil of this and many similar tracts is a rich vegetable 

 muck, but will be wholly worthless until the time 

 comes, if it ever does, when the St. John's will be 

 drained out to the sea, eighteen to thirty miles to the 

 eastward. 



The first stop after dawn is at St. Francis, which 

 occupies a strip of somewhat higher ground, and is 

 composed of a dozen or more large frame houses 

 located some distance back from the landing. A dead 

 orange grove takes up much of the space about the 

 town. Numerous sacks of corn and other freight are 

 unloaded and several deck passengers disembark. On 

 consulting a folder, I find that these passengers, who 

 have been up all night, pay $1.00 each from Jackson- 

 ville to St. Francis and points beyond to Sanford, 

 while cabin passengers pay $3.50, including meals and 

 berth. 



At several places along the banks large barges are 

 moored on which stationary engines are standing. 

 About the barges are immense rafts of cypress and 

 other trees. I am informed that lumber companies 

 from the north have recently bought up great tracts 

 of timber bordering the river. The engines are used 

 to "snake" or drag out the logs, sometimes from a 

 half mile back from the water. The rafts, when 



