294 Transactions of the American Institute. 



same State, he worked at timbering till lie was fortj-two years of age, 

 lost liis fortune and Lis health, came to Florida almost penniless, 

 worked hard, and before the war was worth $20,000 ; the war " broke 

 him up ; " he is now seventy-five years of age, the father of twenty- 

 two children, fought in the war of 1812, and is at present strong and 

 in full mental and bodily vigor, building a saw mill by the day at 

 millwright's wages, and works twelve hours a day, and walked twenty 

 miles to vote at the last election. 



There are men born and raised in this country, who can split three 

 hundred pitch pine rails in a da}-, to my own knowledge, and can 

 assure any one that there is a larger per cent of lazy men in the 

 north than here. Any man who has been lazy north will be lazy 

 here. There is no cold to prepare against, and if you don't plant in 

 spring, you can put it off till summer, fall, or winter, and all these 

 tend to make one indolent. I have traveled through the whole 

 country, and after mature deliberation have arrived at the conclusion 

 that the white man, instead of the Mack^ was intended to work. Ko 

 one who knows their habits in their native Africa, will dispute it ; 

 and since the surrender they are falling back to their natural condition 

 in this climate, where they can live chiefly on the natural products 

 of the soil. The native white population of South Florida will stand 

 a comparison with any community in the north whose pecuniary 

 circumstances are similar, and a more hospitable and kind-hearted 

 people are not to be found on the continent ; they nearly all voted 

 against secession and were coerced into the struggle. Robberies are 

 unknown, and a nian from the north, no matter what his political 

 opinions are, is safer here than at home. I could find enough to say 

 in praise of the truly delightful land to fire you more than this 

 unpretending efibrt, but will be glad to impart all the information 

 required by those men who make inquiries about the new countries, 

 if they address me by mail, stating all the questions they wish 

 answered. 



Water in Kaxsas. 



Mr. M. S. Hall, of Worcester, asks about the water of Kansas, 

 whether it is as good as what he gets from the old oaken bucket in 

 Massachusetts. 



Mr. Horace Greeley. — jSTo ; he will find lime water in Kansas for 

 the most part, but I am satisfied that the deep water of new countries 

 is not half so sickly as the surface water. The first settlers drink from 

 springs and pools filled with surface water, which contains decayed 



