122 JVotices of the Floridas, 4^c, 



abandoned during the patriot war, and have not been re- 

 sumed since the change of flags. 



The river St. Marys, which is the northern boundary of 

 the alluvial pine clad region of East Florida, is navigable 

 seventy miles by vessels drawing twelve feet water — a canal 

 connecting this river with a stream of Florida that emp- 

 ties into the Gulf of Mexico is contemplated, the distance 

 between their boatable head waters being about twenty 

 miles. 



Forty miles from the sea, I remarked ledges of argil- 

 laceous rock on the bank of a stream near the St. Ma- 

 rys, and they occur in the bed of that river — ^this stone is 

 fine-grained, hard, white, and with strata in horizontal po- 

 sition. 



At this distance from the coast, the river winds among 

 clay hills, thinly coated with sand ; they extend twenty 

 miles up the stream ; the clay soil is productive, and high- 

 ly coloured by oxide of iron. 



The Atlantic shore of Florida is bordered by islands and 

 peninsulas, generally separated from the continent by nar- 

 row navigable channels, Amelia, Talbot, and Fort George 

 islands, situated between the St. Marys and St. Johns, re- 

 semble the isles of Georgia. Sand greatly predominates 

 in the soil, and the uncleared surface is occupied by thinly 

 scattered pines, and live oak thickets. Sea-island cotton 

 is the principal crop; and of this, from 100 to 150 pounds 

 of clean cotton are produced on an acre. Little attention 

 is paid to improving the soil by manure ; it is left fallow to 

 recruit. By a dressing of salt grass or rich mud from the ex- 

 tensive marshes adjacent, from 250 to 300 pounds of cotton 

 may annually be produced per acre, at an expense in la- 

 bour of four dollars. The experiment has been successful- 

 ly tried, by Mr. John Couper of St. Simons, one of the 

 most intelligent and respectable planters of Georgia. Cat- 

 tle grazed on the salt meadows of Florida and Georgia are 

 subject to a fatal disease called salt sickness. Mr. Couper 

 has discovered that ashes mixed with food is a certain cure, 

 probably neutralizing an acid. 



There are large mounds of oyster shells on most of the 

 islands and adjacent continent, left doubtless by the In- 

 dians. The valves are separated, and not entire as in the 

 diluvial beds of New- Jersey. Extensive oyster beds occur 



