1 24 JVotices of the FloridaSy (^c. 



is some good land. The thinly scattered plantations of the 

 coast here terminate. Lime stone, in situ, forms the basis 

 of sand bills near Indian river, and is found at Cape Flori- 

 da, and at the Florida Keys in extensive beds. Below In- 

 dian river, good land rarely occurs. 



The Florida coast is said to be gradually encroaching on 

 the ocean ; new isles and peninsulas are formed by shells 

 and sand, accumulated by the gulf stream, and storms, 

 leaving narrow sounds to the west, that are filled up, and 

 support vegetation when their communication with the sea 

 is cut oiFby tempests, vi^hich not unfrequently happens. The 

 alternation of sands and narrow marl swamps of recent ori- 

 gin, running parallel with the sea, gives plausibility to this 

 suggestion. 



The interior of Florida, from the head of the St. Johns 

 to the southern extremity of the peninsula, is little known, 

 but is supposed to be mostly, il not entirely, alluvial. The 

 Indians report that there is a succession of grassy wet sa- 

 vannas that extend far south, and within a (ew miles of the 

 Atlantic, occupying much of the surface, alternating with 

 swamps, wet hammocks, and pine barrens. 



A section of the great savanna was crossed by Col. 

 Gadsden in the service of the United States. He repre- 

 sents it as extending beyond the reach of vision, in one 

 continued prairie, covered with grass and destitute of trees 

 and shrubs with a sandy surface. It is supposed to be 

 near 100 miles in circumference. 



The southern basins, in the rainy months, present large 

 bodies of water that mostly disappear in the winter. 



Col. Gadsden found the region about Charlotte river and 

 bay on the eastern side of Florida peninsula, to consist ex- 

 clusively of flat pine barrens, and dry palmetto plains, con- 

 taining shallow ponds, and wet, miry savannas, of recent 

 formation from lakes or the sea. Charlotte river drains ex- 

 tensive bay and cypress swamps, and open savannas of the 

 interior. Its western course is marked by scattering cab- 

 bage trees, and ^^j-ub oak thickets, marine shells in many 

 places form its bed, and its banks present alternate strata of 

 sea sand and shells. 



The existence of a large permanent lake located by maps 

 in the the southern part of the peninsula is doubted. Frosts 

 rarely occur in Florida below the 27th degree of latitude. 



