132 Notices of the. Floridas, ^/-c. 



bass, cavallaroes, mullet, and perch ; large green turtle are 

 taken on the coast in summer. 



From the peninsular situation of East Florida, it proba- 

 bly will be more healthy than the adjacent states. Most of 

 its surface is daily cooled by sea breezes, and it is often 

 swept by winds from the ocean and gulf, producing a more 

 uniform temperature than is experienced in districts that 

 have snow clad mountains on their borders. At St. Au- 

 gustine, from April to August, the thermometer, during the 

 day, rarely varies more than ten degrees, ranging between 

 seventy degrees and eighty degrees ; but in August and 

 September it is a little higher, from about seventy-five de- 

 grees to eighty-five degrees. In the hilly region of the inte- 

 rior, the extremes of temperature are greater thao on the 

 coast. In the summer of 1823, in Alachua, the thermometer 

 sometimes stood at ninety — on four days of the preceding 

 winter it fell to twenty-eight. The nights in spring and 

 summer are often cool ; in winter north-west winds are 

 prevalent ; in summer a sea breeze from the Gulf of Mex- 

 ico. The hills are elevated and dry. During the rainy 

 or warm months the lakes are full, preventing the decay of 

 vegetable deposits ; the waters are purified and cooled by 

 their subterranean passage. Fogs rarely rest on the lakes; 

 the water being colder than the air, no vapours are con- 

 densed. 



The Indians and negroes of this district have not been 

 subject to fevers, and the few white settlers who have 

 passed two seasons in Alachua, retained their health not- 

 withstanding some were from northern climates, and daily 

 exposed to the sun in the fields. EmigMtion to the inte- 

 rior of Florida has recently been considerable. 



West Florida, being situated nearer the mountains with 

 water only on one side, is colder in winter than the Penin- 

 sula. 



THE SEMINOLE INDIANS. 



The Seminole Indians of Florida are derived from the 

 Lower Creeks, and obtained their present locatJon by con- 

 quest — they were once numerous, but have been reduced 

 by wars to a small remnant, probably not exceeding two or 



