52 Remarks upon East Florida, 



among others, the notice of Bartram. An inlet on the right bank 

 is seen, nearly of the width of the river, which at once attracts 

 the eye, by the contrast between the color of its waters and that 

 of the river. Two pieces of lumber, placed at right angles with 

 each other, one of mahogany and the other of yellow pine, could 

 not be more dissimilar. And the liquid line of separation is al- 

 most as distinct as it would be in the supposed, case. The St. 

 John's has here, as elsewhere, its coffee-like hue, while the waters 

 of the sulphureous inlet are as transparent as the air, the fishes 

 swimming in them being nearly as discernible as the birds flying 

 over their surface. The alligators, diving, as usual, at the approach 

 of a boat, when they happen to take refuge in this limpid inlet, 

 continue to struggle downwards in apprehension, as if they felt 

 that it did not afl'ord the usual refuge. 



Ascending this inlet several hundred yards, it is found to ter- 

 minate in a well head or basin, of some thirty feet diameter, 

 with high banks, in the centre of which there is a prominent tur- 

 moil of the waters, as if a fountain below threw up its contents 

 with much force, Rowing the boat upon this agitated spot, it 

 ^as with difficulty kept there in its position, against the efforts of 

 the ebullition to throw it off, A strong odor of sulphur fills the 

 air around, and the taste of the waters is equally sulphureous. 



Above Lake Monroe, wide-spread savannas become prevalent. 

 They form the main body of the section of country through 

 which the St, John's flows, and are so slightly inclined, that its 

 course is extremely tortuous, the bends having more the shape of 

 a horse shoe, than of a segment of a circle. The immediate 

 banks in these savannas are somewhat elevated above the level 

 of the waters, as the growth of a wild cane indicates, but the 

 greater portion of them bear a tall, rank grass, which, shows that 

 it is often inundated, and that the soil is constantly saturated wij^h 

 moisture. Lakes George, Monroe, Jesup, Harvey and Poinsett, 

 are fine sheets of clear water, of no great depths, but generally 

 free from aquatic vegetation. They all abound in fish and wild 

 fowl. 



Fort Taylor, (a mere stoclcade, like all the other forts in Florida 

 of recent origin,) which was built a few miles above Lake Poin- 

 sett, three hundred and fifty miles or more from the mouth of the 

 St, John's, is the highest point to which the army boats ascended. 

 Above that post, the river narrowed and shoaled, so as to become 



