58 Remarks upon East Florida. 



a better aspect, and that the soil will improve in a corresponding 

 degree. It is the fallen tree of this pine, which furnishes the In- 

 dian with his " hght-wood ;" a source of comfort and conveni- 

 ence that strongly attaches him to the soil which produces it. 

 The fuel formed from these prostrate trunks, is at hand on every 

 spot, and is easily ignited, making, in all weathers, a bright and 

 durable fire. The nights of Florida are almost invariably cool, 

 and the facility with which the Florida Indian can temper their 

 chilliness, by means of this ready and combustible wood, is a 

 conspicuous item in the privileges of his life, the great design of 

 which is to attain desirable objects with the least effort. Our 

 troops, in the late campaigns, have been equally indebted to it 

 for many a comfortable encampment, as, even in the midst of 

 heavy rains, a brilliant fire might be kindled, which, with due 

 care, no rains could extinguish. 



The hammocks at present are generally secure from encroach- 

 ment from the barrens, being mostly covered with a dense growth 

 of trees, which preserves them from change. But, whenever the 

 time arrives in which they shall be cleared up, and become ex- 

 posed to external influences, it is not unlikely that the surround- 

 ing barrens, clothed in a soil of such levity as to be acted upon 

 by winds and rains, will gradually overspread these comparatively 

 small spots on the surface of the country, and reduce nearly the 

 whole to one general character. 



The waters of Florida abound in fish. Even the upper parts 

 of the St. John's afford a large supply of very tolerable quality. 

 But the lagoons of the coast have not only an abundance of the 

 finest fish, but also of the finest oysters. The oysters of Indian 

 river are surpassed by none, in size or quality, on the Atlantic 

 coast. Want could never approach the inhabitants of that region. 



The present war, during which the Indians have been too much 

 harassed to attend to seed-time or harvest, has turned attention to 

 the class of indigenous esculent vegetables, which, by their sponta- 

 neous abundance, have, through the extremities of this period, af- 

 forded them ample means of subsistence. The most conspicu- 

 ous among these are the red and white coonta roots. The first is 

 the China-briar, or Smilax china, a vine of great thriftiness, spread- 

 ing sometimes over the space of more than a hundred feet, with 

 roots like a large, long and irregular potatoe. The white coonta 

 is the Ziarnia integrifolia, which has a full tap-root, rounded with 



