74 IN FLOBIDA. 



time in the midst of winter. We had been assured 

 that snakes never enter the waters of a sulphur 

 spring, and that there was a sulphur spring at We- 

 laka on our way. So we stopped where we thought 

 it ipust be according to the chart, and in that in- 

 stance, as in all others, the chart was right. In 

 fact from the beginning of our trip to the end we 

 found ourselves, by the aid of the charts, masters of 

 the situation, and generally much better informed 

 than the natives. 



We anchored the yacht at the bend of the river 

 just below Welaka, and taking the small boats row- 

 ed into the spring, which was only a hundred yards 

 away. What a glorious sight it was, no puling little 

 affair, such as is called a spring at the North, but 

 a basin two hundred feet across, the water boil- 

 ing up in the centre in a jet as large round as a hogs- 

 head, and rising a foot above the surface, clear as ci-ys- 

 tal, and gleaming like gems, the irridescent waves 

 spreading away from the central source in lines of 

 glist^ing transparency, the sunlight reflected from 

 every ripple, as from a thousand prisms. Such a 

 perfect bathing spot we had never seen before, it was 

 a bath-room fit for Diana and her nymphs. We 

 had put on our bathing clothes before leaving the 

 yacht, and it took us but a few moments to fasten our 

 boats and plunge overboard. 



Snakes are one of the drawbacks of this warm 

 tropical State. On some of the keys on the Gulf 

 side, they are so numerous that no man is safe in 

 landing. The most deadly is the rattlesnake, but 



