88 IK FLORIDA. 



down stream once more to Jacksonville. The run 

 outside to St. Augustine is not a long one, but this 

 coast is more dangerous than that further north. 

 An easterly wind strikes it more heavily, and the 

 inlets are shoal. Especially is this the case in the 

 long run below Matanzas and Mosquito Inlets. In 

 fact I cannot do better than quote the words of a 

 report on the inland navigation of that section, 

 kindly furnished me by Mr. J. B. Hilgard, the effi- 

 cient Superintendent of the United States Coast Sur- 

 vey, to whom I am under many obligations for in- 

 formation and advice: 



" There is no inland passage from the St. John's 

 to St. Augustine. You must cross St. John's bar 

 (with eight feet mean low water), but must take a i)i- 

 lot, as the channel is constantly shifting and chang- 

 ing in depth. On the whole, I would advise taking a 

 smooth time at St. Mary's and going outside all the 

 way to St. Augustine. There is excellent anchorage 

 off Old Fernandina (but a short distance from tbe 

 bar); and the whole run is but about fifty miles, and 

 can be made in a few hours. 



" When off St. Augustine, a pilot will take you up 

 to the town. There is nine feet on the bar, but it 

 constantly shifts. The famous ' fresh water springs ' 

 in the ocean are situated eight miles S. by B half E. 

 from the ' entering buoy ' of this inlet. 



''Bound to the southward, Matanzas River carries 

 you from St. Augustine through a distance of nearly 

 thirteen miles to Matanzas Inlet. The channel is 

 winding, but has deep water for a little over seven 



