864 The National Geographic Magazine 











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THE; OLD SPANISH FORT, MATANZAS INLLT, FLORIDA 



prosperous days. Everywhere are seen 

 the mended crevices that are reminders 

 of the days of earthquake a quarter of a 

 century ago. Tiers of latticed verandas 

 are the rule, and the roofs bear heavy 

 old-fashioned tiles. There is a mournful 

 dignity in the quiet city, living even now 

 in the atmosphere of a time long gone ; 

 and nowhere is this felt more deeply than 

 when in the moonlight one sees the line 

 of the fine old houses that front the bat- 

 tery wall and set their faces toward the 

 broad expanse of the harbor. The 

 moon's rays glint along the barrels of old 

 cannon that speak mutely of an historic 

 past, and darkly outlined against the sea- 

 ward horizon above the shimmering rip- 

 ples of the bay lies old Fort Sumter. The 

 grass may grow between the cobblestones 

 of the streets along the water front, and 

 the vultures may flock each morning to 

 the ancient market roof ; but do not these 

 things comport with the repose of that 

 patrician life which only the old South 

 knew and the charmed memory of which 



still lingers here in Charleston, the aris- 

 tocrat of American cities? 



In our South the tangible things 

 around us keep fresh the memory of 

 things the North has long since forgot- 

 ten : The lone chimney of the farmhouse 

 burned in the civil war, the deserted man- 

 sion crumbling to decay, and under the 

 live-oaks the many graves of those who 

 died in the lost cause. 



The palmetto is the most distinctive, 

 but by no means the most attractive, 

 tree of the South Carolina-Florida 

 region. The most northerly natural 

 grove of this palm is found close by the 

 side of the beach of Cape Fear, at the 

 southernmost extremity of North Caro- 

 lina ; but in northern Florida it consti- 

 tutes whole forests and grows even upon 

 the sandy beaches within a few feet of 

 the breakers. Here, in combination with 

 the yucca, the holly, and the cactus, it 

 forms bristling thickets whose spiny 

 leaves bid defiance to all intruders. Far- 

 ther inland, however, along the moist 



