FOREST AND STREAM. 



275 



rare sight to see, but I have neither time nor space in this 

 article to particularize on the subject as I would wish. 



The life of a trapper is a life of hard work, with a rough 

 time, not a little interspersed, to be sure, with incidents of 

 adventure, often of danger, in their encounters with the 

 larger animals, the bear, the lynx, and more especially the 

 catamount, or the American panther, but fortunately the 

 latter is not often met with now even in our wilder regions. 



It was several days after our adventure with the wolves 

 that my attention was drawn by loud shouting at a distance. 

 Upon going to the door, and looking up the river, there we 

 saw big Ralph coming on the ice swinging something in 

 his hand, and yelling at the top of his voice at every step, 

 "I've got him; I've got him; here's the cuss." Upon ap- 

 proaching nearer sure enough there was the reptile, a very 

 large full grown fisher, measuring plump twenty-eight 

 inches, with his splendid bushy tail of fully eighteen inches 

 more. He was as black as jet, and in prime order. And 

 wasn't Ralph as tickled over it as a boy with his first knife? 

 Ralph found him with his back broken at the fall we had 

 la9t rigged up, and without stopping to skin him or to visit 

 his other falls, he had hurried back to our camp, a distance 

 of three miles, to show his prize. Well, that was a big 



day for Ralph. Jacobstaff. 



— : -^♦•^ 



SKETCHES IN FLORIDA. 



♦ 



UP THE ST. JOHNS RIVER. 



TWO winters ago the writer was one of a merry dozen 

 who, on pleasure bent, helped swell the overwhelm- 

 ing stream of tourists who, fleeing from the northern cold, 

 sought shelter in the sunny south. After various incidents 

 of travel we found ourselves in the crowded parlors of the 

 St. James, at Jacksonville, and planned our trip. Two 

 years have wrought great changes since then, even in that 

 sleepy land, and I am pleased that this winter's flock of 

 tourists will find better hotel accommodations everywhere 

 than fell to our lot on that day. Even as it was — Tocoi 

 Railroad and all — that trip is one to be remembered a life 

 time, and all who can make it should do so. 



We left Jacksonville on a bright warm morning in the 

 Florence, a comfortable boat, with courteous and obliging 

 officers, and comfortably seated on deck enjoyed the trip 

 exceedingly from Jacksonville to Tocoi. Every mile car- 

 ried us farther from the frosty north. The St. John is a 

 magnificent stream. Originating among the everglades in 

 the south of Florida, it flows northward nearly three hun- 

 dred miles, when it bends sharply to the east, and empties 

 into the ocean twenty-three miles from Jacksonville, which 

 is at the bend. For over one hundred miles from its 

 mouth it will average three miles in breadth, expanding oc- 

 casionally into beautiful lakes. Thus the first day of our 

 trip we were in such wide waters that, except as we ap- 

 proached the landings, we did not get the benefit of the 

 semi-tropical scenery of the banks. But the air was soft 

 and balmy, the sky blue, water smooth and clear, and we, 

 just started and fresh, were in high spirits and enjoyed 

 every moment. 



Our first landing was at Mandarin, "where amid^an orange 

 grove and splendid group of water oaks, Mrs. Stowe has 

 built herself a home. The place is> but a hamlet, and after 

 delivering our mail we hurry along; but not until they 

 have rounded a point and shut in the view do the tourists 

 relinquish their gaze upon this sunny southern home. 

 Twelve miles farther carries us to Magnolia. At this point 

 we found a goodly assemblage of guests. The hotel ac- 

 commodations are the best, the hotel itself is beautifully 

 situated, and a good table, with good attendance, insure a 

 good time. Black creek is a navigable stream for fisher- 

 men and sportsmen. On a sunny day its banks are lined 

 with alligators, while fish and game of all descriptions are 

 plentiful. Two miles above Magnolia is Green Cove 

 Springs, where is also a good hotel and boarding house. 

 This is a great resort for invalids, who can enjoy daily a 

 bath in the sulphur spring, which has given the place its 

 importance. This famous spring is situated about a hun- 

 dred yards from the landing, amid a group of great water 

 oaks, which, covered with hanging festoons of grey moss 

 and mistletoe, add to its beauty more than any artificial 

 setting could to this emerald gem. The spring boils up in 

 great lumps from a deep crevice, and fills a pool some 

 twenty feet in diameter, with its bright but greenish hued 

 water clear as a crystal — a green crystal. Every little speck 

 on the bottom is distinctly visible, even in the deep crev- 

 ice, which is, I should judge, about twenty feet in depth. 

 The outlet forms quite a little river, and over it a bathing 

 house has been built, and here those suffering with rheu- 

 matic or kindred complaints luxuriate in its warm em- 

 brace. Seventy six degrees is the average temperature 

 summer and winter, seldom varying from this point more 

 than a degree or two. The water is slightly sulphurous; 

 more perceptibly so in the odor than in the taste, but suffi- 

 ciently to banish any form of animal or reptile life from 

 its proximity. This, in a country, which snakes are said 

 to frequent, is in itself a great inducement, but I am in- 

 clined to think that the snake crop of Florida isvasdy over- 

 rated. An old hunter told me that he had been out for 

 deer at least three, times a week since Christmas, and had 

 not encountered a snake. On the other hand, one of the 

 natives informed me that "there was a right smart chance 

 of moccasins." But wherever else they may locate, the 

 Green Cove Spring is exempt, and the invalid may enjoy 

 his bath without a nervous tremor. 



About noon we arrived at Tocoi, or, as we afterwards 

 dubbed it, Decoy, forty-five miles from Jacksonville. This 

 miserable apology for a place contains one old tumble-down 

 feeuM, and } wo aough board shanties, which latter consti- 



tute the depot at the western terminns of the St. Augustine 

 Railroad. This road is fifteen miles in length, and should 

 make an easy approach to St. Augustine. We thought we 

 were nearly there, but Ave knew more about it soon after- 

 ward. Could we have but foreseen the hardships we were 

 to go through with we might have decided not to proceed. 

 Two hours' strolling about or sitting on logs under the 

 shadeless pines used up our time, while a little asthmatic 

 tea kettle of a steam engine was being tinkered into going 

 condition. Finally, ready for its task, it was hitched 

 to two dilapidated boxes on wheels, into which, by tight 

 crowding, we succeeded in squeezing ourselves. The day 

 was chilly, the cars full of cracks and drafts; where there 

 should have been windows but the holes remained; and 

 water proofs and capes had to be substituted for glass. We 

 needed but a rain to complete our discomfort. The road 

 itself is, if possible, more disgraceful than the cars, the 

 rails of pine and cypress (no iron) were w T orn, chipped, 

 shivered, and rotten. We smashed one flat to the ties, and 

 had a narrow escape from being capsized into the swamp, 

 and had our engine the power to have bumped us along a 

 few feet further, we should have had a serious, perhaps 

 fatal, accident to wind up our pleasure trip. As it was, all 

 hands turned out, and lifting our crazy vans again upon the 

 track we crawled along for nearly five hours, delaying at 

 times to put a new rail on the track, to dip a few bucket- 

 fuls of muddy water from the ditch into the boiler, or to 

 cut up a log to furnish nutriment to our wheezy little en- 

 gine. At last, the fifteen miles accomplished, we reached 

 St. Augustine tired and worn out. Ma} r we never have to 

 go over that road again. The road leads through a swampy 

 country, and some of the scenery was almost grand; great 

 cypress trees, with their swollen feet standing in murky 

 pools, and draped with huge "weepers" of grey moss hang- 

 ing from every branch three to six feet in length ; foul tur- 

 key buzzards resting upon the lofty trees, or sailing about 

 in muffled, noiselesss flight, gave a funereal character to 

 the scenery from which Dante might have drawn his inspi 

 ration. I am sure we saw the counterpart of the Stygian 

 pool. And yet it was not all so gloomy. Bright hued 

 flowers, green parasites entwining whole groups of adja- 

 cent trees, great bunches of mistletoe on the oaks, and now 

 and then a bright cardinal bird or blue jay flitting among 

 the branches, gave us plenty to admire, and almost whiled 

 away the time, and we had our own internal resources — 

 songs, stories, and hard boiled eggs. 



In the morning, after our arrival at St. Augustine, our 

 first trip was to the Oid Fort. This venerable pile of co- 

 quina is interesting principally because of its antiquity, 

 and from the historical associations connected with it. 

 Started three hundred years ago, it was a hundred years in 

 building. It was owned and garrisoned successively by 

 Spanish, English, United States, and Confederate troops. 

 It was bombarded by Sir Francis Drake's fleet, the marks 

 of whose balls are still visible on its sea face. It has 

 gloomy dungeons, in one of which, discovered some years 

 since by accident, two chained skeletons were found. It 

 has an old vaulted chapel, with its altar and niches for im- 

 ages, now all defaced, and the floor marred and scarred as 

 though it had been used to chop wood on. Our irreverent 

 member thought that the old monks must have had sharp 

 knees from the looks of the floor. The "Old Sergeant," 

 who acted as our cicerone, is a character, and relieved his 

 dry statistics with a dryer humor, peculiarly his own. He 

 showed us a dungeon where two Seminole chiefs— I forget 

 their names — had been confined, and a slit in the wall 

 through which one of them escaped. They must have 

 starved that Indian very successfully before he could have 

 accomplished it. A subterranean passage is popularly sup- 

 posed to exist, connecting the fort with the convent, but it 

 has not been found. In one of the dungeons the "Old Ser- 

 geant sprang upon us what was evidently a pet joke. Paus- 

 ing in his tale until the loiterers were collected around him, 

 and standing in chilly reverence, he told us of some pris- 

 oners who, from that very dungeon, had attempted to es- 

 cape by burrowing under the walls. He told us of the 

 great distance to be undermined before reaching the moat 

 and liberty — some thirty yards, I believe. Standing with 

 his back to the wall he slowly lighted half a dozen dips as 

 he talked, then turning suddenly aside he threw the con- 

 centrated rays into a hole about two feet deep and curtly 

 remarked, "They didn't succeed." With this coup de the- 

 atre the old gentleman, satisfied that he had ended well, left 

 us to find our way to the outer air and to a stroll through 

 the narrow streets of the town, between the high dead walls 

 and under the projecting balconies, that characterize the 

 Spanish style of building, and give to St. Augustine an as- 

 pect so different from anything to be seen elsewhere in 

 the United States. The names of the streets, and the signs 

 over the stores, show the Spanish origin "of the inhabitants; 

 for instance, our party were domiciled at Mrs. Mercedes', 

 Mrs. Hernandez's, and Mrs. Seguis', and we shopped at 

 Madame Oliveros'. The Spanish cast of feature prevails, 

 too, and a dark eyed, black haired brunette whom I saw 

 leaning over a balcony carried me back to days gone by, 

 where in old Spain herself I have seen her counterpart. A 

 walk along the sea wall, built of coquina (a cone rete of 

 shells), which fronts the town, where the fresh sea breeze 

 brought new vigor to our tired steps, and a cruise among 

 the establishments devoted to the manufacture of palmetto 

 hats, brought our day to a close. These hats are being 

 manufactured and sold in immense numbers. One lady — 

 Madame Oliveros— who has the most extensive establis & 

 ment, employs fifty women, and her sales in one season, I 

 was told, amounted to seven thousand. 



We left St. Augustine with mixed emotions; while we 

 had received the utmost kindness and hospitality from pri- 



vate individuals, hitherto strangers to us, and were delight- 

 ed with the quaint old fashioned towe, and charmed with 

 the warm pleasant climate tempered by a bracing sea breeze, 

 we had nothing pleasant to remember of those whose duty 

 it was to look out for the comfort of guests, and we felt 

 that until good hotels, large enough and well enough con- 

 ducted to furnish some comforts could be added to its 

 present stock, and until some method of getting there free 

 from the discomfort, anxiety, and danger of the Tocoi 

 Railroad can be devised, the invalid should avoid, and the 

 pleasure seeker flee from, it. 



Our trip to Tocoi was made in the same comfortless 

 boxes, and a good hard rain was added to the previous 

 discomforts. We got over without serious accident, but 

 the pleasure of the rest of the trip was alloyed by the ill- 

 ness of some of the more delicate, brought on by the hard- 

 ship of the trip. 



At Tocoi we found the "Hattie" awaiting us — a small 

 steamer, but necessarily so, as the rest of our trip was to 

 be made in narrow streams and shoal water. We were 

 very comfortable on board of her. The table was good, 

 quarters clean, and the captain — Charley Brock — a good 

 fellow. Our first stopping place was Pilatka, ten miles 

 beyond, and here we remained until some time in the uight, 

 to enable us to pass over the entrance to Lake George by 

 daylight. This gave us oppportunity for a stroll about the 

 town, which is the most important settlement upon the 

 river, and to enjoy a most delicious supper at a well kept 

 hotel, the Putnam house. 



Pilatka is the head of navigation for the larger steamers 

 plying on the river, and has considerable commerce. Leav- 

 ing at midnight, we awoke the next morning in the midst 

 of scenery ever to be remembered. The river is narrow, 

 the banks but a few feet off, as the channel ncared one 

 shore or the other, and are densely covered with a tropical 

 vegetation. Palms, palmettos, water oaks, and pines are 

 the principal large trees, all festooned with gray moss. The 

 stream is so crooked that at no one time can we see half a 

 mile in advance, thus gliding along with our visual limit 

 constantly circumscribed, we seem to be in the centre of 

 an ever advancing and ever changing panorama; herons, 

 cranes, ducks, and other birds of all descriptions give ani- 

 mation, and if the day be sunny countless aligators dozing 

 upon the banks furnish rare sport to the sportsman. Some- 

 times great monsters, twelve to fourteen feet in length, are 

 seen, and eagerly shot, and if a large one be shot the oblig- 

 ing captain will stop the boat to secure the head, which, 

 when reduced to the condition of skull alone, is considered 

 quite a curiosity, while the teeth are of beautiful' ivory, 

 and are carved into all sorts of trinkets. Our day, though, 

 was cold and rainy, and alligators scarce; few were seen, 

 and none killed. At first the more timid of our lady com- 

 panions objected shrinkingly to our firing from their midst, 

 but after a few palpable misses they became convinced that 

 our rifles were not dangerous, even to the game, and from 

 protesting against it became rather fond of the sport, and 

 they all forgot that it was Sunday till a sharp rain drove us 

 in and broke up the shooting match; then they expressed 

 themselves! 



Just before sunset we entered Lake Munroe, where the 

 river expands into a noble lake, over six miles in diameter. 

 On its western side is situated the town of Mellenville, 

 "where we got such beauties of lemons, ten to twelve 

 ounces each, and cheap — four cents apiece. Thence we 

 crossed over to Enterprise. This little place consists of a 

 hotel, a store, and two or three houses, and has a popula- 

 tion of perhaps forty. It is the farthest point to which a 

 regular line of steamers plies, but to the sportsman there is 

 still another hundred miles of narrow river, deep lagoons, 

 gloomy bayous, and wild untrodden land, where all sorts 

 of game, such as bears, wild turkeys, deer, and ducks are 

 plentiful, and the waters teem with great varieties of fish. 

 Splendid black bass, ten pounds in weight, abound (they 

 call them trout here), besides bream, perch, and great cat- 

 fish, from three pounds up to incredible figures. For the 

 benefit of travellers, I would state that the story of the 

 bears here being web-footed is not strictly in accordance 

 with fact. There is a fair hotel at Enterprise. It is clean 

 beautifully situated near an orange grove, with a fine out- 

 look on the lake, with a fine sulphur spring near by, and a 

 little lake two miles inland, where our fishermen secured a 

 fine string of black bass in an afternoon's fishing, and a 

 woody back country, which, when Tyson goes out with 

 his hounds, will always yield at least one deer, and gener- 

 ally more. From here parties penetrate into the Indian 

 River country, where a bag of a dozen alligators is but an 

 ordinary day's work. The little steamer "Silver Spring," 

 with an experienced captain, takes charge of this part of 

 the ceremony. At Enterprise we succeeded in getting a 

 few oranges. The crop had all been picked and sold, and 

 oranges were not so plentiful in Florida as in New York. 

 Although we saw none of the sweet oranges on the trees 

 (March 20th to 30th), yet we were fully as much pleased 

 with the sight of the wild orange. This fruit, although 

 uneatable, is larger and of a more golden hue than the eat- 

 able orange; the leaf is nearly the same, but of a darkier 

 glossier green, and the flower identical. These we saw in 

 profusion. A great drawback to the success of agricultu- 

 ral pursuits in Florida is the latinia, or scrub palmetto 

 growing as a bush from three to five feet in height. Its 

 roots extend in all directions near the surface, like great 

 cables, three inches in diameter, and form an impervious 

 net-work, through wdiich a plow r cannot be forced. 



Leaving Enterprise at one A. M. . we again had a cold and 

 rainy day. Wise through experience, we did not waste 

 our time watching for alligators that would not come out 

 so made ourselves happy in the cabin. At Green Cove our 

 party broke up, all who could remaining at that lovely spot 

 and the rest of us parting here and there, as our roads 

 homeward diverged. Pisaco 



