“RAMBLES IN FLORIDA. 465 


found in all of the Kjekkenmeeddings on the western coast 
; of Florida, as far as we explored. 
E . On some of the smaller islands the pelicans, gulls, and 
. other maritime birds deposit their eggs, and on the larger 
keys raccoons and deer are abundant. The occasional visit 
of a Puma ( Felis concolor) sometimes arouses the slumber- 
ous quietude of the isolated settlements; a quietude at the 
, Present day undisturbed by the war-whoop of the savage, and 
b. seldom broken except by the music of the mocking-birds, or 
; the noisy screeching of the parrots (Conurus Carolinensis 
E. Kuhl). The great requisite for the sustentation of large 
.  Rumbers of barbarous people exist here now as they did 
centuries ago. Along the base of a ridge of shells, which is 
situated so near the edge of the bay as sometimes to be 
 Washed by its waves, we picked up several arrowheads and 
small fragments of pottery. About half a mile below a new 
settler had just planted his stakes and was building a cabin, 
his nearest neighbor resides two miles above. Driven from 
his native state by the rude and chilling breath of the north 
Wind, and suffering from pulmonary troubles, he here seeks 
wid will measurably find what Ponce de Leon sought, the 
fountain of health,” provided he does not succumb to the 
fever and ague, of which there is a chance. Near his new 
home there is a creek where alligators (A. Mississippiensis 
Gray ) watch with jealous eyes the invasion of their domain. 
the presence of the huge reptiles frightened the children 
When they went to the creek for water, one of our party 
. Proceeded to the spot and slaughtered a saurian some ten 
feet. in length. We were told of cases where pulmonary 
Patients "with one foot in the grave" and one hand upon 
the door knob, evaded eternity, at least for a term, by eat- 





















nost despondent invalid to grin. Of one fact we are cer- 
| Do. NATURALIST, VOL. gr. 59 
