Ter «^Top a ,y ear -1 NEW YORK, THURSDAY, MARCH 5, 1874. I 
For Forest and Stream. 
TO “ANAS CANADENSIS.” 
Whither, ’mid falling dew, 
While glow the Heavens with the last steps of day, 
■Far through the rosy depths, dost thou pursue 
Thy solitary way? 
Vainly the fowler’s, eye 
Might mark thy distant flight to do thee wrong. 
As darkly painted on the crimson sky, 
Thy figure floats along. 
Seek’st thou the plashy brink 
Of weedy lake, or marge of river wide, 
Or where the rocky billows rise and sink 
On the chafed ocean’s side? 
There is a power whose care 
Teaches thy way along that pathless coast, 
The desert and illimitable air, 
Lone wandering, but hot lost. 
All day thy wings have fanned 
At that far height, the cold, thin atmosphere, % 
Yet stoop not, weary to the welcome land, 
Though the dark night is near. 
And soon that toil shall end, 
Soon shalt thou find a summer home and rest, • 
And scream among thy fellows; reeds shall bend 
, Soon o’er thy sheltered nest. 
II 
[i Thoii’rt gone I The abyss of Heaven 
Hath swallowed up thy form; yet on my heart 
Deeply has sunk the lesson thou hast given, 
And shall not soon depart. 
He. who, from zone to zone, 
Guides through the boundless sky thy certain flight, 
In the long way that I must tread alone, 
Will lead my steps aright. G. H. W. 
-»- -- —. 
JPu (§am L hohee Expedition. 
FROM OUR FLORIDA COMMISSIONER. 
W E liacl what might be called a stormy voyage. The 
very night that saw the “Virginh|$ ? ? in such peril, we 
sighted the light oil “Frying-pan Shoals,” just caught a 
glimpse of it, only to be driven away far east of the Gulf 
stream. Four times did we cross the Gulf stream. For a 
1 week we lay to under double reef spanker and foresail, 
drifting with the waves. Dolphins and porpoises, gulf 
weed, and Portuguese men-o’-war swam and drifted in the 
water near us, but they failed to excite the interest they 
ought, for the reason that the objects we sought on the 
shores of Florida were far away. The New Year brought 
a blessing, for upon that day we first descried the long, low 
I line far in the distance that told us of the land we sought. 
The next day the palms appeared above the horizon, but it 
! was sunset ere we were boarded by the pilots and were 
threading the tortuous windings of the channel, in tow of 
the little steamer belonging to the port. 
Mosquito Inlet, our destination, is in about lat. 29, long. 
\ 81, fifty-five miles south of St, Augustine, and one third 
1 the way down the Florida coast. It is about a mile in 
width, with two channels, obstructed by sand bars, having 
a depth of seven to nine feet. It is the .out-watering of two 
large lagoons, the Mosquito North, or Halifax river, and 
s li 1G Mosquito South, or Hillsboro’ river. Thirty miles 
; each extends, meeting in a common channel at the Inlet, 
j Close in is Massacre Bluff, with its tragical history of the 
murder of shipwrecked sailors by Indians, early in the In¬ 
dian war. Two miles further is Alt, Pleasant, a high shell 
f Muff, upon which is the residence of Major Alden, a Mas¬ 
sachusetts man, whose hospitality many have shared. A 
mile further is Lowd’s hotel, the only one here, and one of 
the three houses constituting the town of New Smyrna. 
This place is about thirty miles from the St, Johns, at En- 
terprise, the road to which fully maintains the reputation 
■ of Florida roads generally. 
!j Though to a stranger the hotel at New Smyrna may pre- 
I sent few attractions, being fronted by a muddy creek and 
■ backed by a dense forest,fit is filled to overflowing every 
winter, the same boarders forming its quota each succeed¬ 
ing season. The mystery is partly explained when one has 
enjoyed its hospitalities. Probably the superb fisliing 
of Mosquito Inlet, described so well by another correspond¬ 
ent, has much to do toward maintaining its popularity as 
a winter resort. 
There is the usual variety of game found on the Florida 
coast, The narrow peninsulas, both north and south, of 
the Inlet, are well stocked with deer and bear, and many 
panthers and wild cats find refuge there. The woods back 
of the hotel, between New Smyrna and Enterprise, are tol¬ 
erably well filled wfith deer, though ’tis said the panthers 
have driven away the turkeys. At the Inlet are large 
flocks of curlew, bay snipe, “peep,” shearwaters and plo¬ 
ver, affording excellent sport to the juvenile gunners at the 
hotel. But by far the best section for procuring large 
game is the immense Turnbull swamp, near the head of In¬ 
dian river, abounding in deer, turkeys, panther and bear. 
Any old field will furnish its bevy of quail. 
Besides the means of communication with Jacksonville, 
via St. Johns, costing about $15, there is a small schooner 
which makes the trip as often as the wind will permit; 
fare, $5. 
The only business of New Smyrna is in live oak, which, 
in the bands of one firm, employs many schooners the win¬ 
ter through. On both lagoons are large groves of delicious 
oranges, noted for their size and flavor. The guava, pome¬ 
granate, fig and banana will flourish here and liavfe been 
successfully grown. 
There are several good guides here, and they can be hired 
at the usual rates by addressing at New Smyrna, Volusia 
.county, M. Lewis, Dr. Fox, or Frank Sains. The best lo¬ 
cation for building or camping is at Mt. Pleasant, where 
the channel runs close by the wharf, with sixteen feet of 
water. We camped there upon its shelly shore, and passed 
two pleasant weeks; pleasant, though I could not but heave 
a sigh whenever I thought of my field of labor so far away. 
The weather was unusually cold, even closing the jaws, if 
they have jaws, of the bloodthirsty mosquito for a time, 
and causing that omnipresent oldest inhabitant to declare 
with fearful imprecations that no such had occurred before 
since the great frost of ’35. Yet we would have days de¬ 
licious in their dreamy warmth, when the air of a morning 
would be full of the music of robin and red bird. “We,” 
comprehends myself and a young man, a friend, of my 
own age, who was to accompany me upon my boat excur¬ 
sions, and remain at camp while I was absent upon my ex¬ 
plorations inland. We then had a tent that had done ser¬ 
vice on the St. Johns, which I had brought more for the 
good it had done that from any love I bore it. It was 
called the “lawn tent,” and resembled the tents figured as 
belonging to the children of Israel. It was well adapted 
to the covering of a large surface, but in a “norther” we 
had to get out guys in every direction, and then stand out¬ 
side and hang on, while the winds howled and floods de¬ 
scended. We had two boats. 1 had named the larger the 
“Forest and Stream,” though I quaked inwardly whenever 
I happened to think, what if the proprietors of* that paper 
should see her? I had her built to carry a heavy load in 
shallow water, and told her builder to sacrifice everything- 
else to strength and lightness—and lie did. She was twenty 
one feet long by seven feet beam amidships, flat bottom, 
centre-board, rigged with two small sails. I had always 
stood in awe of her, and was much relieved when after she 
had lain idle nearly two weeks, a rash sailor asked me if 
he could sail her, and when he came back and said slie 
worked splendidly, I could have embraced him. When the 
boat was loaded with our freight I saw the wisdom 
of my instructions to the builder, for she was full to over¬ 
flowing. And so, one pleasant day we started down the 
Hillsboro’, laden almost to the water’s edge. We were 
fortunate in getting a tow down the river for nearly twenty 
miles. 
The Hillsboro’ for twenty miles is filled with mangrove 
and marshy islands, making many exceedingly tortuous 
channels difficult to follow. “Shipyard Reach,” fifteen 
miles south of Smyrna, is a noted place for ducks; but the 
best of all grounds is a little below on the west channel, 
where they come to a little pool to drink all day long. 
Parties have been here and shot a hundred to the man in half 
a day’s shooting. Bissett’sorange mound is’a favorite place; 
here the wild oranges glow and gleam through the dark 
foliage, covering a shell mound, at whose base is a drink¬ 
ing pool where the ducks flock by scores. October and 
November are the best months and again in March, the in 
terim being spent by the greater part of the mass of ducks 
wintering in Florida further south. 
From New Smyrna south occur a great many shell and 
earth mounds of ancient origin, several of which I have ex¬ 
plored and the results of which explorations I shall publish 
in a future letter. 
The Mosquito lagoon commences at the “Devil’s Elbow,” 
a channel of I he Hillsboro’ where there are nine crooks in 
half a mile. We passed safely through the Devil’s Elbow 
and arrived at the headquarters of the Swifts, proprietors of 
the live oak interest here. From Captain Swift and his em¬ 
ployees we have received the kindest attention. Mosquito 
lagoon is here two miles in breadth and ten miles to the 
canal connecting this lagoon system with Indian river. 
There are several orange groves on this lagoon, both wild 
and cultivated. We entered the canal about noon one day, 
passing the first stake half a mile north, and standing 
away southeast, till oposite the canal. The eastern end is 
invisible till directly at its mouth, owing to bushes and 
sand bars. The canal is about half a mile long and twelve 
feet wide. Connecting the Indian river lagoon with the 
Mosquito, it forms with them an inside route of water trav¬ 
el over one hundred and eighty miles in length. The 
water was at the highest when we entered, yet we barely 
passed through, drawing but a foot. Fallen coquina lias 
narrowed the passage to seven feet in some places. The 
coquina is curiously hollowed by the water, leaving over¬ 
hanging arches supported by pillars fantastically wrought. 
The kingfisher has driven his shafts into the rock and then 
occupied them. A large tree, with table shaped top, stands 
near the eastern end and can be seen a long ways, forming 
a conspicuous land mark. There, is good camping ground 
near here, and an abundance of fish and ducks close by. 
Deer and bear range tlie hammocks north. We camped that 
night at Andrew Jackson’s. Andrew has tlie neatest little 
orange grove on the river. Close by, two miles, is the 
famous Dummitt orange grove, so often described. Capt. 
Dummitt, the original owner of this grove, died a year ago. 
He was ad old resident and highly respected. The grove 
is now owned by his three daughters and two others. This 
year’s crop is estimated at 125,000, fully as many having 
been blown off in a tremendous gale last autumn. Two 
smaller groves near here have, respectively, four and eight 
thousand. It is about sixteen miles from the canal to the 
head of the river, and ten miles to Sand Point, upon the 
west bank of the river. The buildings of “Aurantia 
grove^’ so much advertised, can be seen about seven miles 
up the river. I had no lime to visit it, and so cannot speak 
of its merits from observation. The land is said to be good, 
worth $1,25 per acre. Indian river needs for its proper- 
development a railroad to Lake Harney, the head of navi¬ 
gation on the St. Johns, or a new canal to Mosquito lagoon, 
with light draught steamers plying between Jacksonville, 
and the lagoon. The railroad is the more feasible route, per¬ 
fectly practicable, and would probably pay. The distance 
to be traversed is said to be but thirteen miles. A small 
steamer is needed upon the river, and three good hotels, 
one at the head of the river or lagoon, one midway, and 
one near the southern end. Then this delightful climate 
might be enjoyed by the thousands now kept away by the 
difficulties attending transportation and lack of accommo¬ 
dations. The present route, via Salt Lake, is very tedious 
and uncomfortably long. 
We crossed the river cne night, after waiting two days 
for a wind. The water was all aglow witliphosphorescent 
light. Every dash of our little boat raised a silver shower, 
and thousands of fish darted hither and thither, leaving 
tortuous trails of fire, like those Fourth of July serpents of 
pur boyhood. Rafts of ducks sprang up with poise like 
