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FLORIDA. 



form a common junction of the Central and Georgia Railroads with the Tennessee Valley. 

 The Brunswick and Florida Railroad, from Brunswick to the head of Appalachicola River, 

 IS m progress. The Franklin Railroad, from West Point to Franklin, is 30 miles long. 



6. Government. The legislature is called the General Assembly, and consists of a Senate 

 and House of Representatives. The members of both Houses are chosen annually. Each 

 county has one senator. Representatives are chosen according to population, including three 

 fifths of the slaves. The Governor is chosen by the people for 2 years. All residents who 

 pay taxes are voters. Georgia sends 9 representatives to Congress. 



7. Religion. The Baptists and Methodists are the most numerous. The former number 

 above 40,000, and the latter about 30,000 communicants, including slaves. The Presbyteri- 

 ans have about 5,000 communicants, and there are many Christians and Protestant Methodists. 

 The Episcopalians, Roman Cathohcs, Lutherans, Friends, Unitarians, and Jews, are less nu- 

 merous ; the number of the latter is stated to be about 400. 



8. Education. The University of Georgia, at Athens, was first established in 1785, but 

 has not been in operation for the whole of that period. It has 10 instructers, and 160 students. 

 Its libraries have 4,250 volumes. There are about 90 academies in the State, and there is a 

 fund for their support, of 500,000 dollars. 



9. History. Georgia was the latest settled of all the Atlantic States. In 1732, a body 

 of 113 emigrants, under James Oglethorpe, founded Savannah ; and 3 years afterwards many 

 Scotch, Swiss, and Germans, formed settlements upon the coast. Wesley, the celebrated 

 founder of the Methodist sect, visited Georgia in 1736, but quitted the colony when about to 

 be brought to trial for what was esteemed misbehavior. George Whitefield also paid this colo- 

 ny a visit shortly after, and assisted in building up the sect of Methodists. The colony was 

 involved in wars with the Spaniards of Florida, who invaded the coast, and established them- 

 selves for a short time upon the Alatamaha, but were driven off after a vigorous campaign. 

 The charter was afterwards surrendered to the crown, and a royal government was estabhshed 

 in 1754. The first constitution was formed in 1777 ; another in 1785 ; and the present one 

 m 1798. 



CHAPTER XXIII. TERRITORY OF FLORIDA. 



PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY. 



1. Boundaries and Extent. The territory of Florida is bounded north by Alabama and 

 Georgia ; east by the Atlantic Ocean ; south by the Florida Stream, which separates it from 



' Cuba, and west by the Gulf of Mexico, and the River Perdido, which separates it from Ala- 

 bama. It lies between lat. 25° and 31° north, and long. 80° and 87° 44' west, and has an 

 area of 56,000 square miles. The southern portion forms a peninsula, 350 miles in length by 

 150 in breadth, which separates the Gulf of Mexico from the Atlantic Ocean. 



2. Rivers. The St. John^s rises in the centre of the peninsula, and flows northwest, nearly 

 parallel to the Atlantic, presenting more the appearance of a sound than a river. Its sources 

 are in an extensive marsh very little above the level of the ocean, and as its course is about 

 300 miles, its current must be sluggish. It is navigable about two thirds of its course for ves- 

 sels of 6 feet draft. The Appalachicola, formed by the junction of the Flint and Chattahoochee, 

 flows south into the Gulf of Mexico, after a course of 100 miles, through the whole of which 

 it is navigable for sea vessels. All the rivers of this region have sand-bars at their mouths. 

 The other principal rivers are the Escambia, Smoanee, Oscilla, JVitlilacooche, Ockloconnee, 

 and Tolopchopko. 



3. Lakes. The lakes are numerous, and some of them are of considerable dimensions ; 

 they are in general remarkable for the transparency of their waters, and often present scenes of 

 great beauty. Lakes Orange, George, and Monroe, which discharge their waters by the 

 St. John, Kissimmee and Okeechobee, further south, lakes Jackson, Yamong, and JWickasookie 

 in the west, are among the principal. 



4. Islands. The shore is fined with small, low islands, separated from each other, and 

 from the main land, by narrow and shallow inlets and channels. Amelia Island and Jlnastatia, 

 on the Atlantic coast, are low, sandy strips, about 15 miles in length, by 1 in breadth. To 

 the southwest is a chain of islets called Keys, (from the Spanish cayo, a rocky islet,) among 

 which is Key West, or Thompson''s Island, 20 leagues from the shore. It contains a military 



