A Thousand- Mile Walk 
ness, arrived. Was glad to escape to our little 
schooner Belle again, weary and heavy laden 
with excitement and tempting fruits. 
As night came on, a thousand lights starred 
the great town. I was now in one of my happy 
dreamlands, the fairest of West India islands. 
But how, I wondered, shall I be able to escape 
from this great city confusion? How shall I 
reach nature in this delectable land? Consult- 
ing my map, I longed to climb the central moun- 
tain range of the island and trace it through all 
its forests and valleys and over its summit 
peaks, a distance of seven or eight hundred 
miles. But alas ! though out of Florida swamps, 
fever was yet weighing me down, and a mile of 
city walking was quite exhausting. The weather 
too was oppressively warm and sultry. 
January 16. During the few days since our 
arrival the sun usually has risen unclouded, 
pouring down pure gold, rich and dense, for 
one or two hours. Then islandlike masses of 
white-edged cumuli suddenly appeared, grew 
to storm size, and in a few minutes discharged 
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