FLO 
4 64 ~~~ FLO 
FLO'RENSAC, a town of France, in the department 
of the Herault, and chief place of a canton, in the diftridt 
of Beziers, on the Herault : one league and three quar¬ 
ters fouth of Pezenas, and three and a half fouth of 
Beziers. 
FLOREN'TIA, in ancient geography, a town of Etru¬ 
ria, on the A mil's ; of great note in Sylla’s wars : now 
called F/orenza, or Fircnza, by the Italians; Florence by 
the Englifh. 
FLORENTINE the country or diftridt round the city 
of Florence, and within its jurifdidtion. 
I’LOR'ENTINE WORK, f. A beautiful fpecies of 
Mofaic work peculiar to Florence. Keyfler mentions a 
table of this work in the medicrean gallery, which had 
“ employed twenty-five artifts fourteen years.” 
FLO'RES, one of the Azore iflands, about ten leagues 
long, and three broad ; it contains two towns and fotne 
hamlets; Santa Cruz is the capital, but Lagens is the 
mod populous. The number of inhabitants in the whole 
is about 1300 or 1400. It takes its name from the mul¬ 
titude of flowers which grow wild in every part of this 
ifland. Lat. 39, 34. N. Ion. 13. 13. W. Ferro. 
FLORESZ'TI, a town of European Turkey, in Mol¬ 
davia: fixty miles eaft of Stephanowze. 
FLO'RET,/. [ Jleurette , Fr.] A final 1 flower. In bo¬ 
tany, it means the partial or feparate little bloffom of an 
aggregate flower, chiefly in the clafs fyngenefla, or com¬ 
pound flowers properly fo called ; but applied alfo to the 
umbel, cyme, See. 
FLORIC'AMOUS, adj. [from the Lat.yfttr, a flower; 
and como, to adorn.] Having the top ornamented or crown¬ 
ed witli flowers. Not much uj'ed. Scott. 
FLOR'ID, adj. [Jloridus, Lat.] Productive of flowers; 
covered with flowers. Bright in colour; flufhed with 
red.—The qualities of blood in a healthy (fate are to be 
Jlorid, when let out of the veflel, the red part congealing 
flrongly and foon. Arbuthnot. —Embellifhed ; fplendid ; 
biilliant with decorations.—The Jlorid, elevated, and fi¬ 
gurative, way is for the paflions ; for love and hatred, fear 
and anger, are begotten in the foul, by (hewing their ob¬ 
jects out of their true proportion. Drydtn. 
How did, pray, the Jlorid youth offend, 
Whole fpeech you took, and gave it to a friend ? Pope. 
FLOR'IDA, a country of North America, bounded on 
the north by Georgia, on the eaft by the Atlantic, on the 
fouth by the gulf of Mexico, and on the weft by the 
Mifliflippi, extending about ,600 miles in length. This 
country is faid to have been difeovered by Sebaftian 
Cabot, in 1496, eighteen years before it was known to 
the Spaniards. The air in fummer is exceedingly hot, 
but in feveral places pure and wholefome; the winter is 
commonly temperate, though fometimes the cold de- 
ftroys the oranges, and the rivers are covered with ice. 
The foil is rich and fertile, particularly in Weft Florida, 
where oftentimes, in the fame year, the inhabitants have 
two or three harve.fts of maize. The country abounds 
in oaks, cyprefs, palms, cedars, pines, chefnuts, and faf- 
fafras, the belt in America. Mulberries, oranges, peaches, 
plums, cocoa-nuts, and melons, grow in great plenty, 
with other fruits of,an excellent flavour. Olive-trees 
and vines grow naturally, and were found there by the 
Europeans ; cotton grows wild, and in plenty ; as alfo 
fl ax and hemp. The cabbage-tree, fo railed from the 
fuppofed refemblance of the heads to the cabbage-plant 
in tafte, grows here, and furnifnes a food, agreeable, 
light, and wholefome. The coafts are low, fandy, and 
full of (hallows; they furnilh a prodigious number of 
ovfters, large and fmall. Among the rich productions 
of the country may be reckoned cochineal, both wild and 
cultivated ; indigo is common, and amber is found along 
the fouthern coaft. In the weftern part are numerous 
herds of cattle and ftteep ; hogs abound in every part, 
whofe flefti is fuppofed to obtain a peculiar excellence of 
Savour from their food, which confifts chiefly of acorns 
1 
and chefnuts. In the forefts and defects are found feveral 
fpecies of wiki heads, as the panther, wild car, buffa’o, 
fox, hare, goat, rabbit, otter, racoon, flying fquirrel, ar¬ 
madillo, opolliim, guana, and feveral forts of ferpents. 
Birds are in variety, and numerous; among others, are 
found the crane, heron, goofe, wild duck, pigeon, par¬ 
tridge, thrufti, jay, hawk, raaccaw, and a great number of 
others. 'I he rivers abound in filli, but are at the fame 
time infefted with voracious alligators. Among its rivers 
that fall into the Atlantic, St. John’s and Indian rivers 
are the chief. Seguana, Appalachicola, Chatahatchi, 
Efcambia, Mobile, Pafcagoula, and Pearl rivers, all rife 
in Georgia, and run foutherly into the gulf of Mexico. 
The principal bays are, St. Bernard’s, Afcenfion, Mobile, 
Penfacola, Dauphin, Jofeph, Apalachy, Spiritu Sandto ; 
and the chief capes are, Blanco, St. Blaize, Anclotte, 
and Cape Florida, at the extremity of the peninfula. 
In the year 1564, the French began to form a fmall 
eftablilhment in Florida, from which they were driven 
the year following by the Spaniards, who then began to 
form fettlements themfelves. In 1763, Florida was ceded 
to England, in exchange for the Havanna, which had 
been taken from the Spaniards. While in pofleflion of 
the Englifh, it was divided into two governments, Eaft 
and Weft Florida, feparated by the Apalachicola. Eaft 
Florida extends much farther fouth than Weft Florida: 
the gulf of Mexico waffling the weftern coaft from lat. 
25. to lat. 30. N. whereas the moft fouthern part of Weft 
Florida is in lat. 29. 30. N. The form of Ealt Florida is 
triangular, the bafe toward the north being 16a miles in 
breadth from eaft to weft; near the fouthern extremity 
about forty, and about 330 from north to fouth. Along 
the coafts are a great number of bays and fmall iflands. 
The foil near the fea coafts is fandy, and often barren, 
but becomes richer and of a better quality farther inland. 
The productions are chiefly rice and indigo. Weft Flo¬ 
rida is about 320 miles from eaft to weft, and from forty 
to eighty in width from north to fouth ; the river Mif- 
fiffippi bounds it on the weft, and Apalachicola bounds 
it on the eaft. The country is pleafant, and the foil ex¬ 
ceedingly fertile. The coafts are flat, and rife byalmoft 
infenfible degrees into hills, which are covered with a 
beautiful verdure, and fliaded with trees, fuch as the 
mulberry, cedar, cocoa-nut, vanilla, magnolia, cabbage- 
tree, palm, &c. In many places vines are cultivated, 
which produce grapes equal in fize and flavour to the 
bed mufeadine. The principal town of Eaft Florida is 
St. Auguftine ; and Penfacola is the capital of Weft 
Florida. 
The Spanifh ftrength in the Floridas and Louifiana, in 
1 790, was as follows, according to Mr. Melford’s account: 
Troops and levies at St. Auguftine and on St. John’s 
river, 400; St. Mark’s, 100; Penfacola, 350; Mobile 
and Tombigbee, 150; at the Natchez, 200; Red river, 
ioo; Illinios river, 300; in all 1600 men, called the 
Orleans or Louifiana regiment. All the fettlers in thefe 
diftridts are under the immediate orders of the military 
commandants, and fubjedt to martial law ; with an ap¬ 
peal from ftage to ftage, up to the viceroy of Mexico. 
The property of the fubjedt at his deceafe is to be ma¬ 
naged by the commandant, whofe fees are ufually enor¬ 
mous. Until the year 1586, the continent of North Ame¬ 
rica went by the name of Florida. It received this name 
from John Ponce, becaufe when he landed in lat. 38. 8. N. 
in April 1513, he found the trees, fhrubs, and flowers, of 
the whole country in full bloom. Florida has fre¬ 
quently changed its mafters, belonging alternately to the 
French and Spaniard?. Weft Florida, as far as Perdido 
river, was owned-and occupied by the French ; the re¬ 
mainder, and all Eaft Florida, by the Spaniards, pre¬ 
vious to their being ceded to the Englifli, at the peace of 
1763. The Britifh divided this country into Eaft and 
Welt Florida. During the American war, both the Flo¬ 
ridas were reduced by the Spaniards, and wholly given 
up to the crown of Spain by the definitive treaty of 1783. 
FLOR'IDA, 
