Petals Plucked from Sunny Climes

We departed from Matanzas shortly after our return from the cave. The scenery along the route to Havana leaves the impression that the country is declining. The buzzards fly clo...

Soft the shadows slowly creeping Through thy dim and spectral pines; Pure thy lakelets, calmly sleeping, Save a few light rippling lines, When the water-lilies move, And fairies...

Seeking information with reference to distances while in Cuba will be found an adventurous enterprise. The answer you receive is, "Far as the voice of a countryman, or the crowi...

Many other places may possess their varied amusements, but Pensacola can be reckoned among the cities having attractions sufficient to render a sojourn very agreeable. It is her...

To walk upon the beach and see the bright golden waves rolling beneath our feet on a sunny day, and hear the gentle surge moving like the soft cadence of dying echoes, creates i...

Many incidents of travel are related by different _savants_, and those of humbler pretensions, who circulate through the country for various purposes; but the following stands w...

Far in ether stars above thee Ever beam with purest light, Birds of richest music love thee, Flowers than Eden's hues more bright, And love--young love, so fresh and fair-- Fill...

The upper St. John's commences after we pass Welaka, opposite the mouth of the Ocklawaha. Steamers leave the wharf at Jacksonville daily for this attractive portion of the count...

In leaving Fernandina we come out Amelia River, which is formed by the tide-water from the Atlantic. We pass Old Town, one mile from Fernandina, which has a look-out for pilots...

Does any one know what a sailing-voyage, in a coasting-vessel, from Tampa to Key West--a distance of two hundred and fifty miles--implies? Some may suppose it to be a kind of fl...

During the year 1690, after the appointment of Don Quiroga Loada as Governor of Florida, the water was discovered to be making encroachments from the bay into the town. A propos...

The early history of Florida Territory, soon after it came into the possession of the United States, being written in characters of blood for years, it is considered both approp...

As we approach the upper shores of the St. John's River, extensive swamp-lands, overgrown with various kinds of timber, are seen, where very bony-looking stock eke out a spare s...

In coming down the river, we land on the east bank at Tocoi, for St. Augustine. There are no hotels here, as the cars always make close connection with the daily line of boats f...

The Indians inhabiting the Everglades before the Seminole war had been driven there from the adjacent islands by conquest. They did not belong to this tribe. They spoke Spanish,...

The ancient fortress of Castle San Marco, the name of which has been improperly changed to Fort Marion, is considered one of the most attractive and interesting objects in St. A...

Cedar Keys is the terminus of the West India Transfer Railroad--that comfortless, unlovely, much-abused sand and water place--where people always heretofore have paid a big pric...

We have been sailing near land since we left Tampa Bay, but now we are in water sixty fathoms deep, and past wading or swimming out, let what will happen to us. We leave Ten Tho...

While in Florida, if tourists wish for a variety, let them travel up the meandering course of that peculiar stream, the Ocklawaha. There is no signaling here, as at other rivers...

Forty miles from Manatee is to be seen the remains of Tampa. Your morning slumbers will not be interrupted here by the hammers of rude workmen, who are usually so inconsiderate...

The longevity for which the inhabitants of St. Augustine have been remarkable is a proof of its healthfulness; indeed, the tenacity with which they cling to life, as well as the...

A trip to Florida during the winter season is now the popular move for everybody, whether invalid or not, which those living in so close proximity as Atlanta find difficult to r...

In leaving Jacksonville for Cedar Keys, we first take the Florida Central Road, which is thought by some to ride very rough, but the controlling element which had it in charge t...

"The Spanish Governor's son, living in St. Augustine, together with two other young men, arranged a trip on the coast for the purpose of hunting and fishing. Being provided with...

The old St. Augustine inhabitants are very regular in their attendance at the cathedral exercises, which, during the Holy Days, appear to be their sole employment. The first sou...

At no other town in the State is the entertainment for visitors more of a success than here, and one of those pleasant occasions brought a large number of happy hearts together,...

Every year, during the month of February, Jacksonville has an exhibit of industries, from all portions of the State, thus furnishing visitors an opportunity for seeing specimens...

Middle Florida and South Georgia--Jealousy between Middle, and East Florida--Good landed titles in Middle Florida--Disappointment the result of overestimation--No spot with ever...

Pensacola musings--Its early settlement and capacious harbor--Origin of the name--The soil contains clay for brick and pottery--Casa Blanca--The city conquered by the Spaniards-...

Longevity in St. Augustine--Manufacture of orange marmalade and wine--"El Pavo Real"--Genovar & Brother, wine-makers--Visitors leaving--A page from unwritten history--Tolling th...

Shores of the upper St. John's, where various kinds of timber grow, and bony stock range--Mounds and their contents--Their obscure origin--The chasm not yet bridged--Belief in t...

A description of the animals and birds seen on the St. John's a century since--Lovely landscape--The happy family--Lake George--Enterprise--Mellouville--Sulphur Springs--Lake Ha...

Florida during the Indian war--Cumbersome movements of the troops--Cause of the war--Treaty of Payne's Landing--Birthplace of Osceola--Lives with his mother in Okefinokee Swamp-...

Cedar Keys, the terminus of the West India Transit Railway--Extortion--Dr. McIlvaine's Hotel--Fourth of July toasts, 1843--Steamers from Cedar Keys to Manatee--Early settlement...

St. Augustine described in rhyme--The old Spaniards--A place for stimulus of thought--Treachery of legends--Early settlers lured by tales of wealth--Historical antiquity--Astoni...

From Matanzas to Havana--Buzzards--Description of El Moro Castle, A.D. 1519--Captured, 1619, by Sir George Pocock--El Moro like the Venetian "Bridge of Sighs"--Havana a century...

The Everglades Expedition, under Colonel Harney, 1841--Preparations--Spanish Indians--Leave Fort Dallas, arriving at Chitto's Island--The bird flown--Sam Jones's Island, contain...

The sea-wall--when commenced--Material employed--Boulevard of the city--City gates and vandal visitors--Tapoquoi village--Murder of Father Rodriguez--La Sylphide rose--Fine pulp...

Distances from Cienfuegos to Havana--Railroads--Three classes of passenger-cars--Smoking--Rain-drops--Harvest--Lo! the poor ox--Goads--Sugar-cane in bloom--Cattle-herders--The w...

Castle San Marco--Indestructibility of the material employed--Commenced in 1565--Completed by Montiano, 1756, with the aid of Mexican convicts--Attacked by Oglethorpe--Appearanc...

Leaving Pensacola--Contentment in our moving habitation--A calm--_Physalia utriculus_--A genuine nor'-wester and its accompaniments--A moment of terror--Morning at last--Isle of...

Incident as we enter Silver Springs--A gentleman loses his grinders--The Mirror of Diana--Sunset--A beautiful legend of the Princess Weenonah--A scientific description by Prof....

From Jacksonville to Cedar Keys--The Florida Central--Baldwin--Alligators and moccasins--West India Transfer Railroad--Piney Woods--Trail Ridge--Lawtey--Starke--Turpentine disti...

Stop at Tocoi for St. Augustine--Scenery along the route--Stage-contractor's notice--Murder of Dr. Weedman--Cloth houses--Two mail-carriers murdered--The blood-hounds--Mr. Franc...

The cathedral--Regular attendance of its worshipers--Harsh tones of the church chime--Early mass--Cathedral finished in 1793--Material employed--Moorish belfry--Irreverent visit...

Adieu to Atlanta and arrival in Macon--Early settlement of Savannah by General Oglethorpe--Met by the Yamacraw Indians with presents--Death of Count Pulaski--Bonaventure Cemeter...

How they spend their time in the ancient city--A slight departure into history--Different kinds of visitors--Grand opening of the Lunch-basket on the North Beach--Music and moon...

Burning of the Spanish Governor's son by the Indians over a century since--The Great Spirit as arbiter--Fort Matanzas--Its age, use, present appearance--Entered by an escalade--...

Marooning from Tampa to Key West--Drum-fish--Loons--Acrobat fleas--Roaches--Bilge-water--The Methodist preacher and his children--Sailor's fare--Landing lady-passengers--Terrasi...

Tampa--Undisturbed slumbers--First settlement by Narvaez--Poor Juan Ortiz!--His vigils among the dead--Espiritu Santo Bay--De Soto and his festive soldiers--Billy Bowlegs--Cedar...

No fossilized Spaniards on the Ocklawaha--Scenery on its banks--Thick growth of timber--Passengers amuse themselves killing alligators--Climbing asters--Air-plants--Water-lily--...

Jacksonville Agricultural Association, and its advantages--Exhibits of wine, perfume, and fruits--Industries of the ladies--Yachts--General Spinner--Steamer Dictator--Nimbus on...

Fate of the Spanish galleons--St. John's Bar and River--General remarks on Florida--Lumber-mills--Jacksonville--Grumblers--The invalid--Churches--Dr. Stowe preaches in the Metho...

Alone with God and the stars--Phosphorescent waves--Reefs and coral formation--Key West--Cocoa-trees--Chief of the Everglades--Dwellings--Inhabitants--Early settlers--Conchs--Th...